Purpose:

- Move those monster heat producing folding rigs out of house, so that I might be able to afford the air conditioning electric bill during the summer. For more details check my other thread Uncle!! Power Company you Win!

 
Design Goals:

- Rack design that would accommodate large air flow. (Air temperature in the garage was going to get hot, so  I was thinking a 20in box fan would be a good start.)
- Accommodate a Keyboard, Monitor and Mouse for basic maintenance
- Needed UPS, one for the frequent power outages but secondly I may need to move it across my garage and wouldn't want to shutdown the whole rack.
- Keep Cheap but Practical

 
Building Materials:

  $0 - 6 2x4x8 Standard lumber ($2.75 per, I had on-hand)
  $0 - 3/4 x 49 x 97 S11 White Thermally-fused Melamine (Only need ~24.5in x 34in) ($36 for sheet, I had on-hand)
 $9 - 2 - 1/2 in. x 2 ft. x 4 ft. Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) Handy Panel ($8.87 per, had one on-hand)

$16 - Lasko 20 in. 3-Speed Box Fan ($15.96 per) 
$10 - 1/4 in. x 48 in. x 96 in. Tempered Hard Board "Masonite" (~$10 for sheet)
$24 - 4 - 4" Cast Iron/Molded Rubber Swivel Caster ($5.99 per)
$33 - 2 - Crown Bolt 1-1/2 in. x 72 in. Steel Plain Slotted Angle ($16.48 per)
  $7 - Grip-Rite #8 x 2-1/2 in. Coarse Steel Bugle-Head Phillips Drywall Screws (1 lb. Pack) ($6.47 Box)
  $4 - 18 Zinc Plated 1/4 in x 1-1/2 in. Hex Head Lag Screw (~$4 individual screws from the Hardware section)
$10 - Pint Discounted / Returned Paint

------------ 
$113 - My out of pocket cost 
 

Step 1 - Built frame from Southern pine 2x4 and using 2 1/2 in dry wall screws. Wanted to support 21 1/2in width by 5in deep box fan, 24in shelves for servers and stable for castors.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Step 2 - Fitted the fan and added rack rails using slotted angle iron with 1in lag screws.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Step 3 - I also pre-drilled holes to shift the rack rails up or down depending future rig requirements.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Step 4 - Add malemine, fitted the MDF 1/2 shelves, added 4in casters and grabbed some discounted / returned paint (it was labeled black, but as you see, not so much. )

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Step 5 - Add masonnite for slides, mostly to contain air flow thru the length of the rack, but it also improves the spouse approval rating.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Step 7 - Loaded up the UPS, monitor, keyboard, mouse and my AMD 4P and 2P rigs.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Backside View:

Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 
Future Steps:

- Still debating getting a USB KVM switch.
- Add Cable management, I want to run everything for a few weeks before zip tieing things down.
- Add additional rack mountable UPS.
- Make a besizel around the UPS (UPS fits 19in rack size, where this rack is 21.5in)
- Add window screen doors to front and back, mostly to keep dead bugs from collecting within the rack.

 
Improvements:  <If I was to build another, I'd might...>

• I got a good deal on the 4in castor, but they scream overkill. I didn't get locking one, it wasn't a big deal until I went to slide in the 75 lbs UPS. I would reconsider all 3in casters and with 2 locking one.
• I really wanted the rack on UPS, but I could easily run >560W per rig. To use a single UPS, I would have had to step up to a 2200 VA system, requiring special 20A circuits, plugs and I'm not sure they even make a 20A extension cord. I really didn't look into that much, probably so have spent more time on it.
• I debated the rack height the most. Taking Casters (5 inches), 2 UPS (8 inches), 1 box fan (21 1/2 inches), the rack would only be ~38 inches tall, easily working for 2 servers with tall CPU coolers but offer no room for growth. I add another 12 inches for one more shelf and some space for a KVM switch and anything else needed. The issues is the top shelf isn't able to utilize the box fan, and I'd need to create something to really use it.
• Since the box fan in the front of the rack, block easy access to the shelves, I have all the motherboard connections toward the back of the rack, this caused some issue with the length of the PSU cables so my 4P shelf isn't laid out as well as I would have like. Maybe some cable extensions or adding a few inches of length to the shelf, could correct it.
• Testing this rack in July certainly keep me watchful. Temperature here has been close to 100F for the better part of 3 weeks now. Garage temp is running about 96F when I get home from work (w/ 12ft ceiling and attic ladder cracked open). I'm looking at adding an attic fan to help pull the heat out of the garage.

 
  Special Thanks to Musky who inspired me to attempt this project. 

notfordman
 Looks nice and solid. I was gonna ask how hot your garage is, I know mine is h o t. Good job man!

Max in the last 3 days has been 97F. I've seen my AMD 4P board has high as 54C, but compared to my GPU inside the house hitting 85C. I'm feeling pretty good so far.

Against code to have garage access to your house heating system. Fumes.

Yes, that makes sense on the "fumes".  A small portable unit could be the ticket!  My main interest was to prevent running a multi-thousand$ rig in 90-100F (or more) ambient temps.  While it may be doable, I have to believe that over time, it will take a toll on the components.

Portable AC unit runs about ~1000W. I'm guessing here, but would think this would be MORE expensive than just leaving it inside the house.
 
If I can keep the servers roughly under 54C during the high heat of afternoon, during the hottest months of the year. Why cool them at all?

Nice!  I have been wanting to do something similar myself but while the cabinet is the easy part, building the rigs is not at the moment.  If I ever get into massive machine folding again I will probably have one SR-2 and then a heap of ITX machines.
 
Personally I would have made it 6 ft. tall but then again it would be a monster to fill and power.  With me being in the Military and moving every 4 years it would be a pain to haul along with the other house hold goods.  I like the idea of an Air cooler.  That could really be a help if you build it in right.  So far though its looking great!
 
Just wanted to read through it one more time.... I would HIGHLY suggest that if you do enclose this rack that you make a filter system for it if its in the garage.  You don't want dust and debris piling up in there from wood cutting or any other projects and such.  I would think some cheap home air filters would work.

looks awesome. I saw rack and thought servers. not open air computers lol
 

z3r0t0l0rence

This looks to be the most efficient.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/KuulAire-Portable-Evaporative-Cooling-Unit-with-175-sq-ft-Cooling-Capacity-Black-PACKA44/20469117

Spec sheet.

http://www.kuulaire.com/files/pdfs/2012/05/10//PACKA442012.pdf 

115w max so this seems to be the most efficient one that I've found.  Honestly I've used one of these a long time ago in my garage to which cooled the air while working on my car.  Wasn't like drastic but did work for what I used it for.  Just have to keep an eye on the water level.  Doesn't really put humidity in the air.

nice looking rack! a couple thoughts, if you ever need more space build it so a second box fan can cool the top half. also I wouldn't try evaporative cooling like the link. you would have to have that blowing right on the equipment because it only cools 150sq ft. you garage is probably more like 500 squr feet and you said high ceilings. if you blow that right on your equipment, you may get damage from the high humidity they create close to the unit.

Very nice setup! Fold on!

bowlinra nice idea and setup. are you able to turn the cpu coolers so they push with you box fan instead of at a 90'? it might cool just alittle bit better if you can.
 
as for your home heating, i would bring them in. if your going to spend the money to run them might as well get use out of everything they are doing. ie space heaters. i have a rig in every room over the winter and just turn clients on and off (once finished of coarse) to control the temps.

Oct Update:
Rack still running strong.. Weathered the summer heat without issues. Never got around to installing the attic fan, so I returned it. So far it keeping my garage in the upper 60's.
 
I have been thinking about moving the rigs back inside the house for the heating, there is really no reason to heat the garage and theoretically lows my heat cost for inside the house. It's just running so well,  I hate to touch it. I had a storm power outage for just a single reboot in the last 90 days.

Homemade awesomeness, hows this build 8 months later?

I think it's a great idea to put the heat into the garage instead of the house during the warm months. I wish it was practical for me to do that, but the garage is 80 feet away, not lockable atm and easily hits 45c/113f on the warmer days of summer.
 
The 17'x17' back wing of my house is my NOC for my business and usually has about 10 boxes running at any given time. It takes a 12,000 BTU (1 ton) AC running almost flat out to get keep it under 76f on the hotter days of the year. I'm thinking of installing an 18,000 mini-split setup this spring. It's an old house with hot water heating so no central air or easy way to install it.
 

I'm planning to build a somewhat similar free standing rack for the "basement server farm." The wife won't stand for any more fan noise in the computer room. She's already complaining that the i7 with the 680's sounds like a "wind tunnel" and she doesn't even know about the three in progress 4p systems yet.  The added bonus is that the basement is usually 5 to 10 degrees cooler than upstairs.
 

Awesome setup!
 
Hope I get mine to that level before the wife murders me.