  
The goal of this build was to have a mini rack that is portable, \\\*\\\*aesthetic\\\*\\\*, and quiet.



The router is hidden above the 5 micro PCs.



Router is a TP-Link ax1500. I had to solder on antenna connectors as the router had the factory antennas soldered directly to the PCB. Router runs as a mesh device with a switch connected to its interface. This allows all of the cluster to run wired. And the connection between the mini rack and my network router is the only wireless aspect.



The antennas are 9dBi and angled so that I can have it positioned anywhere in the house and have at least one antenna that has the destination router in its ideal band. I lose some bandwidth but gain reliability and it is absolutely worth the tradeoff in my case.



Switch is stuck on the right side. Patch panel in my case is more cabling and effectively useless here as the patch and destination is within a foot of each other.



600w 0-24v power supply is the main workhorse. Turned down to 19.5v for the micro PCs. With 3 5v pd3.0 buck converters for the pi, external monitor and the router (converted to USBC). And one other buck converter for turning down the 19.5v to 12v for the a12x25 noctua fan on top of the rack.



Used a DS2501 for tricking the PCs into believe they are plugged into the OEM power brick. This means that none of the PCs get the power adapter prompt on boot and are never locked down on power.



Total rack idle draw: 54W

Total peak bootup draw: 275W.

3D print files for everything in my rack here: \[Beep Boop\](https://github.com/PulledP0rk/10-Inch-Rack)  
  
Specs:

5x Dell 7020 Micro Plus  
i5 14600 CPU  
16GB DDR5 RAM  
512GB M.2

1x Raspberry Pi 4B

1x External Monitor: \[10.5" Portable Monitor\](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYNJZ54W?ref=ppx\_yo2ov\_dt\_b\_fed\_asin\_title)

1x 600W PSU : \[PSU\](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CFQFTWVD?ref\_=ppx\_hzsearch\_conn\_dt\_b\_fed\_asin\_title\_2)

RACK: \[Techmojo 12u Rack\](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FN7FG67L?ref\_=ppx\_hzsearch\_conn\_dt\_b\_fed\_asin\_title\_2)

My Entry Into the Mini Rack Club