Reddit reviews Tripp Lite 8U/12U/22U Expandable Wall-Mount 2-Post Open Frame Rack, Adjustable Network Equipment Rack, Switch Depth, 18" Deep, 5 Year Warranty (SRWO8U22), black, 17.8 (8U) , 24.8 (12U), 42.3 (22U) x 20.11 x 18.24

I'm a bit of a tech nerd, so most of my things fall into that category.

• Plan where your "main" TV is going to go, and how you want it to look. Consider where the equipment that's going to run the TV is going to live and how it will be controlled (it's not a big deal to have an IR repeater/blaster to give you the ability to control a closet full of devices even while they're down the hall). The former owners of our house rigged up the can lights immediately in front of the TV to their own switch, so you could have lights on, without as much glare on the screen.
  
  If nothing else, run some conduit 4' up the wall so you can hide power/hdmi/coax/etc and keep everything in a hutch below it.
  
  
• Run Cat6 everywhere (Yes Cat5e is gig, but Cat6 supports 10gig, and you don't want to replace it if you can help it), and run it to a centralized location. Do the same thing with coax (if nothing else, the people you eventually sell the house to will eventually want it). Wanna set up video surveillance eventually? These guys are pretty quality for the price, and they need network. Consider conduit to the attic or look into how to mount a reliable network jack in the spots you think you'll want cameras. It's easy for me to justify a camera in the garage, so don't forget at least one network jack out there.
  
  
• Plan on if you want a single wireless access point or if you will need a few different ones, and run network to where you want them to go. Again, I love Ubiquiti stuff mostly because it's all PoE, so run network where you want it, and power it from somewhere else.
  
  
• Plan on a nice cabinet to keep it all organized, you will appreciate it later. Either something like this or something like this if you're going to put it in the basement/garage and don't need it as pretty. Plan on whatever you put in that panel being on a UPS.
  
  
• Built-in motion sensor based lighting to guide your way down stairs and to the bathroom, and to the kitchen at night without having to turn on the harsh "real" lights.
  
  
• Zoned HVAC. I'm not entirely sure on the cost of this, but I do know that if you're going to do it, when you build your house is the time.

Do you like the Tripp Lite rack? All the reviews I read on Amazon seem to say it's not very sturdy and needs some modifications to make it stable/strong. Would you agree?

8/14/22U

I bought this when I moved into my house a month ago. Hung it up in the garage on a couple of studs and have all my ISP stuff the patch panel and tv stuff sitting in it. No sag. I do plan on changing my pedestal server into a 4u case and putting it in there as well. According to TrippLite it can support up to 150lbs.

I bought some 3/4" lags and washers to make sure it was good and snug.

Hope it helps!

It's this one: http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-SRWO8U22-Cabinet-Wallmount/dp/B0041W55YE/ref=pd_cp_e_1?tag=flvbnwiojn-20

I got almost everything from Amazon. The patch cables came from Monoprice because they're like $0.60 each.

Thank you! And this is the rack pictured
Tripp Lite SRWO8U22 Wall Mount 2-Post Open Frame Rack Cabinet 8U/14U/22U Wallmount https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0041W55YE/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_IfkSub09Q16SV
Used it 4 or 5 times now in different configs. I enjoy them very much

I only see two items that are actually rack mountable. One thing to consider is a vertical wall mount bracket for the Netgear switch and patch panel. These brackets can be used horizontally as well, so you could even mount them to the bottom of one of the existing wooden shelves. Once the switch is taken care of, everything else can be mounted in a much shallower space.

If you want an enclosed wall mount cabinet, the Tripp Lite SRW12US and
Tripp Lite SRW10US both support a mounting depth of up to 20.5". If you go this route, make sure the antennas on the wireless APs are located where their signal isn't blocked.

For about $100, you can get the Tripp Lite SRWO8U22 2-post open frame "cabinet," or the Kendall Howard 2-post 8U rack. Both support up to 18" mounting depth.

The StarTech RK12OD desktop 2-post rack for $46.99 is an interesting alternative to normal racks. Due to the slope, you want to be sure any equipment on a cantilevered shelf is somehow prevented from sliding off. Just set the DS1813+ at the bottom, between the posts.

With any rack/cabinet, you're probably still going to need a couple of cantilever shelves to hold the non-rack mountable equipment. With an enclosed cabinet, you can use the bottom and top as shelves. You could even cheat and put some of the lighter items on the Netgear switch.

Also, be careful how you stack the equipment that wasn't designed to be rack mounted. A lot of it will vent the heat up instead of out the back.

Until you put an air duct in the closet itself, I doubt there will be much circulation in there. Be careful about putting all of the equipment up high because all of the hot air will be more or less trapped above the door louvers.