Rack Mount PC

Ah the allusive 19" rack mount personal computer. I want one. There is not logical reasoning behind this other than I want one. Full height or half-rack is the first question that needs to be addressed. I'm leaning toward the full rack. Blank spaces can be covered with panels until the need to populate the rack with necessary and critical equipment arises.

Possible components of this rack would include not only the PC, but other utilitarian items. The list of such devices will be shown immediately below:

UPS: as an uninterruptible power supply, which oddly enough is use when the utility supplied power is interrupted. It will need to be mounted near the bottom of the rack to keep the center of gravity low. Cornering capability is highly underrated by most rack mount experts. It's a significantly more important than straight line speed.

NTP: network time protocol devices are used to provide accurate time to a network. I need this so I can track exactly when I update my Facebook status. "I'm now taking a shower. Well not exactly, but I am naked, typing over my rack-mounted PC on Facebook, but I intend to get in the shower soon. I thought you should know." Yes, that sort of FB update. The critical kind that needs, verily I say unto thee, demands an accurate time stamp. The world might end if it didn't.

A digital temperature display for the internal rack temperature. It's like the low oil pressure light on your 1987 Buick. It must absolutely work so that you know when you need to pull over to the side of the road or save the latest great novel in MS Word mid sentence.

A touch panel, rack mount monitor will be required. As will a 1RU rack mount keyboard with touch pad. That should complete the whole input/output requirements. Do they make a rack mount printer? Research is needed on the subject.

Since the rack with contain a keyboard, a video monitor and a mouse-like input device, then a KVM switch is mandatory also.

All this hardware needs to be supported by adequate and secure data storage. You can see where this is going now can't you? As you already guessed, it must be secured in a RAID array. According to Wikipedia a raid array is, "an acronym for redundant array of inexpensive disks or redundant array of independent disks." But who can trust an open encyclopedia. Someone might have made all this 'RAID' stuff up as an elaborate way for the IT department to get pizza and beer money.

"Hey, let's tell the CEO we need to update from RAID 1 to RAID 5 to protect the company from data loss."

"Cool. We were getting low on PBR in the server room."

I don't know what kind of beer the guys and gals of IT prefer. The whole PBR comment was conjecture. For all I know they might be Coors folks. I've never been invited to their server room beer blasts. I suspect they occur; I just don't have any proof.

The rack needs to be secured against the wall so that in the event we have one of those ground wiggling things happens, I think they're called ground quaking events, the rack will not fall over and crush me or a guest. (No, I've never had any guests, but it theoretically could happen.) A wireless connection between the KVM and the desktop keyboard, monitor and mouse will be needed. Come on now, who would think it practical or ergonomically efficient to sit next to a six foot tall rack, working off some clunky pullout keyboard viewing a 9" monitor that is mounted too high. That's just silly.

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Or, I could just buy a new laptop.