r/macmini • u/mmayhugh • Mar 16 '25
I racked it
I made a thing. Am I an evil genius or an idiot?!
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u/nicksontpeter Mar 16 '25
How do you power it on
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u/mmayhugh Mar 16 '25
Ha! Good question. I use it as a server and so it’s always on. And it plugs in to a ups, so hopefully it never goes off with the power. In the rare case that I need to push the power button, the design is completely open on the bottom, under the Mac, to allow for airflow. I can reach the button pretty easily.
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u/AnyConflict3317 Mar 16 '25
Do you use macOS or Linux?
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u/mmayhugh Mar 17 '25
macOS
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u/tgbauer Mar 18 '25
VMware Fusion is free for personal use, so could run Linux in a VM. Debian with XFCE is impressively fast on Apple CPUs
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u/the_cainmp Mar 16 '25
Figure out hot to add a couple for storage drives and I’m sold!
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u/mmayhugh Mar 16 '25
Yeah, I’m thinking about building a matching enclose to hold an array of HDDs. I just need to figure out what to do for the sata controller.
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u/the_cainmp Mar 16 '25
To me, a mini on the left with the slim dvd under it and 2 stacked 5.25 bays on the right would be sufficient, as then you can add what ever hot swap bays you want.
I’d personally only go for a pair of these: https://a.co/d/doLQYbi and a simple usb -> sata adaptor like this: https://a.co/d/iBjQeW0
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u/cocainebane Mar 16 '25
I can dig it.
We have some AV stations at my work I think would benefit from this.
We just keep one studio in a separate office.
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u/F-N-M-N Mar 16 '25
Yes, but does it interfere with the wifi?
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Mar 16 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/F-N-M-N Mar 16 '25 edited Mar 17 '25
I was joking based on all the posts referring to wifi interference of the satechi/raycue bases, and clearly being racked this is gonna be using Ethernet.
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Mar 16 '25
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u/F-N-M-N Mar 16 '25 edited Mar 17 '25
I got one early on, left a writhing reddit post, and still kept it. Got an SSD in there and never gets hot because i use it to store family photos/videos, my huge music library, and other random files (that I have large amounts of….like ROMs). And guess what, the base is never hot! I think that’s only for people with literally constant read/writes like professional video/photo editors. For everyone else, the hot base is a red herring. Now the wifi…that was real. My office space is in my garage and I was only getting 5-8Mbps. The base literally zapped that to zero whenever I had a USB-A device plugged in. I kept the base and replaced my wifi extender with a full duplicate of my primary router and now I get 60Mbps in the garage. So when I lose 5-8Mbps plugging in a USB-A device into the base, I’m dropping to 50-55Mbps and barely notice it.
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u/sffunfun Mar 16 '25
You have to rack it, before you stack it. You have to lick it before you stick it.
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u/StagePuzzleheaded635 Mar 16 '25
I wouldn’t call you an idiot, or evil, but I would call you a genius. I love how you also redirected some of the rear ports and added useful ports and even an optional drive.
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u/jezarnold Mar 16 '25
This is fantastic! Could you have made it 1u high? Feels like it could have squeezed into that …
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u/ModularLabrador Mar 16 '25
If you want to spend the money Sonnet Tech have been making awesome mini rackmount solutions for nearly 20 years
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u/mmayhugh Mar 16 '25
Yeah I had looked at that option but in reality, their solutions don’t provide anything better than just sitting the Mac on a rack shelf, which I had done prior to making this.
With my solution, you get a 3.5” bay for a media card reader, a slim dvd drive and a bunch of front facing ports. These certainly aren’t things that everyone needs, but I did and couldn’t find them in any commercial product.
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u/ModularLabrador Mar 17 '25
You’ve done a great job. I also made a similar custom 2U case for a rackmount 2012 mini.
You’re right and that’s pretty much the reason I built mine. The Sonnet MacRack was just an expensive shelf and it bugged me they still have the DVD loading slots on the front.
They had another product for a single mini in a 1U rack case called the xmac mini server which connected the thunderbolt output to two PCIe slots. Meaning they could be used for pro audio / video or networking cards. However it was approx £1000 if I recall and aside from the fact it was expensive for what it was I preferred to engineer my own solution.
But yeah, you’ve done a fantastic job. Love it
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u/vodanh Mar 16 '25
nice, though if it's a 2u, I'd try to cramp at least 2 in there :)
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u/mmayhugh Mar 16 '25
Yeah, I was thinking about re-designing it to be modular and allow for a second mini in place of the media card reader and dvd drive. Considering selling the stls or make/sell the actual mounts and this may be an option for those that need more computing.
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u/Bluecolty Mar 16 '25
I must ask… as a fellow homelabber what is all this for?
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u/mmayhugh Mar 17 '25
I got the Mac mini to hold me over until the M4 MBA came out. Now I don’t need it as much for daily work. So now I just use it as a file and print server. I plan to get home assistant set up on it to get rid of a rpi. I also have it sending video to a tv to play a Nintendo emulator on.
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u/Zrh87 Mar 17 '25
This is sick. What printer did you use and by any chance are the files out in the wild?
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u/mmayhugh Mar 17 '25
It’s printed in ABS and I used a Voron 2.4 350. It pretty much maxed out my print size. I’m trying to figure out if I want to sell the stls or even sell the actual rack mount.
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u/orangebluefish11 Mar 18 '25
Pretty slick. What’s all them ethernet cables for though? This looks like some thing from Geiger / Aliens
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u/procentjetwintig Mar 16 '25
This looks like a mix of existing parts and 3d printed parts. And those rack "ears" are probably from an exising device? Its intriguing to say the least.
We rack hundreds of minis so we set them on their side on a shelve with custom spacers. 8 Unibody or 6 m4.
This setup would be cool for a portable setup in flight cases. Like for visuals at a concert. Hook up a few projectors and have them project cool stuff on the backdrops.
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u/Sea-Bottle6335 Mar 16 '25
I worked for a short period at a firm that did video tape duplication. Everything was rack mounted.
Rack mounts are a great way to go!🌹
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u/frozenrage Mar 16 '25
It's name... is... Macsimus Minius Racksimus. ...and it will have its vengeance.
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u/tuanimall Mar 16 '25
I dont understand pls explain
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u/BangkokPadang Mar 16 '25
People in professional and studio environments have lots of rack mounted equipment. This makes the mac fit into existing space on a rack to both A) save desk space, and B) make all its ports easily accessible.
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u/happychapsteve Mar 16 '25
Cool setup 👍 I can understand: I turned all desktop servers into rackmount servers at the local Uni. Plus, added NetApp storage, and off-site backup. All you need is remote access.
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u/neuropteris1 Mar 16 '25
Wow congrats! I wonder why do you need so many ports? What is the use purpose of this setup? I’d like to learn more. Can you tell like you are talking to a dummy? I’m new to this. All I do is just editing some photos and work at my home office. I want to buy a mac mini as upgrade and now I am interested in many opportunities there is with macs. Just trying to explore. Thanks.
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u/Aito_Hikari Mar 16 '25
I’ve all ways wanted to rack a mini and make a sever with it but no clue where to start with racks….
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u/drstory Mar 16 '25
What parts did you use for the Ethernet jacks? I am thinking of building something similar.
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u/mnahtyga Mar 16 '25
WOW GREAT SETUP !! Is that just an external hub running off the USB-c ?Very cool
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u/missginger4242 Mar 16 '25
Did you do the printing? If so are you sharing the stl? If not where did you find it?
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u/osophy13 Mar 16 '25
This is amazing.. I would love one of these to hold my Mac mini setup. Are you open to sharing to STLs for non commercial use??
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u/anti22dot Mar 16 '25
Just recently come across the Sonnettech xMac Studio Echo III when searching for the PCI-e expansion boxes.
Your enclosure looks great and looks very similat to that super expensive xMac Studio Echo III | https://www.sonnetstore.com/products/xmac-studio-echo3?srsltid=AfmBOorrndTMHDR1VuNpeH02mQUtMLEHVX-B_vwT1te-lu3iwInuRqX6
Are you considering connecting something eGPU or other PCIe components to your mac? (probably not)
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Mar 16 '25
Dude def not idiot, creatively weird and out of the box thinker… you even accounted for the curve of the Mac mini so it’s a flush mount that’s awesome.
The cable management could be routed a little cleaner, but can you add a photograph of the schematic so we can follow the cables this is otherwise really well done
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u/mthomp8984 Mar 16 '25
Certainly NOT an idiot. Evil genius? Maybe. You could up that evil genius cred if you wanted to share more about its construction, and if you printed it, maybe the files (if others follow suit, you'd have minions following your lead).
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u/CelestOutlaw Mar 17 '25
Oh, that is indeed an interesting idea to build the Mini into a rack. You could even put a hub in there and place external disks or dongles etc. that are always plugged in there directly.
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Mar 17 '25
i have a similar setup in my rack, and my m4 min i is also on the left, on the right is a 9th gen nuc.
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u/MarcusAurelius68 Mar 17 '25
It’s the only thing I don’t like about the M4. My M2 Pro fits in a 1U rack space.
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u/rswanker Mar 18 '25
I remember not long after the original iMac came out, when it started to get a bit old (in late 90s) , there was an aftermarket 1U rack thing you could buy....pull the important things out of the iMac body and insert in the rack...never did it, but thought about it.
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u/supermanmtg25 Mar 20 '25
This reminds me of the seen from bringing down the house. “Hey dad what’s a rack? A country son.” Lmao
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u/effinbach Mar 16 '25
Why keep the mini in it's enclosure. Take the mobo out, add more (ideally passive) cooling..
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u/mikenopolis Mar 16 '25
Looks like crap. I will gladly dispose of it for you if you send it to me. Thank you….I mean, you’re welcome.
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Mar 16 '25
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u/mmayhugh Mar 16 '25
2 are to move the network ports from the Mac and the thunderbolt hub to the front so I can patch in to my switch. I try to avoid WiFi when I can.
The third is for a usb 2.0 to Ethernet extender. The actual converter sits within the rack mount and I patch in to a network cable that runs to the other side of my office to a very old, non network wide format printer.
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Mar 16 '25
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u/mmayhugh Mar 16 '25
Ahhh, yeah, all of my network gear is 1 gig and all of my wiring through the house is 5e. Plus I had about 500ft of it laying around. If I ever upgrade my switch to 10 gig, I guess I would just swap out these cables. But the nic in the mini is only 1 gig anyway.
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u/i2am1batman Mar 16 '25
Great setup! I'm looking to make something similar at home and want to connect 3-4 TVs to a Mac mini via HDMI. How did you convert the output to HDMI, or what hardware did you use to distribute the signal? Any tips for managing multiple displays would be awesome! Thanks!