Last year we moved into a new house and I didn’t have much time to setup my data access area. I just used a plastic shelving unit to hold everything. I wanted to do something nicer even though it’s in the unfinished area of the basement. While wandering through our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore (*) I noticed they had a lot of old entertainment cabinets that don’t hold newer TVs. Thought I might find one that could be adapted to hold our equipment. Finally on a recent visit I found a really nice cabinet. Very high quality construction and in fairly decent shape. All for the mere sum of $29.
Pictures are below. Some of the items are not visible in the photos. My Eero is on the top so the signal doesn’t get blocked. The top shelf has the 16 port switch in addition to the Synology. Next shelf has the Mini server, external JBOD enclosure, backup drive, and cable modem. UPS on bottom shelf.
I added two rheostat controlled fans behind the top shelves just to make sure it doesn’t get too warm.
(*) For those not familiar, the ReStore is a thrift store with a lot of furniture and construction equipment and supplies that benefits Habitat for Humanity. It builds homes for the working poor. House recipients have to pay for the house as well as provide some of the labor in construction. In addition they have to attend home ownership classes. I helped on a couple of builds and drove by the houses a few years later and they looked great with beautiful landscaping. Former president Jimmy Carter is one of the more famous workers with Habitat.