The Ubiquiti 4U rackmount case that doesn't exist

Cutting to the chase

I made a Ubquiti-inspired shallow mount (12") 4U case that can host full size ATX PC components, including a GPU.

Backstory

I'm a huge fan of Ubiquiti products and design language.

When my Ubiquiti networking hardware was purchased, everything was tucked into a shallow wall mounted networking rack. It's the perfect depth (12") when sitting next to the other furniture in the room, and going for a deeper rack is not possible.The plan is to add compute/storage to the rack over time as my needs grow.

I have an old Deep Learning server sitting on the floor that is currently repurposed into an Home Assistant / Frigate NVR server.

One of my goals is to get the physical computer into the rack and get Home Assistant and Frigate NVR working well.

Without needing to rebuy hardware.

Requirements

• Max server depth is 12" (Fits within wallmount server rack)
• Server height doesn't matter (1U-6U+)
• Host full size ATX motherboard
• Host full size ATX power supply
• Host full size GPU (Needed for NVDEC H264 Hardware Decoder)
• 4 x 3.5" HDD (NVR Video storage)
• M.2 SSD (OS Boot Drive)
• Support an all-in-one CPU water cooler
• PCI-E Google Coral TPU ( AI Inference accelerator for NVR)

Apparently short depth rackmount cases are very niche. Especially ones that look good and match the Ubiquiti design language.

PlinkUSA (opens in a new tab) has something close but I don't think it can support a full size GPU.

I took matters into my own hands, and made it.

Modifications

Case

Initially I was going to design the whole case and get it sent out for laser cutting/bending with ubiquiti design language. But at QTY 1, its not worth the design time or cost.

The original deep learning rig was already mounted in a low cost Rosewell 4U rackmount case, and after some quick measurements. It's possible to just cut it and graft on some Ubiquiti 2U vented OCD panels. Too easy.

For the actually case cutting, I used an Milwaukee Circular saw (2782-20) with an abrasive metal cutting blade. The cut was made just in front of the middle partition holding the fans and AIO cooler.

In hindsight, I should have waited for the OCD panels to come in before cutting the top cover. It's about 1" short, but it works.

Hard Drives

Packaging the 4 x 3.5" hard drives proved to be difficult. There isn't enough physical space. Thanks to the all-in-one water cooler, there is ample space above the CPU water block.

The GPU will need to be removed to access the hard drives. But that's fine, I don't plan on swapping out the hard drives often.

I after some quick CAD work and 3d printing, the hard disk caddy bolted into the ATX motherboard mounting holes. It's a bit flimsy but it works. The hard drives are locked in via zip ties. Very classy.

OCD Front Panels

Mounting the Ubiquiti OCD (opens in a new tab) panels was straight forward. Spacer plates were 3D printed to take up the space between the OCD and the server case sheet metal. It also serves as a drill jig for the flat head screws between the two parts.

Paint

For paint, I used Rust-oleum aluminum metallic spray paint that could be found at Home Depot. It matches VERY well with the original Ubiquiti parts. To get a perfect match, you will need to media blast the sheet metal with glass beads to get the same texture as Ubiquiti parts.

Swapped out the red LED fans for white LED fans just to be on-brand.

Power Supply

After installing the case into the rack, there is close to zero clearance for the input power cable. I was going to purchase a super fancy low profile NEMA plug, but I'm not a big fan of niche cabling. There is actually enough space to push the ATX power supply forward by 1.5" which makes a "cubby" for the Nema plug to sit inside. Someone already made a parts for this on Cults3D. (opens in a new tab) This part is not in the photos, but it's installed now.

Power button

I got lazy on this. I'm just going to boot the machine via Wake-on-lan. If I need physical access, I'll just pop the cover and push the button on the motherboard

Conclusion

I'm VERY happy with the results. It looks great, and it's functional.