Mini 10-Inch Rack Full Network Build!

There is a growing trend among home users for smaller 10" mini rack builds. In this demonstration, I show one example of how such a small rack can be utilize to big things!

Goals of this build were to recreate the OPNsense full network build (2025 edition) guide (   • OPNsense Full Network Build (2025 Edition)  ), use only hardware that was sponsored or purchased over the last couple of years, and only purchase accessories for the rack itself (shelves, patch panels, PDUs, etc).

Because of the goals in mind, there were several compromises: no small PoE switch meant that I had to use more power plugs/bricks leading to a mess of power cables and I had to use a more powerful Raspberry Pi than is necessary to power the 7.9" strip display since I had trouble with the screen orientation using other software with the Pi Zero 2.

Despite the compromises this 10" mini rack actually has more functionality than the 19" full network build that I did in a prior video (   • OPNsense Full Network Build (2025 Edition)  ) since it includes a basic 2-bay NAS as well as the status display. However, the 19" rack build could be made more similar if I used a mini-PC for OPNsense and utilized the 2U server chassis as a NAS.

Disclosure: 52Pi sent me the DeskPi RackMate T1 used in this demonstration but opinions are my own.

This was a fun build and I thank 52Pi for sending me this product to try out! I will likely utilize it as a compact test bench for mini-PC and other hardware.

Amazon affiliate link for the RackMate T1: https://amzn.to/42jS7ut

Below are a few 10" rackmount ideas on my Amazon product list (several of which were used for this project):

https://www.amazon.com/shop/homenetwo...

CSS tweaks for the Uptime Kuma status page:
https://gist.github.com/brooksvb/78a5...

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction
01:01 Disclaimer
01:19 DeskPi RackMate T1
01:28 Goals
02:02 Compromises
04:02 Increased functionality
04:43 Configuration Overview
13:19 Conclusion

EP68

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