Devlog #1: Why Ikea Furniture Became the Shell

At the start of the project, I had five boxes to house: a PS5, an Xbox Series X, a gaming PC, a work MacBook Pro, and a Philips Hue bridge. All of them had to live at the same address — one shell for the whole system.

I already had experience building a server rack for a small office, and I was familiar with the 19-inch rack standard (EIA-310), where height is measured in rack units (U). So the North Star was clear.

A 19-inch rack is modular enough to take a wide variety of components, and the standard is widely used, making it easy to find compatible parts.

The problem with a real server cabinet

I started looking at enclosed 9U server cabinets, but they are heavy: 21–25 kg empty, before any shelves or components.

So, a real server cabinet was a no-go. I needed something lighter that would fit in the living room without drawing too much attention.

IKEA to the rescue

The BESTÅ 60×40×64 cm cabinet from IKEA was a perfect match for the project. It weighs nothing. And as long as I could build a stable structure inside, it would do the job. And if I F up, the damage would be minimal.

Building the rack

The photos below speak for themselves, and there is no need for additional commentary. Except for one thing: by building the rack structure myself instead of dropping in a ready-made 9U frame, I got 10U out of the same box.

And here is the result: a 10U server rack mounted inside the IKEA furniture.