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Sameer Hilton photo
Nigeria, Abuja
1 Level
719 Review
40 Karma

Review on πŸ”§ UCTRONICS Ultimate Raspberry Pi 4 Rack: 19" 1U Rackmount with OLED Display, Power Switch, Cooling Fan & All IO on One Side by Sameer Hilton

Revainrating 4 out of 5

I set up a POE "Ultimate " rack for two Raspberry Pi computers.

I was going to shut down my old Xeon server and use an RPis or two instead. It looked like a good rack, so I ordered a faceplate for the main rack and two POE redirection cards. Since I only needed two, I also ordered blind covers for the other two places. First impression - Everything is metal, smooth edges and well painted. Continuous. Looking at the task at hand, I realized that there is no USB on the back of the rack - only available from the front. (The first improvement requirement is to add USB to the redirection board). After looking at the options, I settled on an SSD mounting plate as it also includes a USB adapter. The mounting plate is also made of metal and is of good quality. The SSD mounting plate offsets one of the stubs and has no room for the Pi, so each usable slot takes up one of the four rack spaces. Since I don't need HDMI in a server closet, I didn't buy adapter cards for it, which saved some money but also left a few gaping holes in the facade. (Second improvement request - if you don't make the first request, at least make passing USB to the back of the rack cheaper/easier/cleaner. Is an alternate use of space for HDMI possible?) Need a $20 option for a pure one USB pass-through to rear of rack deducts a star from my rating. As others have said, the montage is a little boring, but it all comes with a small number of patients. The shelf fit right into my closet with no problems. Unfortunately, after connecting the POE cables and turning on the two computers, I found that one of the two I2C displays was not working. Everything else worked as it should. The broken display takes a star off my rating as it wasn't a cheap stand. Final Thoughts: The stand is solid and does the job. Gathering the right parts, unless you only want four Raspberry Pis in your rack or need something like USB on the back or SSDs, takes some research and gets expensive quickly. The assembly is a bit tedious (in addition, the necessary nuts to fasten the plugs were missing). One of the circuit boards arrived defective. (I should probably return it, but it's built and the computer runs my home automation software, so it's a bit harder to do that.) Of course, I'd still buy it again, but it's really a one-time purchase that didn't quite make sense , my expectations both in design and execution. Edit: After trying to diagnose the I2C display, it started working. Because of this, I've added a star to the review.

Pros
  • Note. The rack has been upgraded and the accessory kit needs to be replaced. Please tick to buy a free accessory pack when you place an order.
Cons
  • Not the best