Raspberry Pi 4/5 1U rack-mount bracket

A bracket to mount the Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 in a standard 19-inch server rack. This will fit 6 RPi 4/5 units using Power Over Ethernet (PoE) in a 1U space for a very simple and tidy cluster solution. I use the official PoE hat with the RPi 4 put out by the Raspberry Pi Foundation that normally sells for $20. I am still waiting for the official PoE hat for the RPi 5 to test it but the board itself is a good fit.

This is a variation of a 2U bracket that I worked on earlier:

• Raspberry Pi 4/5 2U rack-mount bracket

and uses the same tray design, so you can move units between these two mounts easily. This design fits 6 units in 1U, and the other fits 12 (or 13) in a 2U space. This 1U design lets you build incrementally, but personally I prefer the 2U design and recommend it over 2 of the 1U racks if you will need more than 6 units total.

Here are all of the parts you will need for a complete 6-Pi cluster:

To print:

• 6 frame parts
• 6 tray parts
• A pair of ear parts (both ears are in a single file)

Other hardware:

• 2 threaded rods cut to 17 5/8 inches. I recommend buying a 36-inch rod, which is enough for two finished parts. Cut it with a hacksaw or a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel. I suggest #10 size in the USA. Not sure which metric sizes are commonly available, but M5 would be a close match (you will need to download the OpenSCAD files and adjust the hole sizes).
• 4 hex nuts that fit the threaded rods
• 24 machine screws of size M2.5 x 12 (that's 4 for each Pi). I got a pack of 100 for about $10 from Amazon.

The remaining hardware (spacers and screws) comes with the PoE hat. You will have 4 extra screws from each PoE hat kit that you replace with the M2.5 x 12 screws listed above.

Finally, a PoE switch and a suitable Ethernet cable for each Pi.

The OpenSCAD source files are included to make it easier to customize. The most common things you might want to tweak using the OpenSCAD files are:

• Changing the size of the threaded rods that hold it all together, or changing the size of the bolts used to mount it to a standard 19-inch rack.

• Adjusting the fit of the tray where it slides into the frame. The fit may vary a bit from printer to printer and depending on the material you use (I use PLA).

• Adjusting the setback, which is how far the frame is pushed back into the rack (or equivalently, how far the ears stick out in front of the rest of the frame). The setback provides space so that the nuts at the ends of the support rods do not interfere with the cage nuts on the rack.