I like the concept. My first thought is serviceability. A system consolidated like that needs fail over equipment built in. That can keep the client running while the other piece of equipment is being serviced.
I see so many problems: how do you replace the UPS? The switch? Disassemble everything? Maybe make them like drawers? Then again looks like a rack? Maybe instead of 2.5" drives, a half unit drawer with M2? But then again then again we have expansion cards and each one does something. The concept is cool but not practical IMO.
I love this. As you mentioned, it's going to be great for home/small office/home office prosumers who need storage and compute density in a small space. The lack of cables is a huge plus; it's going to be much easier to place *and move.* If a system like this existed a couple of years ago, I probably wouldn't have a 9U rack under my desk. If it's aimed at the home/small office, it'll also have to be relatively quiet (but not silent); it'll be interesting to see how that's done. I actually really like the look: it's very reminiscent of a PDP-11 stack, which was absolutely a stackable computer. I can't wait to see how this develops. I'd love to see more videos on it if more news escapes their labs. :)
Agree on the servicing issue mentioned by others, the whole concept of the rack was to allow complete access to any piece of equipment without disturbing the others unnecessarily. Edge cards are just a different take on cables and although they make things neater, they trade flexibility for getting rid of the cable clutter. This is rather like that modular computer one company (I forget which) came up with decades ago, where even the CPU and RAM were on a daughter board that could be swapped out. Fantastic idea with one critical flaw.
this kind of stuff exists in the industrial sector. They tray like chassis in which you can slot in blades of different funciton (similar to blade servers but the blades are different in design). it is not per say "stackable" as the issue that commes with this idea is "how do i replace the middle layer without moving the entire half of the stack" hence why we have screw in rack mounts. in the industrial sector they prepare slot in emplacements for you to put equipement in. Not so new radio switches for example have slots in which you can fit networking redundancy switch multiple emitters, central computation units and so on. Industrial switches are also very much like this, in IT we have plenty of rackmounted monster chassis with expansion cards and the like. in the industrial field, everything looks like a PLC. you get a central unit and you can clip on more stuff to it. These solutions are simple to service, they are mounted on th35-7,5 DIN rails and you can remove any one module indidually as they are small. For vertically stacked servers, i see them as a big investement and hindrance. You would probably be locked in to the vendor, have big issues in terms of servicing any one layer. and for a product this size you would most likely need an IT team to deal with it anyway. what would be nice to see is a unified way of sharing power across an entire rack or cabinet.
This totally takes me back to the Thermaltake/BMW Level 10 days with its modular design. You could pick and choose: "I want this CPU unit, this storage unit, and that XYZ add-on unit," with the flexibility to swap things out over time. I love that concept! However, I do see a couple of design flaws. First, the lack of redundant power is concerning. A dual power supply option, or even a built-in bypass to switch between them, would be a game-changer, especially if you ever need to swap out the UPS. Second, there's no redundant network connectivity. If you're virtualizing like you mentioned, having the ability to team NICs or at least dedicate one NIC for management and another for virtual servers is crucial. Those features would really take the design to the next level.
YES, ABSOLUTELY. The design needs a lot of work. One thing USA people seem to miss is that not everyone lives in a large house with a garage they can stack all sorts of racks & noisy equipment. I live in an apartment flat. Noise is an issue, cooling is an issue, wiring and wifi signal are issues (all my walls are concrete, every room is an effin' faraday cage), available space is an issue, wife approval is an issue. Something that'll look nice in a frequently used room, be adequately cooled without noisy fans, can be separately serviced & upgraded would be great. The stackable design allows vertical growth with minimal footprint and as of now looks good but is functionally far from acceptable but I'm sure the geniuses at 45D will come up with new wonders.
great idea. specially for the small business where there is no room for a server rack. Maybe the idea of building sideways would be interesting. Having space on a top shelf that only allows for horizontal placement. With a modular system like this that should be an option. Great to see 45drives is really thinking outside the rack
As a homeowner I like this concept, but its viability (for me) is cost (initial and operations). Several thoughts came to mind: 1) cooling (maybe expanding the width to include air flow channels and add a cooling module that uses those channels); 2) add a system status/control module (touch panel/display); 3) sound levels (something this nice looking should be "displayed", but if its too loud it will be stuck in an IT closet); and 4) expandability (add "blank" module(s) for items like switches, modems, routers, etc. that keeps the clean aesthetic going). Overall, really like the concept and hope it comes to fruition! BTW, when I first saw it, I got a "2001: A Space Odyssey" vibe! LOL!!!
Really like the concept. It doesn't look to have a footprint much larger than an office printer, so I can't imagine the size would be a serious issue. Seems like it would work for all kinds of small businesses and many home lab folks. I'd really like to see this enclosure use commodity innards (like standard PSUs, motherboards, drive backplanes, etc.) that link up to the chassis interconnects using existing technology. If everything is proprietary such that a motherboard can't be swapped with a standard ATX replacement, then this will never fly.
Great concept. I can see this taking off with startups,SOHO, or homes that do not have racks in them. If they are able to cover high availability, affordable cost, and easy expansion/replacement/upgrade, then this could do well in the market. There would need to be a ton of customizations available for the nodes as well as 24/7 support for the democratically appointed "IT Guy." I would definitely see this as an investment for those who cannot afford or trust the cloud.
I like the concept and idea of it. It kind of reminds me of the shape of the Microvax 4200 we had back in the day. Yes it can appear to be a trash can with a tape drive. I think something like this would work for a dental office or small business office. That way they could tailor the stack to their needs. I would say the internal components should be common computer hardware, such as mobo, raid controller or drives. This way replacement parts 8-12 years after installation can still be found. You know most systems in medical offices are used until the wheels fall off (i.e. way beyond their useful life). If we think about a medical or business office. This system needs to be really quiet, or as quiet as possible if it might exist in a person’s working space. The appearance would be something that you might find in an office and not right away identify it as a computer. Other modules I could see is a 48 port networking switch. This would give the small office both computer, storage, and networking in one battery backed-up enclosure. The battery backup system should have some kind of management card that would integrate with an ilo/idrac like interface for out of band management for msp access (I realize this moves the system out of the use of commodity hardware). This out of band management interface could have some kind of vpn in place that could reach out to the monitoring msp. This vpn should be transparent to whatever ISP the customer is using and not require any changes to the customer ISP router. Something else (reflecting back on the mv4200) is a roll-about base. Simply a platform the compute stack would sit on where you could move the server around. Depending on the battery pack size, the stack could be quite heavy, maybe too much for a desktop work surface. Of course, all of this revolves around the price point. If its quiet, looks like a water cooler, has plenty of compute power, manages itself, built in network switch for the entire office, and costs as much as the doctor’s 2nd yacht it simply won’t be purchased. In general I like the idea and thinking of this project.
yes to the half rack!! it creates the ability for growth as needed instead of having to step to a full size item first. like the HL4 and 8 there is a need for something to be that small and if you create it so people can use it in a smaller design then you open the world to home labs and enterprise needs!! Thanks for always bringing us the coolest stuff!!
Make nodes that need maintenance slide the internals out the front. think of a blade server chassis. the power and data going up the stack stays in tact but the internals of the node can be pulled out hot swap style to service it.
Why not both? Bottom unit is power and mounts in standard 19" space. Then each later unit mounts on rails which hold each subsequent unit which when slid in, the last 1" of sliding in begins lowering it until its fully in and dropped fully down on top of the unit below it, pressing the connections between the two devices together. Each added device that slides in, and lowers down onto the units below it unifying power, bus and cooling in the stack.
Great idea, small businesses don’t always want to spend money on a rack. Full servers not in a rack, look funny. Something like takes less floor space. Could put it under a desk. Make it white so it would blend in to wall
these interconnects are the most critical piece in this "stack". Hope 45 drives has some experienced electronic design engineer(s) on board, that know high speed buses well, otherwise it will be a waste of resources
This idea is really good. I believe that this is often seen with those Blade servers that cost a fortune and fell into disuse, but nowadays with hyperconvergence this is making a comeback in the market. I believe that this is a product that has a great future.
I would prefer it without a UPS, power, or CPU units. I will provide my own UPS. I just want a storage unit with a CPU and PSU that can be expanded / stacked with one or more duplicate units if needed. This is pretty common with network switches--connected with stack cables--with one of them being the master and others slaves. Something similar for storage would be nice.
The concept is certainly neat and I can see the appeal. One thing I would like to see on future iterations, if the concept lives long enough would be to have the compute unit (maybe others as well where it makes sense) mounted in a drawer of some kind. Have flexible interconnects to allow the entire MB and it's components to be slid out if you want to do some servicing like hot-adding/swapping RAM or even just cleaning, all without the need to un-stack it. I imagine that's something that has already crossed their minds though. Regardless, very cool!
having a modular system would be amazing for some of our clients. in my head i see a double option. having it be standard rack size would be nice and having the back plane be a larger unit so you can slide in the modules you need (blade style?) from the 90s. like a optional rack mount cabinet. need gpus for editing? ... slide in the module ... need a storinator worth of drives ... slide in the module. dont need it in a rack ... attach feet and set it on a table. would be a game changer for a lot of companies
I feel like a German automotive engineer came up with this - no consideration for maintenance lol. I think rackless servers is a great idea especially for small businesses who feel intimidated by the idea of racks. The biggest hurdle I see is coming up with a solution that allows repairs without taking the entire stack offline. Unless each stack is meant to be a single service, then that would render my point moot. My own quick thoughts to solve my concern I end up to something like blade servers with some sort of bus at the back. Maybe with adjustable ports?
If the concept moves to stackable shelves, that would be pretty usable in a pro-sumer, RUclipsr, work-at-home environment. But so long as you have to removes stacks to service any middle piece, that's not the friendliest of formats.
I think this is a great concept for on-prem dev, bcp and edge solutions. We don't see enough modular designs at the mid tear.adding a 10gbps module and a liquid cooling or ac option would be a game changer, if it were a solution with long term support on open standards. Imagine being able to just add an Nvidia cluster to your existing stack with just a few modules or going crazy as you scale. Awesome!
Cool concept! I like the clean look! For a small office, it might be nice to have 2-4 RU enclosure on top for the local network. My thought is, a small office could have a stack that included the network. That would keep them from having a separate rack for the network. I agree with the serviceability. How do you swap memory, UPS battery, PSU? As long as you don't have to un-stack the drives to get to a component. Maybe have drawer sliders for the serviceable components? That's one thing a rack has is granular modularity.
I've loved this concept for decades... I think it was something in Cyberpunk 2013 RPG from the 90's had it mentioned somewhere. Making it work and stay current seems to have eluded people so far. But wouldn't it be good if someone could make it with a modular and generationally upgradable setup. Just feels like it would be so much better for small businesses than tower servers.
A server tower chassis that fits on a rack shelf or could be converted to rack mount with bolt on ears, with a bunch of 5.25" bays along the front, a mid plane for fans, and support for micro atx and atx psus keeping the depth short. Bonus points for supply non backplane 3.5" adapters for the 5.25 bays and for the whole thing to be low cost. Not much more expensive than something like a fractal torrent or define. Rails and ears optional accessories. Edit: or a nice 10" rack case. Micro atx, atx or sfx psu, some 3.5" bays (direct wire is fine).
This is not a new concept, I remember proposing something like this to a computer manufacturer in the 90's. Everyone I talked to thought it was crazy, there was no way a single consumer or even a single computer manufacturer could set a standard. I wasn't trying to do that, I just proposed an idea and hoped someone could take it to the next level. At any rate, the idea is great, but flexibility is paramount. One idea I proposed was "plug and play HDDs". Just a slot in the front of a chassis where a user could hot swap HDDs. Well, here we are 30 years later and it's commonplace. In the demonstrated concept here, I'd suggest a design where a single "box" (or even "function") could be removed for maint or upgrade without having to take the whole system apart. Something a racked system doesn't have to worry about. Another one is that the interconnects, especially power are in the top & bottom of the units. I'd suggest a sort of a backplane with power on one side and data on the other where single "units" could be plugged in and be removable. Framework laptops have addressed this concept very well in the portable market. I would definitely buy something like that for a (for lack of a better word) a "desktop" system. There is nothing I'd like more than replacing an ugly rack system in an office or home environment with something sleek and easy to maintain. I agree, the logistics are going to challenging, like I/O, power, space, and cooling. Go for it, build it and they will come if it's a good idea, and I think this one is.
In the early 1980s, SJResearch shipped stackable Network File / Print servers, with optional SCSII disk and tape slices available to purchase and stack. Acorn Computers similarly sold their, ARM based, RiscPCs in slices, in the early 90s, with optional storage or compute slices available to daisy chain into the system.
I believe that would be perfect for small Businesses But what would also be good is for home labs, and also I like security, be nice to have a nice security camera set up that is very powerful with AI the whole works. HI res ect. love new ideas, like this.
I love this concept. It would be cool if you could buy stackable devices and then if you upgrade to a rackmount system, they could be easily converted.
I love the concept…. It think full rack width would make adding things later easier (like the networking switch you mentioned). The ability to use standard rack mounting solutions (wall mounting in a closet) that small businesses would need.
I like the concept. As for serviceability, IMHO it doesn't seem that bad (as compared to most modern "stuff" & cars, where you need to remove lots of components just to reach what needs to be replaced), but that's as long as interconnects are designed in such a way that they can endure the common environmental conditions which exist where the unit will be stacked (i.e. temperature swings, airflow, vibration, bumping the units inadvertently, etc). Also depends on the premium $$ vs a good tower system or a compact rack.
I don't know why, but the first thought I had was to make a deal with IKEA. They already provide our lack rack. They can expand to build it yourself home server. It looks really cool though. Please add wheels and a table top ;).
HA would look like not an option on something like this, at this current stage Maybe if it was like backplane or cabled design. easy servicing and HA capability are things im missing(maybe a horizontal design witha backplane so you can remove em kinda like books
Saw a similar concept a couple of decades ago at an IBM briefing center. Pluggable blue cubes that scales out the system by adding the blue blocks, which added compute, memory and storage. Was really slick but never came to market.
I think something the width of a standard filing cabinet might be attractive to small businesses. Have it be able to slide under the average desk and give it some sort of splash/ingress protection for when the coffee gets spilled
a server rack definitely overwhelms some decision makers and engineers. Having a dependable all in one server, in a form factor that looks very similar to a tower unit but has the muscle of a rack unit, is a step forward in capturing that untapped market
Personally, I love this concept. It is a bit retro, though I love that too. But there is a lot of potential here. I would also love to see a smaller form factor of this idea based around MiniITX.
Very nice concept. Needs more than dowel pins to hold it together, something with bolts and metal bars would work. Two sizes would be smart, one half rack width for smaller businesses, one full rack for those who want to sit a full size switch on top. Maybe add a mounting method for a pair of rack ears as a bolt on addition, would just need the addition of the relevant mounting points to several of the modules and a modified 1 or 2u rack corner to fit to accomplish this.
oh my god this is a maintenance nightmare! who ever is feeding 45drives these frivolous ideas that could be better spent somewhere else, has a silver tongue.
I love seeing 45 drives experiment with something like this, and I think it's an interesting project, but it has many faults that make me think it would be a terrible _product_.
I love it, infact I have a name for it... STELA (from archaeology) . You can transport a "metal-stack" STELA within an office with a ubiquitous hand-truck. it's gonna need handles, maybe detachable or screw-in industrial or mil style. I think stage/event equipment has a very stable and robust ecosystem (packaging-wise) in case they want to look into that as a unified approach.
I think it would be interesting to see two seperate systems connected. Maybe two compute stacks ontop of one UPS module? Would they physically connect sideways or just use regular networking?
I could see something like this being useful in countries where internet infrastructure and access to cloud computing are severely lacking. This also assumes that the geopolitical forces are aligned to allow such a product to be sold in country. Definitely lots of hurdles to overcome.
Make it standard 19" rack width and add the option to mount rails, then they will be both stackable and rackable. Makes it possible to move to a rack if the needs outgrow the stacking concept, without having to replace everything.
I think they need to reconsider the goal of this from "modular" to anything else. The market for this is probably only SOHO, and it will most likely be severely out-competed in terms of pricing. They will have to understand most of their competition is either more modular (Tower PC, Rack), or with a better footprint (OTS NAS, iTX PC), so because of the likely high price it's going to have people will find compromises more valuable than going for this. A possible incentive to go for this which removes the competition from racks would be wide fans and low noise, this alone could warrant a good few tens of percentage of price difference. A possible incentive to go for this which removes the competition from Towers if not from every OTS solution whether NAS or PC would be server-grade features which are currently only available in enterprise pricing - such as redundant PSU. The modularity itself just won't be enough of a selling point to cover for the costs of production let alone R&D, a dentist who needs a storage or even a GPU upgrade to his inhouse server really doesn't care if it's going to take the technician 45 minutes to upgrade or 30 minutes to upgrade. But he will care if the technician's quote for the 30 minutes upgrade is going to be x2 as much in proprietary components.
This would have to be so much cheaper than a normal enterprise rack mount solution of equivalent power. The footprint of this looks equivalent to a network rack, so it doesn’t feel like you’re saving much space on the ground, but you’re using like 20U for one server?
Probably need handles or grooves on the sides to allow for easier handling. The current design is probably great for business because it looks like it is easy to stuff it in a corner and completely forget what it does and what it is. However, it does seem like it would more challenging to maintain than a server rack. However, the PCIE interconnect and power trick may be useful as an addon to the side of a server rack. Just make interconnect boards that correspond to 1U, 2U, etc. sizes.
Std width 19" needed, not sure if it's a problem in search of a solution or solution in search of a problem. Better off imo to have a system that could be installed on a rack and well stand alone. Perhaps make it have a back plane to make it serviceable each unit slides into?
Racks allow you to pull components in and out without having to lift up or deal with an entire stack... Rack servers already have interconnects between devices but it's usually done via cabling
It's a very clean, neat idea... but... how proprietary would this arrangement be? What happens when the PSU "block" fails? Can I make it redundant? Or, am I down entirely until 45D sends me a new PSU? Can I upgrade or repair the CPU "block" components with stuff that's locally available? Are the UPS batteries in a size and format that I could replace with locally available parts? What happens if the only network port dies for some reason? I get that most small businesses in the expected demographic aren't looking for a bunch of nines for uptime, but I also know that those aren't usually the kind of operations that can afford to keep (or would think about keeping) a bunch of proprietary spare parts sitting around for a rainy day. Ease of repair is very important for small businesses, and this makes me nervous at first glance.
Interesting concept. My issue would the stacking on top of each other module could be a problem. If you lay it on its side you could remove the Compute module without having to maybe lift off the GPU + Storage modules first. Back-plain wise.. the daisy chain power and data paths worries me. If the link fails at the bottom, how easy is it to fault find between the modules? Again laying this on its side the power/data can run in different direction if needed or both. Have each module a set size but larger module can be multiple of others. Backplain bar can have slots for power and data etc every “1SU” (but horizontal instead of vertical). (SU = Sideways Unit) The back-plain could be extendable but starts at “5SU”, example… 1SU UPS 1SU PSU 1SU CPU 2SU HDD Larger/expanded system might be… 10SU 3SU UPS 1SU PSU 2SU CPU 2SU HDD 1SU SSD 2SU GPU Also note: sideways unit modules would get the same access to cooler air from bottom intakes and expel heat from the top of each module. Rather than passing heat to the module above. Note2: no limits to height of each modules with this and they could be different heights. (Eg 2SU wide, 10U tall) Nice idea hope these comments give you something to test (send some love my way if you like ;) )
What makes this realistically different than something like a UCS Chassis from Cisco? Yeah it only needs 1 power hook up and 1 network hook up, but if I need HA I want multiple connections and paths so I can disconnect those modular pieces ad-hoc to do simple replacements. Right now this design is similar but as you said as a realization I think you're just going to end up closer to That UCS/Blade Center/ HCI style connectivity because if my UPS segment goes down I don't wanna have to take that entire thing apart to put in a new one, I want to be able to pull something out of the back, pop in a new ups module, and plug that module back in.
Sounds ideal for a small business, or even for a home NAS. Although it would probably be too costly for home use. Needs cooling/airflow of some sort IMO. Depending on the use case, the system could overheat as-is.
I've considered making nested legs of different lengths, with custom length cords in back. Just have a few pieces for my homelab. Stacking rackables now
Like many have said, Applaud it for trying to innovate, but in that iteration of the form factor, unserviceable and just hard to fit into locations. Probably better to concentrate on a 3-5U unit that would fit in a network rack with redundant PSUs. Don't include any sort of network switch, that's always so in flux for the situation, it'll bloat the cost and complexity for no reason. Would still be ok to see a build in UPS, but also would suggest not bothering, due to the availability of 1U and 2U network rack size units. Why specially make it when it can just be an off the shelf component. I would imagine a 3U version to have a typical 2U space for the motherboard and PSUs to exist, then a small 1U "shelf" stapled on that would facilitate 4 3.5 inch drives. The top shelf could be increased in side to allow more drives and/or fit GPUs. As an MSP tech, a cheap, simple microatx tower form factor system with redundant PSUs is really what I typically would like to see for my clients. Their storage needs don't change frequently, so they just buy the capacity they need at that time, and in 3-5 years when that may no longer be the case, they are replacing the aging system anyway and get larger storage then. The redundant PSUs are the most important thing typically so I can change out the damn UPS without turning off the system.
we build similar product 10 years ago (Ultrasonic device) not really a PC/Server, but central modul with power, Controll, Network and attached measurement modules via PCIe 8x AND power over a PCIe 16x slot/riser (the addon boxes have FPGAs for Measurment)....
Motorola PowerStack, one of the things I missed on getting in my collection. HP labs or IBM also did a cube based design with insane bandwidth, that sadly never made it to market.
Looks like a great idea that I'd be interested in trying out 😊 it would be good if sections could be upgraded over time (say for a more powerful cpu unit, or nvme storage array, etc.) but still keeping the compatability with the existing units.
The racks whole reason is to allow you to remove that piece "in the middle" without having to restack / disturb any of the other units. Want that all in one feel in a stack? Get a tower
Building a compact rack unit sorta like the Unifi rack seems more flexible, single vendor units like this are usually not a good idea, plus the maintenance everyone else has mentioned. You could take the same idea and build a square format 19 inch 6-8u rack, with square rack cases. That way the end user could convert to a full rack later if needed. I think making this its own form factor is just asking to be locked into an ecosystem with no path upwards.
Could it be both stackable and wall mountable? I could see this on the telcom plywood in a lot of small businesses. A filtered air intake on the bottom would be nice. If it were stacked on a desk, the lower unit could be air intake.
I like this but my only concern is physically securing it down to the floor. One reason i like rack mount even in small office is a can bolt it to the ground and the wall, bolt things into the rack, maybe with some non standard heads and put a mesh locking door. while it doesn't keep a thief from getting it all together hopefully its enough to slow them down long enough. With that said, would i buy it? very likely.
Having a stackable toolkit to work on cars and stuff, I can but imagine the pain in my back of having to lift one of those "modules"... Don't think it's gonna kick-off really... Might be "ok" for trying to test whether a certain spec for a server can make due for your needs, then buy a rackable server with those specs... But that's where it ends... More a validation thing than a production thing.
Really intriguing! Is definitely start at least work making this with UPS units, make them stackable and expandable, and at a price point that interview the big name large format UPS es... Idk how practical this while server would be... I'd almost just build a whole customer rack, and send it out on a pallet.
So many negative comments. Truly sad how many people have zero ability to think beyond what they see with their own limited experience and judge based solely on that, It's a CONCEPT. Use your imagination to think what it could be and how it could work.
My though was why are rackable and stackable mutually exclusive? What if the stackable components could be racked, and then not only could the system be stackable, but the company could sell an optional mini rack frame to hold everything together, for rigidity....
I like the concept. My first thought is serviceability. A system consolidated like that needs fail over equipment built in. That can keep the client running while the other piece of equipment is being serviced.
their "failover" is clustering, so you have more than one system
I see so many problems: how do you replace the UPS? The switch? Disassemble everything? Maybe make them like drawers? Then again looks like a rack? Maybe instead of 2.5" drives, a half unit drawer with M2? But then again then again we have expansion cards and each one does something. The concept is cool but not practical IMO.
I love this. As you mentioned, it's going to be great for home/small office/home office prosumers who need storage and compute density in a small space. The lack of cables is a huge plus; it's going to be much easier to place *and move.*
If a system like this existed a couple of years ago, I probably wouldn't have a 9U rack under my desk. If it's aimed at the home/small office, it'll also have to be relatively quiet (but not silent); it'll be interesting to see how that's done.
I actually really like the look: it's very reminiscent of a PDP-11 stack, which was absolutely a stackable computer. I can't wait to see how this develops. I'd love to see more videos on it if more news escapes their labs. :)
Agree on the servicing issue mentioned by others, the whole concept of the rack was to allow complete access to any piece of equipment without disturbing the others unnecessarily. Edge cards are just a different take on cables and although they make things neater, they trade flexibility for getting rid of the cable clutter.
This is rather like that modular computer one company (I forget which) came up with decades ago, where even the CPU and RAM were on a daughter board that could be swapped out. Fantastic idea with one critical flaw.
I feel like this is trying to solve an issue that could be solved at a lower cost with a modernized server tower.
this kind of stuff exists in the industrial sector. They tray like chassis in which you can slot in blades of different funciton (similar to blade servers but the blades are different in design).
it is not per say "stackable" as the issue that commes with this idea is "how do i replace the middle layer without moving the entire half of the stack" hence why we have screw in rack mounts.
in the industrial sector they prepare slot in emplacements for you to put equipement in.
Not so new radio switches for example have slots in which you can fit networking redundancy switch multiple emitters, central computation units and so on.
Industrial switches are also very much like this, in IT we have plenty of rackmounted monster chassis with expansion cards and the like.
in the industrial field, everything looks like a PLC. you get a central unit and you can clip on more stuff to it.
These solutions are simple to service, they are mounted on th35-7,5 DIN rails and you can remove any one module indidually as they are small.
For vertically stacked servers, i see them as a big investement and hindrance. You would probably be locked in to the vendor, have big issues in terms of servicing any one layer.
and for a product this size you would most likely need an IT team to deal with it anyway.
what would be nice to see is a unified way of sharing power across an entire rack or cabinet.
Love the concept. Nothing gets my OCD more amped than misaligned switches.
This totally takes me back to the Thermaltake/BMW Level 10 days with its modular design. You could pick and choose: "I want this CPU unit, this storage unit, and that XYZ add-on unit," with the flexibility to swap things out over time. I love that concept! However, I do see a couple of design flaws. First, the lack of redundant power is concerning. A dual power supply option, or even a built-in bypass to switch between them, would be a game-changer, especially if you ever need to swap out the UPS. Second, there's no redundant network connectivity. If you're virtualizing like you mentioned, having the ability to team NICs or at least dedicate one NIC for management and another for virtual servers is crucial. Those features would really take the design to the next level.
YES, ABSOLUTELY. The design needs a lot of work. One thing USA people seem to miss is that not everyone lives in a large house with a garage they can stack all sorts of racks & noisy equipment. I live in an apartment flat. Noise is an issue, cooling is an issue, wiring and wifi signal are issues (all my walls are concrete, every room is an effin' faraday cage), available space is an issue, wife approval is an issue. Something that'll look nice in a frequently used room, be adequately cooled without noisy fans, can be separately serviced & upgraded would be great. The stackable design allows vertical growth with minimal footprint and as of now looks good but is functionally far from acceptable but I'm sure the geniuses at 45D will come up with new wonders.
great idea. specially for the small business where there is no room for a server rack. Maybe the idea of building sideways would be interesting. Having space on a top shelf that only allows for horizontal placement. With a modular system like this that should be an option.
Great to see 45drives is really thinking outside the rack
That's a slick concept I like it. I think they should make it to be also rackable so it can flex multiple ways.
As a homeowner I like this concept, but its viability (for me) is cost (initial and operations). Several thoughts came to mind: 1) cooling (maybe expanding the width to include air flow channels and add a cooling module that uses those channels); 2) add a system status/control module (touch panel/display); 3) sound levels (something this nice looking should be "displayed", but if its too loud it will be stuck in an IT closet); and 4) expandability (add "blank" module(s) for items like switches, modems, routers, etc. that keeps the clean aesthetic going). Overall, really like the concept and hope it comes to fruition! BTW, when I first saw it, I got a "2001: A Space Odyssey" vibe! LOL!!!
Watercooling is more efficent. The compute unit should have blades with integrated water cooling from the backplane.
New ideas and prototypes are always good to see.
Keep testing. Keep trying. I am here for it.
Really like the concept. It doesn't look to have a footprint much larger than an office printer, so I can't imagine the size would be a serious issue. Seems like it would work for all kinds of small businesses and many home lab folks. I'd really like to see this enclosure use commodity innards (like standard PSUs, motherboards, drive backplanes, etc.) that link up to the chassis interconnects using existing technology. If everything is proprietary such that a motherboard can't be swapped with a standard ATX replacement, then this will never fly.
Great concept. I can see this taking off with startups,SOHO, or homes that do not have racks in them. If they are able to cover high availability, affordable cost, and easy expansion/replacement/upgrade, then this could do well in the market.
There would need to be a ton of customizations available for the nodes as well as 24/7 support for the democratically appointed "IT Guy." I would definitely see this as an investment for those who cannot afford or trust the cloud.
I like the concept and idea of it. It kind of reminds me of the shape of the Microvax 4200 we had back in the day. Yes it can appear to be a trash can with a tape drive.
I think something like this would work for a dental office or small business office. That way they could tailor the stack to their needs. I would say the internal components should be common computer hardware, such as mobo, raid controller or drives. This way replacement parts 8-12 years after installation can still be found. You know most systems in medical offices are used until the wheels fall off (i.e. way beyond their useful life).
If we think about a medical or business office. This system needs to be really quiet, or as quiet as possible if it might exist in a person’s working space. The appearance would be something that you might find in an office and not right away identify it as a computer. Other modules I could see is a 48 port networking switch. This would give the small office both computer, storage, and networking in one battery backed-up enclosure. The battery backup system should have some kind of management card that would integrate with an ilo/idrac like interface for out of band management for msp access (I realize this moves the system out of the use of commodity hardware). This out of band management interface could have some kind of vpn in place that could reach out to the monitoring msp. This vpn should be transparent to whatever ISP the customer is using and not require any changes to the customer ISP router. Something else (reflecting back on the mv4200) is a roll-about base. Simply a platform the compute stack would sit on where you could move the server around. Depending on the battery pack size, the stack could be quite heavy, maybe too much for a desktop work surface.
Of course, all of this revolves around the price point. If its quiet, looks like a water cooler, has plenty of compute power, manages itself, built in network switch for the entire office, and costs as much as the doctor’s 2nd yacht it simply won’t be purchased.
In general I like the idea and thinking of this project.
yes to the half rack!! it creates the ability for growth as needed instead of having to step to a full size item first. like the HL4 and 8 there is a need for something to be that small and if you create it so people can use it in a smaller design then you open the world to home labs and enterprise needs!!
Thanks for always bringing us the coolest stuff!!
Make nodes that need maintenance slide the internals out the front. think of a blade server chassis. the power and data going up the stack stays in tact but the internals of the node can be pulled out hot swap style to service it.
Great idea! Keep developing this technology. We need this. Finally cut down the rack from the setup.
This is an awesome concept. Cant wait for future updates and to see the iterations over time
When the intern tips over the entire stack.
Why not both? Bottom unit is power and mounts in standard 19" space. Then each later unit mounts on rails which hold each subsequent unit which when slid in, the last 1" of sliding in begins lowering it until its fully in and dropped fully down on top of the unit below it, pressing the connections between the two devices together. Each added device that slides in, and lowers down onto the units below it unifying power, bus and cooling in the stack.
I really like this idea. The thought of adding a "compute" module or "storage" module without much technical assistance onsite is real nice.
I think it is a great concept, good for the storage closet to keep things quiet. Great video Tom!
When the box in the middle needs to be serviced. When the storage needs wired to multiple CPU sleds.
About 3PM EST.
Great idea, small businesses don’t always want to spend money on a rack. Full servers not in a rack, look funny. Something like takes less floor space. Could put it under a desk. Make it white so it would blend in to wall
these interconnects are the most critical piece in this "stack". Hope 45 drives has some experienced electronic design engineer(s) on board, that know high speed buses well, otherwise it will be a waste of resources
Have to say the idea is brilliant. Even though it looks like it is from the 70's I love the look of it.
This idea is really good. I believe that this is often seen with those Blade servers that cost a fortune and fell into disuse, but nowadays with hyperconvergence this is making a comeback in the market.
I believe that this is a product that has a great future.
I would prefer it without a UPS, power, or CPU units. I will provide my own UPS. I just want a storage unit with a CPU and PSU that can be expanded / stacked with one or more duplicate units if needed. This is pretty common with network switches--connected with stack cables--with one of them being the master and others slaves. Something similar for storage would be nice.
The concept is certainly neat and I can see the appeal. One thing I would like to see on future iterations, if the concept lives long enough would be to have the compute unit (maybe others as well where it makes sense) mounted in a drawer of some kind. Have flexible interconnects to allow the entire MB and it's components to be slid out if you want to do some servicing like hot-adding/swapping RAM or even just cleaning, all without the need to un-stack it. I imagine that's something that has already crossed their minds though. Regardless, very cool!
Yeah, just mount everything in a rolling tool chest! Lol
A slice of server. Interesting idea.
having a modular system would be amazing for some of our clients. in my head i see a double option. having it be standard rack size would be nice and having the back plane be a larger unit so you can slide in the modules you need (blade style?) from the 90s. like a optional rack mount cabinet. need gpus for editing? ... slide in the module ... need a storinator worth of drives ... slide in the module. dont need it in a rack ... attach feet and set it on a table. would be a game changer for a lot of companies
I feel like a German automotive engineer came up with this - no consideration for maintenance lol. I think rackless servers is a great idea especially for small businesses who feel intimidated by the idea of racks. The biggest hurdle I see is coming up with a solution that allows repairs without taking the entire stack offline. Unless each stack is meant to be a single service, then that would render my point moot.
My own quick thoughts to solve my concern I end up to something like blade servers with some sort of bus at the back. Maybe with adjustable ports?
I love this concept. I wonder how it will be cooled, and cooled quietly.
If the concept moves to stackable shelves, that would be pretty usable in a pro-sumer, RUclipsr, work-at-home environment. But so long as you have to removes stacks to service any middle piece, that's not the friendliest of formats.
I think this is a great concept for on-prem dev, bcp and edge solutions. We don't see enough modular designs at the mid tear.adding a 10gbps module and a liquid cooling or ac option would be a game changer, if it were a solution with long term support on open standards. Imagine being able to just add an Nvidia cluster to your existing stack with just a few modules or going crazy as you scale. Awesome!
Interesting proof of concept and probably a starting point for something else.
Cool concept! I like the clean look! For a small office, it might be nice to have 2-4 RU enclosure on top for the local network. My thought is, a small office could have a stack that included the network. That would keep them from having a separate rack for the network. I agree with the serviceability. How do you swap memory, UPS battery, PSU? As long as you don't have to un-stack the drives to get to a component. Maybe have drawer sliders for the serviceable components? That's one thing a rack has is granular modularity.
I've loved this concept for decades... I think it was something in Cyberpunk 2013 RPG from the 90's had it mentioned somewhere. Making it work and stay current seems to have eluded people so far. But wouldn't it be good if someone could make it with a modular and generationally upgradable setup. Just feels like it would be so much better for small businesses than tower servers.
I think having shorter depth rack mount would me simpler. If you need to do something with the server on the bottom then you’re kinda screwed…
A server tower chassis that fits on a rack shelf or could be converted to rack mount with bolt on ears, with a bunch of 5.25" bays along the front, a mid plane for fans, and support for micro atx and atx psus keeping the depth short. Bonus points for supply non backplane 3.5" adapters for the 5.25 bays and for the whole thing to be low cost. Not much more expensive than something like a fractal torrent or define. Rails and ears optional accessories.
Edit: or a nice 10" rack case. Micro atx, atx or sfx psu, some 3.5" bays (direct wire is fine).
This is not a new concept, I remember proposing something like this to a computer manufacturer in the 90's. Everyone I talked to thought it was crazy, there was no way a single consumer or even a single computer manufacturer could set a standard. I wasn't trying to do that, I just proposed an idea and hoped someone could take it to the next level. At any rate, the idea is great, but flexibility is paramount. One idea I proposed was "plug and play HDDs". Just a slot in the front of a chassis where a user could hot swap HDDs. Well, here we are 30 years later and it's commonplace. In the demonstrated concept here, I'd suggest a design where a single "box" (or even "function") could be removed for maint or upgrade without having to take the whole system apart. Something a racked system doesn't have to worry about. Another one is that the interconnects, especially power are in the top & bottom of the units. I'd suggest a sort of a backplane with power on one side and data on the other where single "units" could be plugged in and be removable. Framework laptops have addressed this concept very well in the portable market. I would definitely buy something like that for a (for lack of a better word) a "desktop" system. There is nothing I'd like more than replacing an ugly rack system in an office or home environment with something sleek and easy to maintain. I agree, the logistics are going to challenging, like I/O, power, space, and cooling. Go for it, build it and they will come if it's a good idea, and I think this one is.
very nice concept !!
In the early 1980s, SJResearch shipped stackable Network File / Print servers, with optional SCSII disk and tape slices available to purchase and stack. Acorn Computers similarly sold their, ARM based, RiscPCs in slices, in the early 90s, with optional storage or compute slices available to daisy chain into the system.
I believe that would be perfect for small Businesses But what would also be good is for home labs, and also I like security, be nice to have a nice security camera set up that is very powerful with AI the whole works. HI res ect. love new ideas, like this.
I love this concept. It would be cool if you could buy stackable devices and then if you upgrade to a rackmount system, they could be easily converted.
I love the concept…. It think full rack width would make adding things later easier (like the networking switch you mentioned). The ability to use standard rack mounting solutions (wall mounting in a closet) that small businesses would need.
I like the concept. As for serviceability, IMHO it doesn't seem that bad (as compared to most modern "stuff" & cars, where you need to remove lots of components just to reach what needs to be replaced), but that's as long as interconnects are designed in such a way that they can endure the common environmental conditions which exist where the unit will be stacked (i.e. temperature swings, airflow, vibration, bumping the units inadvertently, etc). Also depends on the premium $$ vs a good tower system or a compact rack.
Also had this concept, built my homelab in three stackable Bosch l'Boxx contaiers.
I don't know why, but the first thought I had was to make a deal with IKEA. They already provide our lack rack. They can expand to build it yourself home server.
It looks really cool though. Please add wheels and a table top ;).
Nice concept for active directory servicers
HA would look like not an option on something like this, at this current stage Maybe if it was like backplane or cabled design. easy servicing and HA capability are things im missing(maybe a horizontal design witha backplane so you can remove em kinda like books
Great idea! Love it! We need more ideas like this!
Saw a similar concept a couple of decades ago at an IBM briefing center. Pluggable blue cubes that scales out the system by adding the blue blocks, which added compute, memory and storage. Was really slick but never came to market.
I think something the width of a standard filing cabinet might be attractive to small businesses. Have it be able to slide under the average desk and give it some sort of splash/ingress protection for when the coffee gets spilled
a server rack definitely overwhelms some decision makers and engineers. Having a dependable all in one server, in a form factor that looks very similar to a tower unit but has the muscle of a rack unit, is a step forward in capturing that untapped market
Personally, I love this concept. It is a bit retro, though I love that too. But there is a lot of potential here. I would also love to see a smaller form factor of this idea based around MiniITX.
A half rack size version of this would be very cool for a Home Lab - 3 mini PC nodes for a cluster, storage, networking and power.
Very nice concept. Needs more than dowel pins to hold it together, something with bolts and metal bars would work. Two sizes would be smart, one half rack width for smaller businesses, one full rack for those who want to sit a full size switch on top. Maybe add a mounting method for a pair of rack ears as a bolt on addition, would just need the addition of the relevant mounting points to several of the modules and a modified 1 or 2u rack corner to fit to accomplish this.
oh my god this is a maintenance nightmare! who ever is feeding 45drives these frivolous ideas that could be better spent somewhere else, has a silver tongue.
I love seeing 45 drives experiment with something like this, and I think it's an interesting project, but it has many faults that make me think it would be a terrible _product_.
I love it, infact I have a name for it... STELA (from archaeology) . You can transport a "metal-stack" STELA within an office with a ubiquitous hand-truck. it's gonna need handles, maybe detachable or screw-in industrial or mil style. I think stage/event equipment has a very stable and robust ecosystem (packaging-wise) in case they want to look into that as a unified approach.
I think it would be interesting to see two seperate systems connected. Maybe two compute stacks ontop of one UPS module? Would they physically connect sideways or just use regular networking?
I could see something like this being useful in countries where internet infrastructure and access to cloud computing are severely lacking. This also assumes that the geopolitical forces are aligned to allow such a product to be sold in country. Definitely lots of hurdles to overcome.
Make it standard 19" rack width and add the option to mount rails, then they will be both stackable and rackable. Makes it possible to move to a rack if the needs outgrow the stacking concept, without having to replace everything.
I think they need to reconsider the goal of this from "modular" to anything else. The market for this is probably only SOHO, and it will most likely be severely out-competed in terms of pricing. They will have to understand most of their competition is either more modular (Tower PC, Rack), or with a better footprint (OTS NAS, iTX PC), so because of the likely high price it's going to have people will find compromises more valuable than going for this.
A possible incentive to go for this which removes the competition from racks would be wide fans and low noise, this alone could warrant a good few tens of percentage of price difference.
A possible incentive to go for this which removes the competition from Towers if not from every OTS solution whether NAS or PC would be server-grade features which are currently only available in enterprise pricing - such as redundant PSU.
The modularity itself just won't be enough of a selling point to cover for the costs of production let alone R&D, a dentist who needs a storage or even a GPU upgrade to his inhouse server really doesn't care if it's going to take the technician 45 minutes to upgrade or 30 minutes to upgrade. But he will care if the technician's quote for the 30 minutes upgrade is going to be x2 as much in proprietary components.
This would have to be so much cheaper than a normal enterprise rack mount solution of equivalent power. The footprint of this looks equivalent to a network rack, so it doesn’t feel like you’re saving much space on the ground, but you’re using like 20U for one server?
Probably need handles or grooves on the sides to allow for easier handling. The current design is probably great for business because it looks like it is easy to stuff it in a corner and completely forget what it does and what it is. However, it does seem like it would more challenging to maintain than a server rack. However, the PCIE interconnect and power trick may be useful as an addon to the side of a server rack. Just make interconnect boards that correspond to 1U, 2U, etc. sizes.
Std width 19" needed, not sure if it's a problem in search of a solution or solution in search of a problem. Better off imo to have a system that could be installed on a rack and well stand alone. Perhaps make it have a back plane to make it serviceable each unit slides into?
Yeah why not make it a rack/chassis with a backplane each device plugs into.
Racks allow you to pull components in and out without having to lift up or deal with an entire stack... Rack servers already have interconnects between devices but it's usually done via cabling
Seems cool for homelab
It's a very clean, neat idea... but... how proprietary would this arrangement be? What happens when the PSU "block" fails? Can I make it redundant? Or, am I down entirely until 45D sends me a new PSU? Can I upgrade or repair the CPU "block" components with stuff that's locally available? Are the UPS batteries in a size and format that I could replace with locally available parts? What happens if the only network port dies for some reason?
I get that most small businesses in the expected demographic aren't looking for a bunch of nines for uptime, but I also know that those aren't usually the kind of operations that can afford to keep (or would think about keeping) a bunch of proprietary spare parts sitting around for a rainy day. Ease of repair is very important for small businesses, and this makes me nervous at first glance.
Interesting concept. My issue would the stacking on top of each other module could be a problem.
If you lay it on its side you could remove the Compute module without having to maybe lift off the GPU + Storage modules first.
Back-plain wise.. the daisy chain power and data paths worries me. If the link fails at the bottom, how easy is it to fault find between the modules?
Again laying this on its side the power/data can run in different direction if needed or both. Have each module a set size but larger module can be multiple of others. Backplain bar can have slots for power and data etc every “1SU” (but horizontal instead of vertical).
(SU = Sideways Unit)
The back-plain could be extendable but starts at “5SU”, example…
1SU UPS
1SU PSU
1SU CPU
2SU HDD
Larger/expanded system might be… 10SU
3SU UPS
1SU PSU
2SU CPU
2SU HDD
1SU SSD
2SU GPU
Also note: sideways unit modules would get the same access to cooler air from bottom intakes and expel heat from the top of each module. Rather than passing heat to the module above.
Note2: no limits to height of each modules with this and they could be different heights. (Eg 2SU wide, 10U tall)
Nice idea hope these comments give you something to test (send some love my way if you like ;) )
So how do you change the battery in that UPS without shutting down the entire rack?
What makes this realistically different than something like a UCS Chassis from Cisco? Yeah it only needs 1 power hook up and 1 network hook up, but if I need HA I want multiple connections and paths so I can disconnect those modular pieces ad-hoc to do simple replacements. Right now this design is similar but as you said as a realization I think you're just going to end up closer to That UCS/Blade Center/ HCI style connectivity because if my UPS segment goes down I don't wanna have to take that entire thing apart to put in a new one, I want to be able to pull something out of the back, pop in a new ups module, and plug that module back in.
Sounds ideal for a small business, or even for a home NAS. Although it would probably be too costly for home use. Needs cooling/airflow of some sort IMO. Depending on the use case, the system could overheat as-is.
I've considered making nested legs of different lengths, with custom length cords in back. Just have a few pieces for my homelab. Stacking rackables now
Like many have said, Applaud it for trying to innovate, but in that iteration of the form factor, unserviceable and just hard to fit into locations.
Probably better to concentrate on a 3-5U unit that would fit in a network rack with redundant PSUs. Don't include any sort of network switch, that's always so in flux for the situation, it'll bloat the cost and complexity for no reason.
Would still be ok to see a build in UPS, but also would suggest not bothering, due to the availability of 1U and 2U network rack size units. Why specially make it when it can just be an off the shelf component.
I would imagine a 3U version to have a typical 2U space for the motherboard and PSUs to exist, then a small 1U "shelf" stapled on that would facilitate 4 3.5 inch drives. The top shelf could be increased in side to allow more drives and/or fit GPUs.
As an MSP tech, a cheap, simple microatx tower form factor system with redundant PSUs is really what I typically would like to see for my clients. Their storage needs don't change frequently, so they just buy the capacity they need at that time, and in 3-5 years when that may no longer be the case, they are replacing the aging system anyway and get larger storage then. The redundant PSUs are the most important thing typically so I can change out the damn UPS without turning off the system.
we build similar product 10 years ago (Ultrasonic device) not really a PC/Server, but central modul with power, Controll, Network and attached measurement modules via PCIe 8x AND power over a PCIe 16x slot/riser (the addon boxes have FPGAs for Measurment)....
Motorola PowerStack, one of the things I missed on getting in my collection. HP labs or IBM also did a cube based design with insane bandwidth, that sadly never made it to market.
Looks like a great idea that I'd be interested in trying out 😊 it would be good if sections could be upgraded over time (say for a more powerful cpu unit, or nvme storage array, etc.) but still keeping the compatability with the existing units.
I love the concept and I would buy it
Worked for Cisco cat switches. Those stacks could get massive.
very good idea.. I like the idea that everything in the stack share psu and ups... may be a good idea to add a switch to the stack
Love the idea for ROBO, Franchise stores, etc
The racks whole reason is to allow you to remove that piece "in the middle" without having to restack / disturb any of the other units. Want that all in one feel in a stack? Get a tower
Building a compact rack unit sorta like the Unifi rack seems more flexible, single vendor units like this are usually not a good idea, plus the maintenance everyone else has mentioned. You could take the same idea and build a square format 19 inch 6-8u rack, with square rack cases. That way the end user could convert to a full rack later if needed. I think making this its own form factor is just asking to be locked into an ecosystem with no path upwards.
Could it be both stackable and wall mountable? I could see this on the telcom plywood in a lot of small businesses. A filtered air intake on the bottom would be nice. If it were stacked on a desk, the lower unit could be air intake.
I like this but my only concern is physically securing it down to the floor. One reason i like rack mount even in small office is a can bolt it to the ground and the wall, bolt things into the rack, maybe with some non standard heads and put a mesh locking door. while it doesn't keep a thief from getting it all together hopefully its enough to slow them down long enough.
With that said, would i buy it? very likely.
Er.. Battery replacement?
Next step is to add 25G switch.
ILO?
PCI?
M.2 seems to me the way to go.
Each module needs to be small and light enough that it is not only possible but *easy* to one person to quickly disassemble a stack for maintenance.
I love the idea! ❤
Having a stackable toolkit to work on cars and stuff, I can but imagine the pain in my back of having to lift one of those "modules"...
Don't think it's gonna kick-off really...
Might be "ok" for trying to test whether a certain spec for a server can make due for your needs, then buy a rackable server with those specs... But that's where it ends...
More a validation thing than a production thing.
Would it have a drawer so you service the internals?
Really intriguing! Is definitely start at least work making this with UPS units, make them stackable and expandable, and at a price point that interview the big name large format UPS es... Idk how practical this while server would be... I'd almost just build a whole customer rack, and send it out on a pallet.
Please don't take my less than enthusiastic response as a reason to NOT attempt this! I could definitely see a lot of potential here!
would love to have this at home
So many negative comments. Truly sad how many people have zero ability to think beyond what they see with their own limited experience and judge based solely on that, It's a CONCEPT. Use your imagination to think what it could be and how it could work.
My though was why are rackable and stackable mutually exclusive?
What if the stackable components could be racked, and then not only could the system be stackable, but the company could sell an optional mini rack frame to hold everything together, for rigidity....
Fun concept, dont see the market that is viable for actually building it.