4000D Column Rack

Upright vs horizontal — every material

All fit the 2200 mm limit. Horizontal is wider but shorter per level, so it doubles servers-per-column and is less slender (steadier).

In the room — 2.5 × 6 × 2.4 m

The racks stand in a row against the back wall, fronts (filtered intake) facing the aisle. Exhaust leaves the open rear and rises — ceiling extract hoods above that hot aisle pull it out, so hot air is removed at the ceiling while cool air is drawn across the aisle. 6 upright columns take 2.24 m of the 6 m wall; 3 horizontal columns take 1.81 m — either fits with a wide working aisle.

Fans & airflow

Cool air is pulled in the filtered front, over the boards, and pushed out by the case-top P12 ×3 (upward into the 45 mm gap when upright; through the louvred right panel when horizontal) and the rear P14 into the open rear. The rear is deliberately left open so the P14 exhausts freely and the PiKVM sits in that space. Toggle Airflow in the configurator for an animated particle flow (it runs on your GPU in the browser). A quantitative CFD pass on the RTX 5090 is possible if you want pressure/temperature numbers.

Joints & connections

How each level mounts — wall → 25×25 timber → runner → 25×25 timber → ply on top — as a plan section and a front section, with every screw named.

Assembly — step by step

Break the model apart with the exploded slider, then follow the steps. Sizes below are Aluminium · upright; the configurator shows them for the selected material and orientation.

1. 1
   Cut the frame · uprights 1695 mm

   Cut 4 uprights @ 1695 mm, 2 base width rails @ 272 mm and 2 base depth rails @ 633 mm. That is ALL the frame - levels have no cross-members.
2. 2
   Build the base + stand the uprights · 272x633 mm

   Join the base rectangle (272x633 mm) with corner brackets + M8 T-nuts, square it, then fix the 4 uprights to the corners.
3. 3
   Fit the phenolic box · 18 mm x4 panels

   Screw the 18 mm phenolic sides, top and bottom to the frame (louvre cut-outs on the right side for horizontal). The box squares the column and IS the level structure.
4. 4
   Mark the level heights · pitch 565 mm x 3

   On the inside of both phenolic walls mark each level line at 565 mm pitch from 100 mm.
5. 5
   Screw the wall timbers · 25x25 x 600 x 6

   PVA and screw a 25x25 timber into each 18 mm wall at every level line (4.0x40, 4 screws, pre-drill). The rail mounts on its face - nothing else holds the level.
6. 6
   Mount the rails + moving timbers · 600 mm rails x 3

   Screw each AOLISHENG outer member onto its wall timber (4.0x20, 6 screws), soft-close end to the rear. Then screw a second 25x25 timber to each INNER member (4.0x16 through the member holes).
7. 7
   Drop the trays on · 5.5 ply + 3 tied cross-ribs

   Screw three 25x25 cross-ribs between the moving timbers (ends screwed through the timbers, 4.0x50), rest the ply ON TOP and screw down (4.0x30). The 4000D then sits directly on the ply.
8. 8
   Castors + anti-tip · tGBL 100 mm x4

   Bolt the 4 tGBL 100 mm castors (2 braked) to the base with the supplied bolts/nuts, and fit the front anti-tip feet.
9. 9
   Rear kit · PiKVM on the tray tail

   Mount each PiKVM on the tray tail behind the case - it slides out WITH the server. Keep the rear open for the P14 exhaust.
10. 10
    Mesh door · 713 mm deep

    Hang/clip the mesh pre-filter door on the front.
11. 11
    Load servers · 3 servers

    Set each 4000D directly on its ply tray, heaviest (VDI) at the bottom. Fans: P14 x3 front intake, P12 x3 on the case top (blowing UP when upright / facing the louvred side when horizontal), P14 rear.

Frame — other ways to build it

Four constructions compared for the upright column. The interesting one is B: make the 18 mm phenolic ply the frame itself (a cabinet carcass) — the AOLISHENG side-mount slides screw straight into the 18 mm walls, so there are no uprights, no shelf rails, and no brackets at all; the level pitch drops by the rail height, which buys an extra level under 2.2 m; and the box is inherently rigid and already intake/exhaust-separated.

The runner's 4.0×20 screws drive into the timber face; the timber's 4.0×40 screws + PVA drive into the 18 mm phenolic (or through the cabinet's steel skin). Demand is ~100 N per side; each screw holds ~700 N in shear.

Tray stiffening — 9 mm ply

The 4000D sits directly on the flat ply (its own feet give the PSU intake its gap). Three 25×25 cross-ribs run UNDER the ply with their ends screwed into the moving timbers, so the ply spans front-to-back between tied supports and the load reaches the rails. The 5.5 mm ply first chosen was at 93 % of the L/360 limit under a 20 kg case's feet (point loads), so the tray is 9 mm: 0.13 mm under a VDI foot vs 0.61 mm allowed, for 3.5 mm of pitch and no level lost. Options and the two I got wrong (span 190 mm, limit 0.53 mm):

Clearances

Materials, castors & fasteners

Fastener schedule

Mesh pre-filter door — options

Every variant