In a data center, everything is neatly organized and placed exactly where it should be in rows of racks. Anyone who spends a lot of time in these environments might find within themselves an urge to organize other aspects of their life, such as their desk, their closet, or their electronics. Software engineer Patrick Pötz shared this desire for organization, but found existing rack solutions to be too specific to meet all of his needs.
For this reason, Pötz created what he calls HomeRacker, which is a fully modular 3D-printable rack-building system for virtually any racking needs. It is useful for making anything from a server rack to a shoe rack or a bookshelf. If you can dream it up, you can build it yourself with HomeRacker.
A selection of 3D-printed components (📷: Patrick Pötz)
The idea emerged while Pötz was exploring homelabs earlier this year, when he discovered that most rack designs available online were far too narrow in scope. Many were tailored to the creator’s own devices, supported only the 10-inch standard, or required adapters and modifications that defeated the point of modularity. Instead of buying increasingly larger racks or redesigning his setup every few months, Pötz set out to engineer a system that would scale in any direction.
HomeRacker is built around three fundamental components: supports, connectors, and lock pins. Supports form the structural backbone and come in heights based on a 15-millimeter base unit. Connectors link supports in one, two, or three dimensions to make everything from simple frames to elaborate multi-bay structures. Lock Pins secure the pieces, sliding into precisely dimensioned 4-millimeter holes without the need for screws or tools. Thanks to tight tolerances and convex geometry, every part stays snugly in place but can also be disassembled with a bit of leverage.
The examples shown include a Raspberry Pi mini-rack, 10-inch network rack, and bookshelves, but Pötz emphasizes that the design is intentionally open-ended. He imagines makers using it for furniture, homelab gear, airflow-optimized enclosures, or hybrid projects that blur the line between décor and utility. To support this, he released the entire HomeRacker system under open licenses — MIT for source code and CC BY 4.0 for 3D models.
HomeRacker reflects both the spirit of open hardware and the urge to organize that so many homelab enthusiasts share. With nothing more than a 3D printer and some filament, anyone can now build the exact rack they want, and reshape it whenever the need arises.
