Hey All... I currently live in an apartment, and have been using a 12U rack for the past several years. I'm getting a little tired of crawling on the floor to change this little bugger around. I've also nearly filled it up at this point. Does anyone have a decent 25/27U rack that they would recommend. I don't want anything terribly expensive, so something under $500 would be preferable. I'm trying to plan some projects for 2026 that don't require buying memory or storage, and this one has been bubbling just below the surface for a while now. Preferably it would be something 4-post, open on the sides, but with an option to add panels later if it somehow becomes desirable.

Check out my thoughts on this topic and how the change in hardware pricing and availability may affect how we run self-hosted services: https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/12/why-containers-will-be-more-important-than-ever-in-the-2026-home-lab/

Take a look at my post here. Do You Really Need Wi-Fi 7 in Your Home Lab in 2025? https://www.virtualizationhowto.com/2025/12/do-you-really-need-wi-fi-7-in-your-home-lab-in-2025/

Portainer has new feature that will alert if you have an outdated image and update is available. Also here is Watchtower fork that is stable and works with the current version of Docker and Docker Compose. Been running it week now and no issues so far. https://watchtower.devcdn.net/ https://github.com/beatkind/watchtower/

Been reading a lot on the forum discussing how high prices are especially around memory. A good solution is go on eBay or Facebook market and just buy a complete used computer that has the memory requirement you are looking for and just strip out what you need . After that, resell the computer or parts minus the memory. Another option are local paper, yard sales, thrift stores, etc. You would be surprise what you will find.