IKEA LACK Rack Guide: Build a LackRack for Your Home Lab

The LackRack might be the most famous hack in the home lab community. Take an IKEA LACK side table, screw your network gear between its legs, and you have a working 19-inch rack for switches and patch panels. It sounds like a joke, but it works surprisingly well for light gear.

According to the LackRack wiki that eth0 still hosts, the LackRack debuted at eth0:2010 Winterlan, a Dutch hacker event, and it spread from there through forums, Reddit and home lab communities. The concept is simple: the gap between the LACK side table’s legs happens to suit 19-inch rack equipment. The basic build needs no modification. Assemble the table, mount your gear between the legs, and you’re done.

This guide covers what you need to know: which table to buy, what fits, weight limits, ventilation, stacking, and when it’s time to move on to a real rack.

What Is a LACKRack?

A LACKRack is an IKEA LACK side table repurposed as a 19-inch equipment rack. It works because of a happy coincidence of dimensions. The “19 inches” in a 19-inch rack is the width across the equipment’s mounting ears (482.6mm). The body of the gear is narrower, and standard rack rails leave an opening of about 450mm (17.7 in), with the mounting holes about 465mm (18.3 in) apart. The gap between the LACK’s legs is narrower than that hole spacing but wider than the gear, so the body slides between the legs and the ears screw into the front faces of the legs.

The home lab and hacker communities adopted the LACKRack because it solves a real problem. A purpose-built rack costs several times more than a side table, and for someone experimenting with a first network switch or patch panel, a table that does most of the same job for light gear is a smart place to start.

The LACKRack has become a rite of passage in the home lab world, the physical equivalent of running your first Proxmox VM or setting up Pi-hole. It’s not the final destination, but it’s a great starting point.

Which LACK Table to Buy

You want the IKEA LACK side table, 55 x 55 cm (21 5/8 x 21 5/8 inches). This is the specific model that works. IKEA’s smaller LACK tables are too narrow for 19-inch gear, and the coffee table is a different build (more on that below).

Key specs for the 55 x 55 cm LACK side table:

• Price: IKEA US lists it at $16.99 (article number 801.042.68 in black-brown, or 304.499.08 in white)
• Top dimensions: 55 x 55 cm (21 5/8 x 21 5/8 inches)
• Height: 45 cm (17 3/4 inches)
• Leg spacing: close to the roughly 450mm opening between 19-inch rack rails, so rack ears screw into the legs
• IKEA-rated max load on the tabletop: 22 lb (10 kg)
• Package weight: 7 lb 14 oz, per IKEA

IKEA sells the table in several finishes, including black-brown and white. Black-brown is the most popular for LACKRack builds because it looks closest to actual rack equipment.

What about the LACK coffee table? The LackRack wiki’s “Enterprise Edition” uses the LACK coffee table, which IKEA lists at 35 3/8 x 21 5/8 inches (90 x 55 cm) with a lower shelf. It keeps the side table’s 55 cm width but is about 35 cm (14 in) longer, and the wiki counts 8U of mounting space, 4U on either side of the shelf. It costs more, and the wiki notes it is less stable than two regular side tables combined. The side table is the classic choice.

Buy two tables if you think you’ll need more than about 9U. A spare costs little and lets you stack later.

What Fits in a LACKRack

The LACKRack accommodates standard 19-inch rack-mount equipment, with some caveats.

Fits well (common in community builds):

• 1U network switches (managed and unmanaged)
• 1U patch panels
• Shallow 1U shelves
• Raspberry Pi rack-mount kits
• Most home-grade network gear

Fits with care:

• Light 2U network gear, kept in the solid section of the legs (see below)
• Shallow shelves for a mini PC or router

Keep off the LACK:

• UPS units: a 1500VA tower like the CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD weighs 24.9 lb, more than IKEA’s 22 lb tabletop rating on its own
• NAS units and servers, which are heavy and often deep
• Full-depth rack equipment of any kind

Depth: The table is 55 cm (21 5/8 inches) deep. Gear screwed to the front legs extends back under the tabletop, which is fine for switches and patch panels because they are usually shallow. Deeper gear hangs from the front legs only, so keep it light.

Rack unit count: The LackRack wiki counts almost 9U of space between the legs of a single side table. Only the top 5 cm (2 inches) of each leg is solid, though, so the space you can load with anything but light gear is smaller. The exact count depends on where you position your first device.

A TP-Link SG108E 8-Port Switch is a popular first piece of gear for a LACKRack. It’s compact and light and has no rack ears, so set it on a NavePoint 1U Cantilever Shelf screwed to the legs.

Weight Limits

This is where the LACKRack’s charm meets reality. The LACK table was designed for a lamp and a few magazines, not a stack of servers.

The legs are hollow. The LackRack wiki notes that current LACK tables have hollow legs with only the top 5 cm (2 inches) solid. IKEA lists the legs as particleboard and fiberboard and the tabletop as a honeycomb paper-filled panel. That is what makes the table so light and so cheap, but it also means screws have little to grip below the solid section.

What IKEA actually rates:

Treat any load figure you see quoted for leg-mounted gear as an unrated community estimate.

Reinforcing the legs: Some builders fit square timber into each leg and glue it in place, turning the hollow legs into solid posts. That can make the legs stiffer, but IKEA does not rate a modified table, so there is no published capacity for the result.

Bottom line: Keep a LACKRack to light network gear, such as a couple of switches, a patch panel and some cable management, mounted as close to the solid tops of the legs as you can. The CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD, at 24.9 lb, outweighs IKEA’s 22 lb tabletop rating on its own. Put the UPS on the floor.

Ventilation and Mods

The LACKRack has one natural advantage over enclosed racks: it’s open on all sides. Air flows freely around your equipment without any modification. For a basic setup with a switch and a patch panel, you won’t need additional cooling.

When you need active cooling:

• Multiple devices generating heat (especially anything with spinning drives)
• Stacked LACKRacks where an upper table traps warm air under its top
• Hot climates or rooms without air conditioning

Common ventilation mods:

1. Leave a gap under the tabletop. With the table standing normally, the tabletop sits right above your top device, and warm air can pool beneath it. Leave a little space between the top device and the tabletop.

2. Add a small USB fan. A 120mm USB fan aimed through the open side of the table pushes warm air out from under the tabletop. It is cheap, effective and reversible.

3. Don’t cut into the tabletop. The tabletop’s honeycomb core is what gives it its strength, so cutting holes in it weakens it, especially if another table stands on top.

Other popular mods:

• Mounting rails: Screw L-shaped aluminum or steel brackets to the inside of the legs to create mounting rails. This lets you secure gear with rack screws instead of screwing ears straight into the particleboard.
• Cable management: Velcro One-Wrap ties wrapped around the legs keep cables tidy without drilling. You can also screw small cable management hooks into the legs.
• Feet: Add felt pads or rubber feet to the ends of the legs to protect floors.
• Shelf inserts: Cut a piece of plywood or acrylic to sit inside the legs as a shelf for non-rack-mount gear like Raspberry Pis or external drives.

Stacking LACK Tables

One LACK side table gives you almost 9U. Need more space? The LackRack wiki notes that LackRacks can be stacked, but brackets to secure the upper table are not included.

How stacking works:

1. Assemble two tables and mount the gear in each.
2. Stand the upper table on the lower table’s top, with its legs lined up over the legs below.
3. Secure each of the four leg joints with an L-bracket or corner brace.

The lower tabletop now carries the upper table and everything in it, and IKEA rates the tabletop for 22 lb.

Stacking tips:

• Always use brackets. Without them, the stack is unstable. Four L-brackets and a handful of screws are all you need.
• Keep the load light. Put the heaviest gear in the lower table, and keep the upper table’s total well within what the lower tabletop is rated to carry.
• Anchor tall stacks to the wall if you go three tables high. A tall, narrow stack is a tipping hazard, especially when you pull gear in and out. Two L-brackets screwed into wall studs solve this.

A two-table stack gives you almost 18U of mounting space for light network gear, for about $34 in tables at IKEA’s US price before brackets. Keep the UPS and any NAS on the floor beside it.

When to Graduate to a Real Rack

The LACKRack is a fantastic starting point, but it has real limits. Here are the signs it’s time to move on:

Your gear is getting heavy. Once you’re running a proper NAS, a UPS or servers, you’re past what a LACK table is rated for. The StarTech 2POSTRACK12 is rated for 350 lb total, but it is still a two-post design for shallow gear. For deep or heavy equipment that needs rear support, use a four-post rack like the StarTech 4POSTRACK12U.

You need proper cable management. The LACKRack has no built-in cable routing. With 5 or more devices, cables become a mess no matter how many Velcro ties you use. Real racks have vertical cable channels, horizontal management panels and proper strain relief.

You want adjustable depth. The LACK’s fixed 55 cm depth can’t accommodate deeper gear. Four-post racks like the StarTech 4POSTRACK12U adjust from 22 to 40 inches.

You’re adding full-depth servers. Enterprise and prosumer rack servers (like a Dell PowerEdge or HP ProLiant) are often 24 to 30 inches deep. They physically don’t fit in a LACK.

Screws are working loose. Particleboard and hollow legs give screws little to grip, and vibrating gear with fans or spinning drives can loosen them over time. IKEA’s own care notes say to check the fastenings regularly and retighten them.

For recommendations on your next rack, see the best server rack for home lab guide, or if space is tight, check out the best mini rack options that start at 6U.

Common Mistakes

Buying the wrong LACK table. You want the 55 x 55 cm side table specifically. Smaller LACK tables are too narrow for 19-inch gear, and the coffee table is a different, longer build.

Overloading the table. IKEA rates the tabletop for 22 lb and does not rate the legs at all. Keep the total load light, and don’t count on reinforcement to make a heavy load safe.

Skipping the brackets when stacking. An unsecured stack will eventually fall over. L-brackets cost almost nothing, so use them.

Mounting gear too low on the legs. Only the top 5 cm of each leg is solid, and below that the legs are hollow. If you’re screwing into the legs, place your rack ears as close to the top as possible.

Forgetting about depth. People build a LACKRack, then try to fit a deep rack UPS or server. Measure your gear before building.

No cable management plan. The open design looks great with two cables. It looks terrible with twenty. Plan your cable routing before you start connecting things. A few Velcro One-Wrap ties go a long way.

Wrap-Up

The IKEA LACK side table is one of the cheapest ways to hold 19-inch network gear. It won’t replace a proper server rack for serious builds, but for a first home lab with a managed switch, a patch panel and maybe a Raspberry Pi cluster, it’s hard to beat.

The LACKRack teaches you something about home labbing that expensive gear doesn’t: constraints force creativity. You’ll learn about rack units, cable management, airflow and weight distribution, all skills that transfer directly when you eventually upgrade to a real rack.

Start with one LACK table. Add your first switch. See how it feels. If you outgrow it, you’ve spent the price of a side table and learned a lot.

For a complete walkthrough of setting up your first rack (LACK or otherwise), see the home lab rack setup guide. And if you’re building your first lab on a budget, the home lab under $500 guide covers everything you need to get started.