Fitout By Sys Tim
The DeskPi RackMate T0 is a compact 10” wide, 4U server rack that brings about unique opportunities for deploying gear to the field. While DeskPi offers a full lineup of rack formats, this T0 has been dialed in as a field-deployable Raspberry Pi cluster; four Pi 5 boards, a PoE switch, and structured cabling—engineered to slide neatly inside a Systainer³ M 337 for safe transport and on-site deployment.
The Systainer is kitted with an EPP foam lid for shock absorption and a flat insert base for a stable platform. That means you can toss it in the van with confidence—your gear arrives ready to boot.
Build Notes • RackMate Assembly The T0 ships as a kit—straightforward to assemble. Once built, a four-Pi rack mount kit was installed, each bay populated with a Raspberry Pi 5 8GB. The kit actually comes with one shelf and one blank plate, which is nice. • Storage & Expansion Each Pi runs a Waveshare NVMe PCIe + PoE HAT, paired with a 256 GB NVMe SSD. Fast boots, high IOPS, and reliable local storage make these Pis behave like real servers, not dev boards. We trialed a couple of HATs—the Waveshare won out. Its shorter profile allows air space between stack layers, eliminating interference between the other Pis. To put an image to the SSD you will want to use something like this USB-C to NVME adapter. • Networking & Power A TP-Link 5-port PoE switch (120 W budget) feeds both power and data to all four Pis, with one uplink port for the site network. The switch is secured to the shelf with VHB tape, while the PSU brick is zip-tied in place for field durability. • Cabling Short, color-coded Cat6 patch leads keep wiring tight and traceable—critical when troubleshooting under time pressure.
Why It Matters
If you’re an engineer, IT tech, broadcast specialist, or field integrator, this setup solves a real problem: rugged, modular compute power that packs down into a Systainer. Whether you’re commissioning gear, staging code, testing networks, or running edge services, you get a repeatable, portable platform—built like the tools you trust.
Learn more at DeskPi. Discover the full Systainer³ lineup at Systainer USA.
Sys Tim
Build awesome things, with great people, have fun and make money! I created Systainer Store which became the largest dealer of Systainers in North America. In the fall of 2024 the store was sold to Systainer Systems North America and is now Systainer USA. I'm a business and strategy designer, an entrepreneur and a professional engineer. I've built SaaS and IOT businesses as well as rollercoasters, parades and fireworks shows.
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