Well, yes I AM biased, but here’s the scoop…
Look around your microscope… What do you see? Small control boxes, Ac/Dc power converters, expensive components sitting on the floor. Is this really how an instrument should be built? I say no!
Racks for A/V and computing are relatively inexpensive. They provide a clean, standardized enclosure for you to house all of your little boxes in. When coupled to an appropriate power controller, you can actually set up a rack to turn on device 1 after so many seconds, then device two and so forth. This avoids the requirement of having to remember the sequence of events for a 12 (or more) component system. Racks also increase the safety of your delicate fibers. You can route fibers from the back of the rack, and into the scope, reducing the possibility of a user smashing one in the dark room. Racks make it much easier to move an entire instrument from room to room. Should you have a fluid leak in a room, your equipment will be sitting 2″ or higher from the floor, avoiding the possibility of flood damage to some degree. Finally, using a conventionally designed front window locking system, you can begin an imaging experiment, lock the rack faceplate, and leave, knowing that some errant user will have to step through one more layer of prevention before mucking up your timelapse, just to image some cultured cells!
Yes, they are a bit tougher to work on than conventionally scattered systems, but I’m fond of them for the reasons stated above, and admittedly for the coolness factor 🙂
-Austin