With snake racks you are going to want a thermostat, I use Flexwatt heat tape with a herpstat on my rack. I doubt anyone here would ever recommend you use a rheostat in a rack.
As for the warm side and the cool side, you still have those. I use the 11" Flexwatt on my rack which holds rubbermaid 41qt tubs so about 1/3 of my tub is over the heat tape. So far this setup has been working for me and my snakes.
The DIY section has a lot of helpful posts on building racks, I would recommend you check that out.
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