Our home remodelling project is advancing, but slowly. This week they put on the doors and windows in the new part of the house (we are still in Phase I: build new part; Phase II is 'rehab old part'; we were supposed to be finished with it all by now.) The plumbing and electric is mostly done and the ducting. If all goes well, the network guy is coming Real Soon Now to wire the home network…
Meanwhile I have to spec out the equipment. We settled on structured cat 5e cable that will handle phones and the network. I think I've picked a router and a switch, although I haven't ordered either. The old wireless router and switch will be relegated to serving as a mere access point and run off a different part of the network.
I ordered patch panels and also a wall mount for them as I still don't have a clear idea of what sort of rack or other platform I need to hold the gear. Something pint-sized compared to the professional gear, I'd imagine. Maybe this?
The gear is going to live wedged in a very wide closet about 26”deep, with the patch panel living on the 26” wall. In the fullness of time it may hold more switches, a server or two, some phone gear, and who knows what. I think I want a rack with wheels rather than the kind you screw into the floor and (9') ceiling, but beyond that there seem to be a bewildering number of choices, all of which need accessories to hold anything.
Of course, I won't get to use any of this stuff until that side of the house has the electricity turned on and is ready to move into. I just hope that installing the new network doesn't require pulling the plug on the existing, temporary, DSL connection. If it does, I may have to try pointing a Pringles can at the University.
For future planning purposes, you should know a wall-mount rack is unlikely to hold any but the most exotic (and therefore disproportionately expensive) servers—they’re usually too deep (>22 inches).
A good place to browse options is Middle Atlantic; don’t just hit the section labeled “racks”, either—the studio furniture area has some less industrial racks. Personally, I have a MDV-R12, although I skipped on the casters, personally.
Looks like a good set up. I echo Michael Dorman’s sentiments regarding racks. Of course, the question is, why the need to run servers out of the house? Unless you have a lucrative side-business as a webhosting service, the wallmount will be enough for patch panels and internal switches.
Looks like a good set up. I echo Michael Dorman’s sentiments regarding racks. Of course, the question is, why the need to run servers out of the house? Unless you have a lucrative side-business as a webhosting service, the wallmount will be enough for patch panels and internal switches.