computer closet

I

iroc409

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
1,387
I have a fairly large (somewhat) walk-in closet in my home office. I would like to put my firewall and server in there along with various networking equipment and such to keep them out of the room. This is both for aesthetics and noise.

However, I am concerned that the machines will heat up (or mostly, the server) the closet too quickly and become useless. The door is a standard door, while it does have a larger-than-normal gap at the bottom it is not a ventilated door.

How valid are my concerns? I have thought of things like leaving the door open when I am not there, but this is not a fail-safe by any means.

Any experience with this? Will the heat be such a problem that this simply isn't a practical solution, or is this not even a concern with desktop-based equipment? I have used a firewall of similar heat capacity in a smaller closet, but the closet was more ventilated.
 
If heat is truly a concern cut a hole into the attic and attach a vent/fan combo that way. I would be more interested in how you would provide electrical and network cable into and out of the closet as extension cords are probably a bad idea...
 
I would vent it, but it the condo is a rental.

There is an outlet right next to the door, my UPS I believe has adequate cabling on it to reach and the location where the cable will run will be behind furniture. Ethernet will be run under the foot boards with some telephone wire (already there).

The closet has a switched power source internally, but I don't really want to mess with it - although the switch is inside the closet.

If I owned the place, I would rebuild a closet into a more proper location.
 
ive got a router,modem, and pc running in my closet and its just a normal sized closet with 2 doors and it doesnt get hot in there at all. When i get my clothes out in the morning its fine dosent seem any diff.
 
Sounds like it should work, Only way to know for sure is to try it. You may think about just running a window fan or something like that in the closet during the summer time just to circulate the air in the enclosed space.
 
you should be fine, but adding a portable air conditioner or fan of some sort wouldn't be a bad idea. If you're gonna get a fan, you minus well run it all the time, not just in the summer...
 
Thanks all - I will try it when I get home and see how it goes.

The fan idea isn't bad, although I am thinking about getting a separate AC unit for the office this summer. I have central heat, but not central air because apparently this part of the country "doesn't need it".

With a window unit running, I could leave the door open anyway - I couldn't hear anything but the AC.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top