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Network pics thread

Adam said:
Backups to CD-RW wha??? Heh, no maintenance. If a pc dies i reghost it... ghost takes 3-4 minutes, and the softwares already installed. Its one piece of software thats it on the entire machine. The software has a few settings that you put in to tell it which facility to monitor.

Web won't work, we're using software from the DVR manufacturer... its designed to monitor a remote facilities cameras (they all feed back [when theres motion so not to kill the bandwidth] from the various parks/beaches to a public safety office).

Works fine really, hardware is minimal... micro atx motherboards, 1 hd for the OS and then 2gb of memory, nothing else realy

Basically this isnt mission critical stuff that if one thing goes down they are down... the dvrs are still up throughout the town, and they can still monitor the facility via a different pc.. this is merely to allow them to see each park on a different monitor as watching 20+ parks on one monitor is taking up a lot of real estate on that 1 monitor.
Click to expand...



Hey Adam, do you use axis cameras or other brands ? I setup dvr's and axis cameras and stuff, pretty neat sfft, however there is one brand i just hate :) Setup a dvr for a customer last week and i have to pretty much enable all activ x settings, what a insecure system to see the dvr from a webpage/browser. :(
 
Adam said:
Here are some of my workshop to add to the pile of photos:

26684_1348584630091_1095570040_30891126_7094349_n.jpg
Click to expand...

That has got to be one of the best workshop setups I've seen! If I wasn't using a 16-port KVM and just one monitor, I'd consider a similar arrangement. Come to think of it, I don't think I've wound-up running more than 4 machines at the same time more than a couple of times over the years (although I do like the option). Still, I really like your shop!!
 
dashpuppy said:
Hey Adam, do you use axis cameras or other brands ? I setup dvr's and axis cameras and stuff, pretty neat sfft, however there is one brand i just hate :) Setup a dvr for a customer last week and i have to pretty much enable all activ x settings, what a insecure system to see the dvr from a webpage/browser. :(
Click to expand...

I've worked with Axis cams before, neat gear
 
Axis cameras are fun little things if you only need a camera here and there, i actually own one and its about 10 years old... but no we don't sell (well we can) axis. We use regular "analog" style cameras ranging from simpe inexpensive $60 cameras up to very expensive $2000+ PTZ cameras and the likes... we build our DVRs from scratch (they are computers which use PCI or PCI Express cards). We can do 4/6/8/16/32 (using 2 16 channel cards) systems. We can add space as we need to with hard drives or raid arrays (as we do with some clients)... we control the ports/etc... much more expandable/options then axis.

Whats good about the DVR system we use, its more then just a DVR... we can do pretty much anything with access control. We can have a PTZ camera move to a specific spot if an alarm is triggered, or we can have a PTZ track someone as they walk by... the system has facial recognition so it keeps a dbase of all faces and time stamps... we have one customer who uses the DVR system in a school, not for the camera (they have 1 camera hooked up for now) but as an alarm mapping program. We have a layout of the entire school and we have the DVR tied into the alarm system using two 16 channel alarm output boards. When a door is open, a light blinks on the map indicating the exact position of the door... stuff like that is what we do with the DVR's...

Anyway, yeah i used to use a 4 port kvm and it was a pain... so i said "if i ever got to build a new workshop i want 4 dedicated monitors"

Each monitor has a keyboard/mouse/monitor and 2 network ports. One is connected to our main network (internet access) while the 2nd is on its own network. It feeds to its own switch which is connected to my ghost server which runs a DHCP server. So i can ghost and keep the traffic dedicated to its own network (we found ghosting multiple machines with multicast killed the network speeds, so keeping it seperate works nicely.. i also don't eatup the DHCP pool when i ghost a lot of machines).

Seems to work very nice so far and its more efficient.

I wish i went with better magnets for the tool holder, they are from BBB and are actually knife holders, which works great for bulk metal tools, but for small screw drivers, they tend to fall down a lot.
 
Adam said:
Axis cameras are fun little things if you only need a camera here and there, i actually own one and its about 10 years old... but no we don't sell (well we can) axis. We use regular "analog" style cameras ranging from simpe inexpensive $60 cameras up to very expensive $2000+ PTZ cameras and the likes... we build our DVRs from scratch (they are computers which use PCI or PCI Express cards). We can do 4/6/8/16/32 (using 2 16 channel cards) systems. We can add space as we need to with hard drives or raid arrays (as we do with some clients)... we control the ports/etc... much more expandable/options then axis.

Whats good about the DVR system we use, its more then just a DVR... we can do pretty much anything with access control. We can have a PTZ camera move to a specific spot if an alarm is triggered, or we can have a PTZ track someone as they walk by... the system has facial recognition so it keeps a dbase of all faces and time stamps... we have one customer who uses the DVR system in a school, not for the camera (they have 1 camera hooked up for now) but as an alarm mapping program. We have a layout of the entire school and we have the DVR tied into the alarm system using two 16 channel alarm output boards. When a door is open, a light blinks on the map indicating the exact position of the door... stuff like that is what we do with the DVR's...

Anyway, yeah i used to use a 4 port kvm and it was a pain... so i said "if i ever got to build a new workshop i want 4 dedicated monitors"

Each monitor has a keyboard/mouse/monitor and 2 network ports. One is connected to our main network (internet access) while the 2nd is on its own network. It feeds to its own switch which is connected to my ghost server which runs a DHCP server. So i can ghost and keep the traffic dedicated to its own network (we found ghosting multiple machines with multicast killed the network speeds, so keeping it seperate works nicely.. i also don't eatup the DHCP pool when i ghost a lot of machines).

Seems to work very nice so far and its more efficient.

I wish i went with better magnets for the tool holder, they are from BBB and are actually knife holders, which works great for bulk metal tools, but for small screw drivers, they tend to fall down a lot.
Click to expand...


I'm a audio video installer ( 5 years ) (Very good at concealing wiring & networking ) working for a company as a subcontractor, however id like to learn about some of the stuff you do or recommend.

I wish some of the stuff we use didn't get used. Would be a whole lot better. Do you find building your own dvr to be cheaper ? What software ? Maybe talk on pm ?
 
save yourself time and money Adam and read about PXE booting to install your OS (WDS/RIS for windows, kickstart for linux), optical drives are pretty overkill on boxes like those. Heck, even a USB CD-ROM would be good enough.
 
Oh god yes. Raised floors. Hot/Cold aisles. 24/7 smart hands. Rediculously short runs to the carrier hotel. Redundant power. Redundant cooling. Earthquake resistant building. On skid plates.
 
Nicely Done agrikk. Love the space you have with the new colo compared to the cramped racks of before. :) what did you do with all of the old racks..after installing the PBX equip at the office? now that it seems 98% of it is here.
 
The cabinet and two twlco racks will proably go at a firesale the last week we are there. (Unless I take them home first).

I think I am going to score on some gear. :D
 
It's weak compared to others, but here it is anyways.

I've moved so it's changed since an earlier post I made. I finally bought a Skeletek rack as well (HD-12U-EX and it's awesome).

3 Cisco 2501's, 1 2950, and a Sonicwall 240 (purchased at work but we use Cisco ASA's so I'm learning it at home).

4747685846_24a7076683.jpg


4747044373_9040878878.jpg
 
^^^ Exactly.

Not to mention working on them is so much easier when you have gaps between them so cables don't get caught in other servers as you slide them out.

I have space. Tons of space. I will need to add a second 20amp circuit to each cabinet long before I fill them.


But the big 4U gap on the left cabinet will be a 2U database server that's on its way.
 
I wish I had space... i have to get rid of a cable management bar (2U) in order to get a lil extra space
 
Hah hah. I feel your pain.

Wait until I post pics of the silly little wiring closet in our new office space. That thing is going to be packed - to the point where I'm taking out KVM and the console and running everything headless so I can fit all of the switches and user gear.
 
CaseyBlackburn said:
He's probably done that to increase the ability for air to flow all around the server since he has the room. The OP mentioned earlier that the colo does stuff by power demands, not so much how many cabinets you need.
Click to expand...

When I was doing the decision for my last jobs colo (live running copy/load balancing if needed) , all of the places I looked at were charging per sq/ft of the cage, as well as Watts, Cooling Req, and network needs.

I ended up shoving some blade servers into 1 rack to duplicate the work of about 100 servers. (VMs are AWESOME!). Although I would be afraid if they ever had to switch to the colo cause it would probably be sloooowwww (or just turn into a ball of fire :D). Last job was cheap cheap cheap..



on the other hand.....having that much space is godly! I never ever ever worked at a place (even my home setup) with that much space to work!
 
slayer9019 said:
I ended up shoving some blade servers into 1 rack to duplicate the work of about 100 servers. (VMs are AWESOME!). Although I would be afraid if they ever had to switch to the colo cause it would probably be sloooowwww (or just turn into a ball of fire :D). Last job was cheap cheap cheap..
Click to expand...

That's the problem with colos charging for space as well as power. You end up with these hyperdense, use-every-U deployments that destroy any attempt at effective cooling. I think if you do it right, you balance out space / cooling / power and then charge for power. Then reasonable use takes over and everything balances out like it's supposed to.

Our neighbors at the colo have a huge deployment of blades and storage, to the tune of ten or so cabinets filled with blade chassis (chasses? chassises?), but they're in a big ol' empty space because they compressed down from physical servers. As it is, one of their cabinets exhausts on the side of a row of uncaged single cabinets and that sucker is hot to the touch. If I was a customer in that cabinet I'd be complaining daily.

If I didn't have the ten-fifteen feet of empty space between us and them, I wouldn't have taken the spot, since the heat they generate is incredible and it would leech over into our thermal zone.
 
agrikk said:
That's the problem with colos charging for space as well as power. You end up with these hyperdense, use-every-U deployments that destroy any attempt at effective cooling. I think if you do it right, you balance out space / cooling / power and then charge for power. Then reasonable use takes over and everything balances out like it's supposed to.

Our neighbors at the colo have a huge deployment of blades and storage, to the tune of ten or so cabinets filled with blade chassis (chasses? chassises?), but they're in a big ol' empty space because they compressed down from physical servers. As it is, one of their cabinets exhausts on the side of a row of uncaged single cabinets and that sucker is hot to the touch. If I was a customer in that cabinet I'd be complaining daily.

If I didn't have the ten-fifteen feet of empty space between us and them, I wouldn't have taken the spot, since the heat they generate is incredible and it would leech over into our thermal zone.
Click to expand...

Yea that is how most of the colos by me are like (at least the ones i was looking at. NYC area needs to charge by sq/ft cause space is limited.

The reason that space behind them is empty is probably because nobody would take it. Hell if I was going to pay XXXX$ I would be REALLY pissed if they tried to stick me there. Although the place i was at the cooling was rediclous. It was like a vortex in there.

I really do like VMs and blades though. Sooo much control over single servers. I wish i could afford just a 6U blade chassis and blades. Combine that with my SAN i would be set for life.
 
agrikk said:
QFT.
Click to expand...

Why? You realize that with my leased line at my house I could do really cheap hosting with that (already got the connects. my friend owns a PBX/Hosting company)

We all arent pipedreaming when we talk about getting stuff like blade servers (although upfront costs would be alot)
 
slayer9019 said:
Why? You realize that with my leased line at my house I could do really cheap hosting with that (already got the connects. my friend owns a PBX/Hosting company)

We all arent pipedreaming when we talk about getting stuff like blade servers (although upfront costs would be alot)
Click to expand...
I don't understand why you posted this. I'm confused as to why you would question his QFT and then say that your "I wish" isn't an "I wish" at all.
 
CaseyBlackburn said:
I don't understand why you posted this. I'm confused as to why you would question his QFT and then say that your "I wish" isn't an "I wish" at all.
Click to expand...

more of....current projects are keeping me from following through...as in wish i could just go now and buy one.
 
slayer9019 said:
Why? You realize that with my leased line at my house I could do really cheap hosting with that (already got the connects. my friend owns a PBX/Hosting company)
Click to expand...
The problem with this isn't the equipment, its the processes involved and liability, with my setup I could trump many small hosting companies but I dont want to take the risk.
slayer9019 said:
We all arent pipedreaming when we talk about getting stuff like blade servers (although upfront costs would be alot)
Click to expand...
All this talk, lets see some pictures :D You were bragging in a previous thread about your cisco gear and network... so "QFT" and post up the pics ;)

that goes for everyone, where the eff are the pics? Are me,agrikk and adam the only ones with decent setups? :eek: What I would really like to see is badass HOME networks
 
xphil3 said:
What I would really like to see is badass HOME networks
Click to expand...

Ack! Am I going to take myself out of this thread when I move all of my home gear into the currently empty fifth cabinet at the colo? :D

(I managed to convince the powers that be that we need the fifth cabinet for expansion, when really I spec'd it for my own shiznit. )

My home network will soon be a linksys firewall, a dell managed switch, a domain controller and two desktops...
 
agrikk said:
Ack! Am I going to take myself out of this thread when I move all of my home gear into the currently empty fifth cabinet at the colo? :D

(I managed to convince the powers that be that we need the fifth cabinet for expansion, when really I spec'd it for my own shiznit. )

My home network will soon be a linksys firewall, a dell managed switch, a domain controller and two desktops...
Click to expand...
ACK back! damn....

1. lucky that you got a colo! :D wish I could do that for 1/5 of my gear
2. you'll start piling up the gear at home again, wait till the bug hit again :p
 
xphil3 said:
The problem with this isn't the equipment, its the processes involved and liability, with my setup I could trump many small hosting companies but I dont want to take the risk.
Click to expand...

You make a really good point. When I started hosting people's stuff on my single box in the colo it was no big deal. But as soon as people started paying me for it, I had to really think about redundancy.

Suddenly, I'm planning multiple power circuits, load balanced web servers, an active/passive DB cluster, multiple switches, teamed NICs, HA firewalls, etc.

All to keep these dinky little web sites alive with 99% uptimes.

Which is why I'm moving away from it once again...


xphil3 said:
you'll start piling up the gear at home again, wait till the bug hit again :p
Click to expand...

Hah hah hah! So true. I've spent the last nine months purging gear on ebay and e-cycling schtuff (Keeping ten ultra-wide 9GB SCSI drives? really?) and it's only a matter of time before I start collecting again. Especially with the office move pending. Eight old P4 3GHz Dells with two gigs of ram? Crappy SunFire server? Love to have em!
 
Last edited:
xphil3 said:
that goes for everyone, where the eff are the pics? Are me,agrikk and adam the only ones with decent setups? :eek: What I would really like to see is badass HOME networks
Click to expand...

Hey, I paid my dues the other day. It may not be "decent" compared to you ( :) ) but it's all I could manage to take with me while gone for a month.


CaseyBlackburn said:
Here is my temporary setup while I'm at university for this month working.

59MpN.jpg


Top to bottom:
Dell PowerConnect 2724 - 24 Gigabit Ports, Web-managed switch
Watchguard Firebox x750e (Firewall) - Running pfSense, 2GB RAM, 1.3Ghz Intel, 6GB Microdrive, 8 10/100/1000 interfaces
Dell PowerEdge 1750 (ESXi Server) - 2x Intel Xeon 3.06Ghz, 3x 73GB SCSI 10,000K, 8GB RAM, 2x Gigabit NICs, vmware ESXi
Dell PowerEdge 2650 (ESXi Server) - 2x Intel Xeon 3.06Ghz, 3x 73GB SCSI 10,000K, 12GB RAM, 2x Gigabit NICs, vmware ESXi, DRAC
Symantec Gateway Security 5440 (File Server) - Intel Xeon 2.6Ghz, 320GB IDE, 3x 2TB SATA, 4GB RAM, 3x Intel Dual Port Gigabit NICs, Windows 2008 Server

Not pictured:
Linksys E2000 Wireless N Access Point
13" MacBook - 2.0Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, Windows 7 Ultimate
Mac Mini - 1.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive, Snow Leopard
Whitebox (Media Center) - Intel Pentium Dual Core 2Ghz, 2GB RAM, 750GB hard drive, TV tuner, Windows 7 Ultimate

I've got a little more at home that'll I will try to post in a couple of weeks.
Click to expand...
 
xphil3 said:
The problem with this isn't the equipment, its the processes involved and liability, with my setup I could trump many small hosting companies but I dont want to take the risk.

All this talk, lets see some pictures :D You were bragging in a previous thread about your cisco gear and network... so "QFT" and post up the pics ;)

that goes for everyone, where the eff are the pics? Are me,agrikk and adam the only ones with decent setups? :eek: What I would really like to see is badass HOME networks
Click to expand...

Yea liability is a b**** but if you offer some really cheap prices...why not?

CaseyBlackburn said:
But why can't agrikk agree that it would be nice to have a 6U blade chassis and blades and that all be that was needed?
Click to expand...

lol sorry misunderstanding

agrikk said:
You make a really good point. When I started hosting people's stuff on my single box in the colo it was no big deal. But as soon as people started paying me for it, I had to really think about redundancy.

Suddenly, I'm planning multiple power circuits, load balanced web servers, an active/passive DB cluster, multiple switches, teamed NICs, HA firewalls, etc.

All to keep these dinky little web sites alive with 99% uptimes.

Which is why I'm moving away from it once again...




Hah hah hah! So true. I've spent the last nine months purging gear on ebay and e-cycling schtuff (Keeping ten ultra-wide 9GB SCSI drives? really?) and it's only a matter of time before I start collecting again. Especially with the office move pending. Eight old P4 3GHz Dells with two gigs of ram? Crappy SunFire server? Love to have em!
Click to expand...


Very true. Redundancy is....well nessisary. Im trying to get some load balancing/live backup pfsense/custom linux box routers/firewalls ext in my home network. But nothing beats my job now....(1 server gets 6.....thats right 6 live running copys....and 3 tapes per day sent to different locations) i was in awe the first day. 7 constantly running alpha servers that are perfect running copys. Holy shit!


Im currently moving all my home network stuff around cause I got a new rack from work and I just finished running 100+ lines in the house....(i hate late 1800 houses for runs...talk about alot of new drywal!)
 
xphil3 said:
The problem with this isn't the equipment, its the processes involved and liability, with my setup I could trump many small hosting companies but I dont want to take the risk.

All this talk, lets see some pictures :D You were bragging in a previous thread about your cisco gear and network... so "QFT" and post up the pics ;)

that goes for everyone, where the eff are the pics? Are me,agrikk and adam the only ones with decent setups? :eek: What I would really like to see is badass HOME networks
Click to expand...

i'm still yet to post a pic of my home crap...once i have a 6500 in the picture i will ;) or maybe after i move...
 
does my home network count ?



Free intel 24 port switch, that i got, but going to throw it in the garbage soon, the fans are driving me nuts already.

P1040003.JPG


Untangle box, cd rom that's in the dell machine is fawked so i had to use a new one, will put it inside the box tommorrow.

P1040004.JPG


Windows 2003 server, APC ups. 250gig usb drive that i use for server backup for now. Shaw home phone on bottom of shelf.
P1040005.JPG


5 port switch im using because i have 2 ip's from shaw. One is going to the apple router, one is going to the untangle box :)
P1040006.JPG


Apple router and phone and shaw cable modem.
P1040007.JPG


Macbook pro hard wired to the intel switch.
P1040008.JPG


Screen shot of the software running :)
Screen%20shot%20untangle.png


its all crappy hardware for now, till i have some $$ to buy a new switch a 16 port gig switch for the house. New NAS device. etc etc more goodies coming :)

Now to learn about vlans, id really like to setup 3 vlans, one wireless vlan and one hard wire vlan, and one vlan just for the server.

thanks to many people on here that are helping me LEARN MANY MANY new things :) have pushed me to learn so much more, and actually try new things.
 
That is what the business is about, my friend - learning new things. The more we play with this stuff, and learn it, the more we stay current with the curve.
 
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