Network pics thread

Ockie said:
Got a pair of 60's (pre-wired for 100), pair of 30's... wait, I have 4 30's, and a couple 50's :D


Of course only a pair of 30's are going to network crap... and those are about to be torn out for smaller 15/110's.



Electric cars and other hobbies demand it.
Click to expand...

Well damn! You planned much better than I did :)
 
Got a few hundred of these in at work. Higher density lets us do over a petabyte of SSD storage per rack!

IMG_20141128_163759.jpg
 
Wow that's awesome! Must be blazing fast!

Assuming it's being used for high I/O DBs, VMs etc how often do SSDs have to be changed in an enterprise environment due to write wearing? I've always been curious about raiding SSDs to make a high performance array. A nice raid 10 would be pretty awesome.
 
Write endurance on these is about 10PB, so rather infrequently. Might need to ask me in 5 years time as I haven't had a single SSD go out at work yet (thought we don't have too many, a bit under a thousand if you don't count workstations). When you have hundreds per array, you don't run RAID 10 either. Our larger SANs have ~1k disks per.
 
Actually what kind of raid do you run? I can't imagine 0, and 5/6 seems like it would hurt performance, or does it? The rebuilds must be amazing fast.
 
Something a bit more abstract than that. Performance is no slouch and each SAN has quad redundant controllers anyway.
 
@BlueFox

Soooo....your SAN does some kind of block-level replication between storage pools? Or something along those lines? Or is it object-level storage?
 
You can look up the white papers on 3PARs. Disks are split into 1GB chunklets and then virtual disks created from them.
 
Pre-cable management, looking for advice.

What do you guys think, d-rings, vertical tray or combination of both? The SFF-8088 cable is going to present an issue because of the bend radius, and also supporting the fiber front-to-back could be an issue.

Advice?

rack_nocable.jpg
 
bds1904 said:
Pre-cable management, looking for advice.

What do you guys think, d-rings, vertical tray or combination of both? The SFF-8088 cable is going to present an issue because of the bend radius, and also supporting the fiber front-to-back could be an issue.

Advice?



what are the specs of the rackable servers?
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My super simple home network. I just moved here so this is the start, but eventually I want to have a cabinet that's wall mounted with a small VMWare host.

11A4C28B-D0F2-4067-822F-49C51BFC2E60_zpsd0p30a6d.jpg
 
Eq
abdul201388 said:
bds1904 said:
Pre-cable management, looking for advice.

What do you guys think, d-rings, vertical tray or combination of both? The SFF-8088 cable is going to present an issue because of the bend radius, and also supporting the fiber front-to-back could be an issue.

Advice?



what are the specs of the rackable servers?
Click to expand...

The top 4 rackable servers have 2 l5420's 16gb memory, qle2460 fc hba, no local storage. Boot from san.

Below that is a rackable se3016 with 5x 2tb drIves and 3x 1.5tb drives. Each in raidz, both used for backup and media storage.

The other server is an hp dl385g2 with 2 opteron 2218's, 16gb memory hp p 400 for the boot drives (4x 72gb sas drives raid 0+1), a sas2008 based hba for the 2 ssd's for zil, qle2464 serving fc targets to the esxi hosts, sas3801e connects to the se3016 and the msa70. Msa70 has 25x 72gb sas drives, 4x raidz2 pools plus a hot spare. Server also has a qle2462 for expansion so I can finish building my 4u vdi box.

Switch is a quanta lb4m, connects to my access switch at 10gb via the om3 fiber, another quanta lb4m.
Click to expand...
 
bds1904 said:
Pre-cable management, looking for advice.

What do you guys think, d-rings, vertical tray or combination of both? The SFF-8088 cable is going to present an issue because of the bend radius, and also supporting the fiber front-to-back could be an issue.

Advice?
Click to expand...
If I really cared about making it look super-duper fancy/neat, I'd go with custom length cables and a single horizontal runner (with a "hide my mess" faceplate). The runner could hide the front-to-back fiber, or you could install a fiber patch panel in the front and run to that instead. The 8088 cable's going to be the biggest thing, but I don't think it'd look that bad if it were the only cable "out of place".
 
Today I had some spare time to throw out my old PBX (older Siemens Hipath 3550 Version 4) which had some missing features compared to the newer versions.
I got hands on an used Siemens Hipath 3500 V9 (same as 3550, just 19" case), which is IP capable if I ever want to use it.
Why am I not using a really fancy shiny new IP PBX? The costs. First of all, the phones. All phones of my V4 work on the V9. Second, it has DECT cordless. DECT over IP sucks. Wifi phones suck. Last, my network is totally crappy. Some small switches here and there, cabling where I need it and not in every room. But there's a telephone cable in almost every room. Problem solved ;)
So, I had to put up a new distribution box, since the old V4 was wallmount, the new V9 is rackmount. Because of that, it has RJ45 plugs on the front compared to open end screw terminals on the old one. Some network cables had to be cut to build an adaptor from RJ45 to open end cable. Our german punchdown block is from Krone, called LSA, works like a charm and took me about 25 minutes to punch 19 CAT6 cables from the PBX and 16 cables to the other distribution box in there.
But why do I put it in the networking pics thread? It has LAN ports. Two of them. And some day I'll add the SIP module, which has another 2 ports (WAN and LAN). The two ports that are actually there right now are for configuration and voice mail access, a small design flaw by Siemens, that you can't configure the PBX via the voice mail LAN.
I had to build a home made wall mount, because I don't have a rack at home. It doesn't look too professional, but it works :D
By now, I connected 5 digital system telephones, 4 DECT cordless handsets, 1 DECT base, the door bell and a fax. Hope to see some cheap SIP module soon, since we have to switch to a SIP trunk in 1-2 years.

Grey is ISDN trunk, blue is everything else. Those 2 single connections are the 2 LAN ports. This house was built in the late 1800s, so the walls don't look too nice in the basement :D
 
shadynet said:
Today I had some spare time to throw out my old PBX (older Siemens Hipath 3550 Version 4) which had some missing features compared to the newer versions.
I got hands on an used Siemens Hipath 3500 V9 (same as 3550, just 19" case), which is IP capable if I ever want to use it.
Why am I not using a really fancy shiny new IP PBX? The costs. First of all, the phones. All phones of my V4 work on the V9. Second, it has DECT cordless. DECT over IP sucks. Wifi phones suck. Last, my network is totally crappy. Some small switches here and there, cabling where I need it and not in every room. But there's a telephone cable in almost every room. Problem solved ;)
So, I had to put up a new distribution box, since the old V4 was wallmount, the new V9 is rackmount. Because of that, it has RJ45 plugs on the front compared to open end screw terminals on the old one. Some network cables had to be cut to build an adaptor from RJ45 to open end cable. Our german punchdown block is from Krone, called LSA, works like a charm and took me about 25 minutes to punch 19 CAT6 cables from the PBX and 16 cables to the other distribution box in there.
But why do I put it in the networking pics thread? It has LAN ports. Two of them. And some day I'll add the SIP module, which has another 2 ports (WAN and LAN). The two ports that are actually there right now are for configuration and voice mail access, a small design flaw by Siemens, that you can't configure the PBX via the voice mail LAN.
I had to build a home made wall mount, because I don't have a rack at home. It doesn't look too professional, but it works :D
By now, I connected 5 digital system telephones, 4 DECT cordless handsets, 1 DECT base, the door bell and a fax. Hope to see some cheap SIP module soon, since we have to switch to a SIP trunk in 1-2 years.

Grey is ISDN trunk, blue is everything else. Those 2 single connections are the 2 LAN ports. This house was built in the late 1800s, so the walls don't look too nice in the basement :D
Click to expand...

Nice setup. Don't see a lot of Krone blocks in use here. I assume the frame has some kind of cover that goes over the terminations?
 
jeffmoss26 said:
Nice setup. Don't see a lot of Krone blocks in use here. I assume the frame has some kind of cover that goes over the terminations?
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AFAIK there's a lot more other blocks in use in the US, the Krone blocks are nice though. And the same termination tool can be used for network connections and whatever else.
You're right about the cover. There's a metal cover on top of it, covering the whole frame from top to bottom. Just didn't put it on the frame until the next day, just forgot about it :D
For a home, this setup is pretty neat. Nobody ever needs all those functions. But having them is nice in case you'll need it someday ;)
 
Yes, we have about 4 different types all in use...66 blocks are the oldest but still the most common; 110 blocks; BIX which is mostly used in Canada, and Krone. I believe Verizon uses Krone in their network interface boxes.
 
BIX is still quite widely used actually. 25 pair Amphenol connectors from PBX to blocks then distribute to the actual sets.
 
Up in the attic, on a spare door (I really need to organize it all, I have a small rackmount case for it, just need to actually do it...)
VY7ANJyl.jpg

Cable Modem (ewwww, Comcast. Google Fiber is supposedly rolling out within a few years here though...)
Edgerouter Lite
16-port switch
2TB Apple Time Capsule
1U XenServer Hypervisor (3330S i5, 16GB memory, Intel quad gigabit NIC, 120GB SSD)

One of the cables in the back goes out to this:
wabRPSRl.jpg

Which works wonderfully in the living room ceiling.


Rock Solid so far, the only thing that really uses power is the 1U server. The rest uses next to nothing. Seeing as how the only thing I'm using the server for right now is a Ubuntu VM for the UniFi administration.... probably going to replace it with a Raspberry Pi.
 
Man, I LOVE the Ubiquity WAP!! I have installed about a half-dozen so far and they have worked perfectly. Their extended range version is amazing. I hadn't thought of running UniFi on a Raspberry Pi though. Have others tried this? That may be a great idea...
 
@iamwhoiamtoday don't you get temperature issues having stuff in the attic? In summer it would be too hot and winter would be too cold.

I like the AP on the ceiling though, nice and clean.
 
@Red Squirrel:
So far I haven't had any temp issues, but.... I also only got all this set up a short while ago.
We've only had a few days below freezing so far, and there is a big fan about 5 feet to the left of the equipment that automatically kicks on whenever ambient temps exceed 85 degrees F.

Usually the temperature stays pretty mild up here in the Pacific Northwest.
 
Never used a Ubiquiti WAP myself but have Ubiquiti security cameras. I recommended a Ubiquiti WAP to the CEO of the company I work for who had range issues with their ISP-provided modem-router. He took my suggestion, tried it, and came back to me saying it works wonderfully. :)

and that coincidentally on default settings it figured out by itself the SSID and settings the ISP-provided modem-router was broadcasting and auto-configured itself in bridged mode. I didn't expect that, but that's cool!
 
iamwhoiamtoday said:
Up in the attic, on a spare door (I really need to organize it all, I have a small rackmount case for it, just need to actually do it...)
VY7ANJyl.jpg

Cable Modem (ewwww, Comcast. Google Fiber is supposedly rolling out within a few years here though...)
Edgerouter Lite
16-port switch
2TB Apple Time Capsule
1U XenServer Hypervisor (3330S i5, 16GB memory, Intel quad gigabit NIC, 120GB SSD)


The XenServer, is it like Vmware ESXi and ESX?
Click to expand...
 
@abdul201388,

I have never used ESXi, but as I understand it, both are type 1 hypervisors, and fill a similar role. XenServer is just Open Source, even if the support can be..... lacking. Pretty good for learning purposes at home.

Note! UniFi on a Raspberry Pi works wonderfully. Cut my power consumption for the whole backend from about 55w-60w down to about 15w-20w. Raspbian usually sticks at about 5-10% CPU usage, when handling the webpage and updating every 5 seconds. (memory is usually at about 110mb free, leaving a good amount of headroom, zero swapping)
 
iamwhoiamtoday said:
Note! UniFi on a Raspberry Pi works wonderfully. Cut my power consumption for the whole backend from about 55w-60w down to about 15w-20w. Raspbian usually sticks at about 5-10% CPU usage, when handling the webpage and updating every 5 seconds. (memory is usually at about 110mb free, leaving a good amount of headroom, zero swapping)
Click to expand...

That's really great to know, thank you for sharing your results with us.
I will have to give this a try someday with the Pi.
 
EspoNation said:
What series it the chassis? I just got slightly turned on.. By the pictures...
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Cisco Nexus 9508

Jzegers24: You work in a datacenter somewhere? Private, EDU or GOV? That's a lot of ports for most businesses out there, even large ones.

There is going to be some QSFP love goin on......
 
bds1904 said:
Cisco Nexus 9508

Jzegers24: You work in a datacenter somewhere? Private, EDU or GOV? That's a lot of ports for most businesses out there, even large ones.

There is going to be some QSFP love goin on......
Click to expand...

Cisco partner. In the process of forklifting the entire switching environment of a hospital. Going from ugly purple Extreme -> Cisco. Still waiting for some more 4510 goodness to show up as well :)
 
jeffmoss26 said:
Nice setup. Don't see a lot of Krone blocks in use here. I assume the frame has some kind of cover that goes over the terminations?
Click to expand...

forgot to take a pic of the covered frame...but...I bought the IP card. Now SIP capable, just didn't connect it to a SIP trunk yet. It is quite dirty, because I had it up and running before I drilled some holes for the MDF. Stupid me.
Top board is the main board, to the right, there are 4 FXS ports. One is hooked up to my doorbell, one is fax. Below there are 4 ISDN basic rate interfaces, either internal or external. The card with the 2 LAN ports is the new SIP/IP voice card, licensed to 2 channels right now, upgradeable to I believe 128 channels. Last card is (as you can read) integrated voice mail, auto attendant and music on hold.
DSCF0054.JPG


and this is one of the phones that I received with this PBX. Got 14 of them, only 5 were usable. 9 had bad or not working displays.
phone.jpg


edit: took a pic of the MDF with cover ;)
DSCF0056.JPG
 
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iamwhoiamtoday said:
@abdul201388,

I have never used ESXi, but as I understand it, both are type 1 hypervisors, and fill a similar role. XenServer is just Open Source, even if the support can be..... lacking. Pretty good for learning purposes at home.

Note! UniFi on a Raspberry Pi works wonderfully. Cut my power consumption for the whole backend from about 55w-60w down to about 15w-20w. Raspbian usually sticks at about 5-10% CPU usage, when handling the webpage and updating every 5 seconds. (memory is usually at about 110mb free, leaving a good amount of headroom, zero swapping)
Click to expand...

Red Falcon said:
That's really great to know, thank you for sharing your results with us.
I will have to give this a try someday with the Pi.
Click to expand...

ESX free is still pretty good, though be careful that you dont get caught in the upgrade trap (if you upgrade the VM's past a certain level on esx 5+ you can only power them on and off or use the console without a vcenter server which is not free)

for the unifi backend, I wonder how it will scale with more AP's and more than basic usage?
 
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