Networking closet

Soarin

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 23, 2010
Messages
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Long story shiort my wife and I have our house back finally and can do what we want. We'll I'm making a network closet under our stairs. I plan on putting the nvr for the IP cameras in there and new router too when I get them. I I literally just out this stuff in there earlier this evening. I will be doing a lot better cable organization once I go to put the new walls up in my living room. Any suggestions?

Oh I apologize for the black out. My wife doodled some NSFW content on the door.

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In for NSFW content on the door courtesy of the wife!
Oh geez lol. But I am looking for recommendations as to what else to do? I wanna get a small wall mount rack or even a floor one if it is cheaper. Because I plan on getting a 24 port switch as well. I'm wiring the house for ethernet. Atleast one jack in the major rooms.
 
It won't have the [H] factor but a set of shelf brackets and shelves would be cheaper and easier to adjust and access around.

If possible, run a dedicated power circuit for just the hub closet. Nothing causes intermittent network problems like a shared circuit with a hair dryer on one of the other outlets.

Some type of strip LED lighting on the side wall to light all of the shelves. Avoids the trying to find the black cable on the black shelf in the shadow problem.
 
Would be nice if the closet was deeper. Get a small wallmount rack. rackmount a nice patch panel, small switch, get a small NVR in the rack, couple cooling fans in case it gets warm (It will)
 
If you had access to the back I'd suggest a 2 post 19in rack. You can do a vertical rackmount for the switch and patch panel, term all your cables to the panel and use the 6" jumpers to keep it nice and neat.

If you're going to be putting stuff in there you'll need to think about ventilation. It's going to get hot. I have all of my media gear, cable boxes, switch, poe switch, sonos amps, etc in my rack and I had to add fans because man those sonos boxes put out some heat.
 
Ya i plan on putting an outlet in there. I'm rewiring my electric too and will be giving the living room 2 circuits. I been eyeballing a 9u wall mount rack and will be getting more lighting. I'm also planning on running the cable in the basement and bring it all through a 1" or 1.5" pvc pipe through the floor so that way it's a lot neater.

As far as ventilation I'm going to put in an exhaust fan I think right out the back there and make the door air tight so the cold air in the winter will come in and stay in there and I'll figure something else out for the cooling in summer.

I do have 1000ft of cat5e and I don't think I'll need more than 1 gig speed for the network but I'm still tempted to get some cat6a but the cost..

What I'm all doing is a 8 channel ip camera system, I found a nice amcrest one with a PoE nvr. I'm running one of the lines outside in some half inch pvc, but I it's about a 60ft run to the location I'm putting the camera in the back yard. All the rest will be on the house in some location. They will all be 1080p cameras. I'll be getting 4 at first, and then more later on. My current system is a cheap cctv one and I hate it because I had to make a big fucking hole in my bedroom to get the cables inside.

Thanks for the responses! Sorry it looks so crappy right now but things have been really tight and we dealt with evicting a horrible person who did 10k in damages to my home and we are finally getting in a position to get it fixed.
 
Oh I forgot to mention and show too that the closet is bigger but it slopes down with the stairs so I wasn't going to use that side at all but I can.
 
Remember that you're going to want ventilation in there too.
Especially if you're putting servers in.
Possibly replace the window glass in the door with a mesh screen and framework for a couple big, slow-moving 200mm fans...

Also, the board/plywood/whatever you have blocking the exterior window?
Hit Menards or Home depot and get yourself one of the 2'x2' 1" pink foamboard "project panels.
Cut it out, stack and glue it (with foam-friendly construction adhesive) and attach it to the back-side of the plywood/board to just fit the window space.
It'll help keep the close area better temperature controlled in cold weather and will prevent condensation.


Also, if that stairway squeaks? Look at spraying the underside with something like this. It'll lock it together.
If you have any left, spray the stud bays in there (to seal around the top & bottom plates as well as around the studs (basically just "paint" a box inside the stud bay with this).
It'll stop any negative pressure from fans sucking dust and stuff through the cracks in the stairs or around your wallboard.
It'll also help deaden the sound.

Speaking of sound deadening.
You can line any free wall/celing space (and the inside of the door with acoustic foam panel to help kill any "server scream".
Instead of putting acoustic panel on the floor, go with the foam floor floor matting (the "puzzle" stuff) like you can find at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Farm & Fleet, etc. The acoustic tiles aren't really meant to be walked on and could lead to unstable footing. The foam matting will give you a better footing and still help deaden sound a bit.

Sorry this is coming stream-of consciousness.

If you're going to close up the stud bays under the stairs too, in addition to the foam sealing, look at tossing some Roxckwool Safe N' Sound into the stud bays.

Also, as a cheap alternative to air sealing...if you don't want to pay for the foam, use beads of caulk in the same way.
You REALLY don't want this area becoming a dust trap for the house.


When you're ready to actually put equipment in there, vacuum it out thoroughly and wipe every surface down to minimize initial dust load.
 
a 1 or 1.5" pvc pipe is not going to be big enough for all that cable. I'd go 2" minimum and I'd probably run two of them and leave one empty with a pull string pre-run
 
a 1 or 1.5" pvc pipe is not going to be big enough for all that cable. I'd go 2" minimum and I'd probably run two of them and leave one empty with a pull string pre-run

Noted I will have to do that

Remember that you're going to want ventilation in there too.
Especially if you're putting servers in.
Possibly replace the window glass in the door with a mesh screen and framework for a couple big, slow-moving 200mm fans...

Also, the board/plywood/whatever you have blocking the exterior window?
Hit Menards or Home depot and get yourself one of the 2'x2' 1" pink foamboard "project panels.
Cut it out, stack and glue it (with foam-friendly construction adhesive) and attach it to the back-side of the plywood/board to just fit the window space.
It'll help keep the close area better temperature controlled in cold weather and will prevent condensation.


Also, if that stairway squeaks? Look at spraying the underside with something like this. It'll lock it together.
If you have any left, spray the stud bays in there (to seal around the top & bottom plates as well as around the studs (basically just "paint" a box inside the stud bay with this).
It'll stop any negative pressure from fans sucking dust and stuff through the cracks in the stairs or around your wallboard.
It'll also help deaden the sound.

Speaking of sound deadening.
You can line any free wall/celing space (and the inside of the door with acoustic foam panel to help kill any "server scream".
Instead of putting acoustic panel on the floor, go with the foam floor floor matting (the "puzzle" stuff) like you can find at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Farm & Fleet, etc. The acoustic tiles aren't really meant to be walked on and could lead to unstable footing. The foam matting will give you a better footing and still help deaden sound a bit.

Sorry this is coming stream-of consciousness.

If you're going to close up the stud bays under the stairs too, in addition to the foam sealing, look at tossing some Roxckwool Safe N' Sound into the stud bays.

Also, as a cheap alternative to air sealing...if you don't want to pay for the foam, use beads of caulk in the same way.
You REALLY don't want this area becoming a dust trap for the house.


When you're ready to actually put equipment in there, vacuum it out thoroughly and wipe every surface down to minimize initial dust load.

Oh there is no window in there at all. That's just some cut to size dry erase board. I plan on getting a wall exhaust fan with a variable speed shutter. I was also going to make a vent above the door. I I really do appreciate all the advice and will be looking into this thoroughly. I as of right now I'm only putting in a 16 or 24 port unmanaged switch, 24 port patch panel, 12u rack mount and the xfinity cable modem and once we get it I will be putting a linksys ac2200 triband router in there as well. And once I can find one for cheap enough I'll put in a cheap desktop to make it into a Linux based server. Also my security system when we can getting.

I will be doing a lot of this once the code and building inspector gets back with me on my electrical questions because right now it's a mess and I will be rewiring the house like I mentioned but I'm hoping to just replace the knob and tube wire right now first and then upgrade to 200amp service later because it's going to require a new meter base, service entry cable, and breaker panel and ground rod.. My house isn't to code and I didn't realize when I bought it.

Anyways I'm going to start putting drywall up in the living room and the exterior wall to thr right of the door and I'm thinking some sort of plywood or something under the stairs instead of the drywall because we got all 5/8" stuff for exterior walls and I don't wanna have to get ultralight 1/2" yet until I get to doing the ceiling and when I get that I am going to put some of it up in that closet.

I'm also trying to find an alternative to a full size air conditioner because it won't need a whole room one just something small.
I'm going to try and get as much as I can from Walmart as long as it is shipped and sold by it because my wife and I work there for and the discount helps a lot.
 
Long story shiort my wife and I have our house back finally and can do what we want. We'll I'm making a network closet under our stairs. I plan on putting the nvr for the IP cameras in there and new router too when I get them. I I literally just out this stuff in there earlier this evening. I will be doing a lot better cable organization once I go to put the new walls up in my living room. Any suggestions?

Oh I apologize for the black out. My wife doodled some NSFW content on the door.

View attachment 120203 View attachment 120204 View attachment 120205

come on over to genmay.

we love NSFW.
 
Noted I will have to do that



Oh there is no window in there at all. That's just some cut to size dry erase board. I plan on getting a wall exhaust fan with a variable speed shutter. I was also going to make a vent above the door. I I really do appreciate all the advice and will be looking into this thoroughly. I as of right now I'm only putting in a 16 or 24 port unmanaged switch, 24 port patch panel, 12u rack mount and the xfinity cable modem and once we get it I will be putting a linksys ac2200 triband router in there as well. And once I can find one for cheap enough I'll put in a cheap desktop to make it into a Linux based server. Also my security system when we can getting.

I will be doing a lot of this once the code and building inspector gets back with me on my electrical questions because right now it's a mess and I will be rewiring the house like I mentioned but I'm hoping to just replace the knob and tube wire right now first and then upgrade to 200amp service later because it's going to require a new meter base, service entry cable, and breaker panel and ground rod.. My house isn't to code and I didn't realize when I bought it.

Anyways I'm going to start putting drywall up in the living room and the exterior wall to thr right of the door and I'm thinking some sort of plywood or something under the stairs instead of the drywall because we got all 5/8" stuff for exterior walls and I don't wanna have to get ultralight 1/2" yet until I get to doing the ceiling and when I get that I am going to put some of it up in that closet.

I'm also trying to find an alternative to a full size air conditioner because it won't need a whole room one just something small.
I'm going to try and get as much as I can from Walmart as long as it is shipped and sold by it because my wife and I work there for and the discount helps a lot.


Knob and tube!

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As for finding out the house isn't to code. Sounds like your home inspector failed BIG TIME.

As to your rewiring.

Are you just going to try and fish everything? Or are you going to just crack all the walls?

And going 5/8" for all your wallboard?

Ballsy!

At least tell me the walls are insulated...

As to a small AC unit. You can find mobile units for between $200-400. But you need someplace to drain the water, since they're evaporative coolers.

If they weren't so expensive (and kinda overkill), I'd reccommend a cheap ductless mini-split. But cheapo units start at $600-700 before install.
But they'd be almost ideal, as they make ceiling mounted air handlers (used instead of the wall-mounted units).
 
A house can pass inspection and not be up to current code. For most things, it only has to meet the code in place at the time it was built or modified.

Might consider cutting a 2nd opening and adding a large cabinet door to make for easier access to the 'Harry Potter' part of the closet. Old house storage is often at a premium and that space looks too large to ignore. Your home recycling center can be a useful source.

Depending on what you put in the closet, might get enough cooling ventilation by cutting 3 or so inches off the top and bottom of the door. Might look funny but is low cost.
 
I'm going to be running the cable through the basement through one of the existing holes that are currently there, but and if the studs are up to the normal spacing and stuff then I will be just drilling through them and passing the cable through that way to save money on more cable.

The walls are insulted but it's that old crappy blown in stuff and I'm putting new insulation up all over too. I'm using 5/8" drywall for the extra sound dampening and because the person we evicted left it and signed it over to us. We have probably like 100 pieces.


I did order a 16 port switch already, the linksys triband ac2200, my sister in law is getting us a 24 port patch panel. I'm just going to make a rack myself. It won't be pretty but it will work. I also got us a Honeywell t5+ smart thermostat as well to.
 
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Okay so my next question is, would it be better to build a small pc for this or go with a dedicated nvr?

I found some better deals on cameras that are rated better. I am debating on doing the server route because I want it for also media storage and stuff too so I'm thinking it would be better to just build one

Reolink PoE Camera 4MP Super HD Home Security Outdoor Indoor Video Surveillance Support Night Vision, Motion Detection, Audio, Remote Access, SD Card Slot RLC-410 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B010LH48F4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_LWm-BbZR2BSGD
 
Congrats on getting your house back--sounds like a terrible ordeal with a horrible tenant. I hope you got to kick their teeth in.

As far as your networking project, I think you're in the right direction. The biggest thing I would advise is to plan on the cooling requirements for the equipment at the extreme levels of summer and the ventilation needed. Without this, equipment will die quickly or you'll be spending a lot on ac to cool it. And start out small to help with this--use an 8-port switch if that's all you'll initially be using since a 24 is usually louder and puts out more heat--etc.

As far as dedicated nvr vs pc, go nvr. Why? Because do you want your cameras to be down because something wonky is going on with your server? No way. Security ideally should be on its own as much as possible--many times people don't connect the cameras where they have any Internet access and I'd recommend that--only your nvr will need that access if you want remote access. Otherwise, it's best to be disconnected and doing its job.

And if you're building a pc, remember the heat. Powerful is great but it also produces heat, which in the summer can really hurt it.

As far as the rack and whatnot, you really don't need a real rack (unless you can find one for free like I did once on our local craigslist--it was awesome!). Simple shelving or even better, vertical wall mounting as mentioned above would be better allowing you to use all 3 sides of the space leaving the center opened for any equipment or shelves for equipment. A rack is nice because it's great for datacenters, but most of the times a datacenter really doesn't belong at home anyways. Make what works for you--even a 2x4 rack or an Ikea lackrack.

Good luck! And definitely keep us in the loop as we'd love to see it. :)
 
Sweet, thanks for the info again. I do plan on getting the cooling down pat when I replace the drywall and put real insulation in my walls..(hint: there is only a super small layer of expanding foam now, no wonder my heat bill is 21% higher than all my neighbors). No unfortunately I didn't get to kick her teeth in but I did threaten to sue her if she ever came back, which she laughed and said I owe her money.

The closet so far has two 1" pvc pips about 10" long through the sub floor I installed.All my wall ports are running or will be through one pipe and the cameras through the other. Our house was broken into again a few days ago and now I am rushing to get shit fixed and ready. I just installed two cables outside so far, both are 10+ feet in the air and both are channeled through conduit and buried. I will also be putting up another security flood light on the post where one camera will be but on the opposite side so that way I can light up the entire area if needed. Im also running an outdoors outlet to the pole as well.

ALl in all this turned out to be a BIG job lol
 
Glad you've got the cooling addressed--that ends up being a huge problem as I had a system pop some caps when an ac failed for a few hours and temps crept up 15F to 85F. :(

Wow. Just wow. I would have wanted to kill her and bury her under the house if she said that to me. Glad you've got the stomach for people like that--I don't anymore.

Damn! Broken into after all this! I'd just put the cameras inside the house and wire them up and be sure the dvr/nvr is in a secure place as they'll try to get that as it holds the evidence. Lights are definitely a good idea, but if that neighborhood is that bad that police don't patrol enough to keep baddies out, you may ultimately be fighting an uphill battle as cameras don't prevent anything and are usually just another piece of evidence in court, which may or may not be just. It's a terrible world these days where honest people are getting the short end of the stick...up the...

I think another thing to think about is getting a good security contractor in there to wire up all the doors and windows with sensors. And not those crap wireless ones that can be jammed, but wired ones. Glass break sensors, carbon monoxide, fire sensors, and an alarm buzzer and lights. It won't be cheap, but that would help you stay on top of the invaders.
 
Ya, I am waiting for some stranded wire to come in. I already have a 12ft pole up with the mount for the security camera up. I'm going to be getting the electric done soon as I get everything in. Problem is too I need to upgrade my breaker box, but meter base and bring everything up to code.

This is my current box.. It's a fucking mess but I have two friends that are electricians to help me too.
 

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I think you're tackling them well, one after another. Just keep knocking them out one at a time and you'll have the load lighten at some point once you get over the hump. (y)
 
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