New House = New Network!

G

Greatone123

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
May 10, 2006
Messages
1,293
Greetings to all [H] Network Gods...


I'm new still to the network scene but I sit here day after day reading posts. Shortly within a month I will be moving to a real home, finally leaving the apartment life, and with that I'll get to wire up the place properly.


My old network was basically all limited to 1 room and looked like this:

old.jpg



my hardware consist of some low end comps running untangle and a little cod 4 server.. nothing special.

my switches consist of 1 1 Gbps trendnet and a 10/100 trendnet... they are starting to lose ports.. and obviously I got them cause they were the cheapest and well I didn't know much at the time.


I'm going to get a 42U rack off craigslist when I spot one...


few questions tho...


Does a switch make that big of a difference in a network?

Does brand of Cat 6 make a difference? can I just go to newegg and get a bunch of Rosewill 50 ft. cables and run those? they are cheap...

Is there any way to have more then 1 comp access to a port? say I wanted to split the workload of say my COD4 servers... 4 server instances.. on 2 boxes? I need the same ports on both? (only 1 wan IP rest are local)

my current idea for a new network would be:

New.jpg




Some stuff I was thinking about getting...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124129

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122057


2 cables per room on 10/100, 2x to kodiak 2x to workstation 1x betty and 1x printer on 1 Gbps...

2x cables to file... 1 cable to COD4... 1 cable to e-mail whenever I get around to setting that up...

all cables will be run in attic dropped and wall plated...


sooo total cable count is...

10/100
2 x Server room
2 x Kitchen
2 x Garage
2 x living room
2 x master

10/100/1000
2 x Kodiak
2 x Workstation
1 x Betty
1 x Printer
2 x File
1 x COD
1 x E-mail

Color Code:
Blue = 10/100 to other rooms
Green = 10/100/1000 to other rooms
Red = Internet/Gateway/Router Connections on rack
White = Server Connections


Remember this is my first real network attempt... it will be over time... for budget reasons... but I want to take my time and do it right.
 
Why a 42U rack? Seems a bit excessive. How about a smaller rack or just a wall mount ~8-16U rack?

Why split them off to multiple switches? Is that to reduce the number of wires you need to home run? If possible, for just a house, just homerun everything to your rack.

Definitely use a patch panel to terminate everything.

Buy patch to go between your patch panels and your switches. Don't make this yourself.

Just FYI, Dell powerconnect 24 port managed gigabit switches can be had on Ebay for ~$150. You'll get great throughput and reliability with these.

You may want to drop in some RG6-quad while you're at it.

I would put 2 x data, 1 x phone, 2 x coax, 1 x blank at each drop. Or at least 2 x data, 2 x coax

If you want to increase convenience but spend more money, you can buy cable that has combos of cable, so you only have to pull one cable to each drop. Such as cable that has 2 x cat5e + 2 x RG6-q. This will increase cabling costs by 30-40%, but is nice to work with. Your choice there.

Just some thoughts....
 
42U because a 8-16 can't hold the 4x 4U server cases + monitor/keyboard + kvm + switchs all on 1 rack

All cables will be run to the rack 2 switches was just easier for me to organize in my mind.

I don't know how to use patch panel... wouldn't running normal cables be easier?

I'll look into the Dell switches

I don't even know what RG6 is....

phone and coax are already run in the house...
 
no need for multiple network cables to those servers, i doubt you need any kind of load balancing for a few users.

why 2 switches? just get a single gigabit switch.

buy a box of cable too (70 bucks for 1000feet) from mono price and ends and wall jacks. do it all nice and clean.

run it to a patch panel, then put a switch, grab a nice wall mount rack (monoprice has em for like 30 bucks). 7u one, put patch, switch, and a shelf for the cable modem and stuff. put the tower servers below them on a shelf or rack or whatever.
 
Use patch panels. More reliable, easier to label, easier to see what's happening, easier to change configurations later.

Run your switches as you see fit...but a single one will just be easier.

If you want to run multiple runs to your servers, feel free. You don't need to, but it'll let you play with cool technologies like teaming.
 
Asgorath said:
You don't need to, but it'll let you play with cool technologies like teaming.
Click to expand...

That's mainly the whole point of the thing... I don't really know much about networking and the only way I'll learn is by playing with it...
 
just finished my new house, i used riser rated cat5 from home depot (89$ for 1000ft)
I used two 8 port 10/100/1000 external switches, a simple wireless router, and stuffed it all in one of those structured media boxes (home depot).

If your on a budget, dont worry about patch panel or rack mount switches, chances are you wont need all this expensive crap.
 
Its not expensive if you know where to look. You got ripped off with that CAT5. ;)
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Rockjay420 said:
just finished my new house, i used riser rated cat5 from home depot (89$ for 1000ft)
I used two 8 port 10/100/1000 external switches, a simple wireless router, and stuffed it all in one of those structured media boxes (home depot).

If your on a budget, dont worry about patch panel or rack mount switches, chances are you wont need all this expensive crap.
Click to expand...

After you worked with a wall mount rack, you'll hate those structured wiring enclosures. I've got as much cost in my wall mount rack and patch panels as I had in my structured wiring enclosure.

http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1033961127&postcount=526
 
I didnt read everything.. get yourself patch panels like mentioned. A 24 port on newegg is like $35 or somin. Its worth it.

Also, get yourself a "neat patch" The "officicial" neat patch is like $50, but you can get the "cheap patches" (thats what i call em), same concept, with an open design in the back. Its half the price and i actually find they work better. Use 2' patch cables and it'll make your install nice... heres what im talking bout:

http://www.deepsurplus.com/Network-...ent-2-Hole-Black-PVC-Type-with-Front-Cover-19

Its $25, takes up 2U but it makes things nice, heres an example from one of my actual installs:

Before:
n1095570040_30154612_6198.jpg


After:
n1095570040_30154618_7633.jpg


Heres a closeup of what im talking about:

3279235881_3a84887282_b.jpg
 
I did my house about a year ago with the help of a couple of friends. I was definitely a novice. First, another +1 for monoprice. I would also suggest you check firefold if monoprice doesn't have something you need.

Don't buy preterminated cables to run through your walls. You would have to drill larger holes in the top plates/floor plates to get the ends through. Also, you will need much more cable than you think. Straight runs are not always possible and it is much easier to group the cables together out of the way in an attic/ crawlspace.

Run at least 2 drops to each spot. It's nice to have a backup should one fail and you will find that you can use more than one connection in certain spots(eg in my living room I have an xbox and HTPC hooked up in the same area and I recently found out that Fiber ISP (FiOS/Uverse) can use your network to transfer information so I may want to add a 3rd outlet to that wall).

Remember that you can put your router/modem anywhere as long as there is a drop nearby. My cable modem placement was dictated by the cable company. I'm glad I wired all of the rooms so there was a drop nearby.

I even wired power and CAT6 to a closet so I could keep my server in the there and yes I have 2 connections just in case I want to team a pair of NICs.

I would also recommend buying CAT6. Yes, it is a bit of overkill but wiring a house is a pain and to add a little future proofing for another $50-100 is worth it. I would go with the patch panels and wall outlets. Once you learn the order to punch down the 8 strands, you will fly through the process. I would recommend avoiding the toolless Keystone jacks. They were more work than the standard ones. Stick with just one switch that has web management. It's one less piece of hardware to troubleshoot.

The process is not difficult but can be a bit time consuming. Take the time to do it right.
 
I know the guy above me mentioned CAT6.. id actually advice against it. You DON'T need it, really you don't. Plus its more of a pain to punch down and the cable is more expensive. Patch panels are more expensive also.

I havnt had experience with tooless jacks, shouldnt be a problem, but if your going to do it, go with the 110 style, as they are cheaper and its industry standard.

Also... A-spec (if you don't know what i mean, on your keystone jacks you'll see an A color config and a B... A is for home, B is for commercial) is what people used to use at home, but do yourself a favor, just use B-Spec... now adays contractors are going with B-spec everywhere. Theres no difference, other then its just what we've done for home/commercial use. Residential installs now adays are actually being done better/bigger then commercial in some of the homes.

Sooo my advice:

Use Cat5
Buy in bulk, run your own lines.
Run extra lines if you can, trust me, down the road you'll want them for something.
Use keystone wall plates/jacks and use a 110 punch down (its easy).
Use B-Spec

Use Patch panels
 
I was in your situation. The reality is run what you NEED when you NEED it. You will be surprised, as a home owner, how little time you will have. Bogging yourself down in your home network on day one is a good way to drive yourself nuts.

Things i have learned from reality:
  • punchdown = GOOD
  • crimping = BAD (never ever do it, search for goat-se first)
  • if not streaming HD video = wireless is good, draft N is plenty good for SD
  • if streaming HD video = wireless is bad, even draft N will stutter
  • 2 post rack = bad, a full length server @ 4U fully loaded is to big of a moment stress
  • 4 post rack = good, plus they are cheap to get from people who are chucking them. If desperate, build one out of 2x4's. I did this for 3 years.
  • cat5e is all you need, even for 100' gigabit runs
  • use bspec
  • run 2 lines, but only mount one
 
If you're going with a TV provider that uses IPTV (FIOS/Uverse) I'd run at least 2 feeds to each room, one (maybe 2) for internet, and one for TV. I keep my Uverse boxes isolated from my computers. Not sure if it's necessary, but I didn't want all the multicast on the same network segment as my computers. I'm running a router behind my Uverse Residential Gateway to block the multicast IPTV traffic from my computers. The Uverse gateway automatically sets the router in the DMZ.
 
Thanks for everyone's input it's been way helpful and I've looked into the patch panel and punching wires and it doesn't look as hard as I thought it would be...


I do plan on doing this over time, I'm buying the house, I've got the time and besides money won't let me go all out at first anyway :-P
 
Greatone123 said:
Thanks for everyone's input it's been way helpful and I've looked into the patch panel and punching wires and it doesn't look as hard as I thought it would be...


I do plan on doing this over time, I'm buying the house, I've got the time and besides money won't let me go all out at first anyway :-P
Click to expand...

Buy an impact punch. It'll make your life easier.
 
If you ever plan to add security cameras and would like to stread them on your televisions, do yourself a favor, run a coax cable to each TV as well down to your rack.

When you upgrade to HD tv or whatever your doing, this will let you put in a multiplexer and switch to yoru COAX feed on your tv to see yoru cameras, then go back.

Just some things we do where I work. Coax is out-dated for what we do (HD) but that coax line is still great to put the CCTV over.

If you don't need CCTV or what not, dont worry bout it then, not sure what your ultiimate plans are.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top