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I outgrew my network
setup, so I needed to find another place to put it all. I
suppose many of you, like me, have network equipment placed throughout
the house. As I built my network I just started running out of
room and found the need to centrally store all this stuff. I
found just that in a closet that we really never used for much.
The build was fun and
didn't require too much hard work, but running all new cable
throughout the house was a real PITA. I ran a bunch of new CAT5,
Coax Cable and because we have VoIp I needed to figure a way to run
cable to light up all the phone outlets throughout the house.
I have future plans
of taking all my stereo equipment and putting it in this same closet,
but that will require a bunch on new Component cable to be run and
that s going to be a HUGE task in and of itself so it will wait for a
while.
Preparation is key,
so plan according and make sure you have all the tools you'll need
before you get started. I measured, made a sketch, put the
products I needed on paper and only had to make one trip to the store.
I actually was able to take back a few pieces of wood for a
credit....woo-hoo...ha-ha.
So what'd I do?
I cedar lined the closet, then built shelving out of pine to house
everything and worked with a ton of cable I ran.
Disclaimer: Not for
distribution, redistribution, sale, re-sale or otherwise without my
written consent. This information is presented with no liability or
guarantee expressed or implied, work at your own risk.
Copyright © Magnum / Magnum1.com 2003-2009. |
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First thing was first...Run the new
cables. This required me to cut some small holes in the walls,
then drill some access holes in the studs. I chose to cut the
holes in all the inconspicuous areas, like another closet, in the dog
room ceiling and in the garage: |
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Garage ceiling hole number 1: |
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Garage Ceiling hole number 2: |
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Dog room hole in the ceiling: |
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.....And one last hole in the bottom of
the closet to get the cable out and then fish them up to their
respected area: |
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Now get someone who wants to help, my
daughter has been wanting to build something for a long time so she
was it, and demo the closet. Demo was easy here because all we
had was a single shelf and hanging rod.... |
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And here me being a dork and having some
laughs with my daughter. Like my dreads, ha-ha: |
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First we start out with the cedar
lining. Here my oldest daughter is checking to see how level we
are and if we need to shim any of the cedar planks: |
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And up we go. Remember measure
twice and cut once....I think my daughter got tired of me telling and
asking her of she did this: |
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Looking good. Electrical is in: |
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Cedar is up, gang boxes are in and the
shelving starts: |
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Close up: |
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Here was a good point to get the
electrical hooked up, face plates on and cables pulled through that
could be pulled through: |
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Let there be light....yeah, there was no
light in this small closet so it was nice to get the power hooked up
so I could stop using my miners light. You can also see the
holes I drilled in the shelving columns so the shelves could be
adjusted. I would be pretty much worthless to have fixed
shelves. I drilled all of these old school, by measuring each
hole on each side for levelness and then drilling them by hand.
It worked perfectly!: |
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Close up of the cables. I ran an
S-Video and RCA cable for my media PC to be hooked up to the TV and my
receiver. I have plans to get an extender so I can run HD
content through the extender: |
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Ok shelving is finished, trim is done
cat5 has been clipped and put together and most of the equipment is
in: |
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Close up of router / switches, media PC,
server and battery backup: |
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Other side where we will have a battery
charging station, Wii remotes / games and other various items.
This is also the side where I plan on relocating the stereo equipment
to in the near future: |
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Heat was a big worry of mine, so my
answer was to circulate the air via some fans. I accomplished
this by buying some computer fans and running them off a 4 port fan
control switch which is powered by USB from the media center PC.
You can see one of the fans in the middle here: |
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Starting to power stuff up to test.
Media PC on the left and Server on the right: |
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Router / Switches, Modem and back HDD
for the server: |
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Full shot with printers on the bottom.
This 2 lowest shelves are fixed due to the weight of the printers.
The printers consist of a Minolta MagiColor Network Laser and a
Samsung Network Laser B&W: |
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Darker shot. The lights look so
cool: |
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Half dark shot: |
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Battery backup: |
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Printers: |
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B/T keyboard for the media PC and Wii
stuff: |
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Top shelf, full of what will be patch
cables one day and other "stuff": |
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With the fans pumping it stays quite
cool: |
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Looks just like it was meant to be, too
me....: |
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Ok, let's walk through my cooling setup.
Basically I bought a
4 port fan controller with 3 PC fans and ran power via a USB cable I
cut. To do this the right way you really should have a soldering
iron, heat shrink and a heat gun.
Take a look here
for a close up of the 3 fans. You should see the 2 fans hooked
together in between the PC and Server, then another up top on the
modem and finally the fan controller is mounted to the bottom of the
shelf just above the server: |
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For the wiring, I'm sorry I didn't get
any pics, but it really isn't that bad.
Basically take a USB
cable and cut it to the size you need, then strip it back and you'll
have 4 wires. Take the red and black wires and separate, you'll
use these for power and ground, and tape off the other two wires to
the USB cable because you won't need to use these.
Strip the USB
power and ground, then set a side.
I had to extend
the wires from the controller to the fan, so I used standard [like 14
gauge] red and black colored wire I have. I took the cables that
came with the fan controller, connected it to the appropriate
connector to the fan itself and then cut off the appropriate side
connector [about in the middle] that fits in the fan controller side.
Then I stripped
the cable back and I bench tested for the proper wires.
Depending on the kit you get yellow may be the power [positive] wire.
Once bench tested
I twisted the proper wires together, soldered them and put some heat
shrink as a final touch.
This works
awesome, really pushes the hot air out from behind the Media PC and
Server out and the way the fan blows on the router and switches really
cools them down!
The best part is I
have one leftover port on the fan controller, so my plan is to get
some LED lights and mount them up top behind the trim.
TOP |
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Disclaimer: Not for
distribution, redistribution, sale, re-sale or otherwise without my
written consent. This information is presented with no liability or
guarantee expressed or implied, work at your own risk.
Copyright © Magnum / Magnum1.com 2003-2009. |
|
