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denny20003
join:2004-12-21
Saint Charles, MO

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denny20003

Member

My Network Setup

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I have been looking at every ones setup on here for years and I finally decided to share what I have.

2 wall mounted racks mounted underneath my basement staircase.
One with a 24 port Cat 6 punchdown panel and 24 port D-Link Gigabit switch. The second rack has a Cyber Power surge protector and a tray with my cable modem and an Apple Airport Extreme router.

Above the rack is a BayWeb Internet Thermostat.

The cables are a mix of Cat5 and Cat6 and run to my office and my entertainment center. At this time, those are the only rooms that I need a wired network.

So any thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks
Denny

state
stress magnet
Mod
join:2002-02-08
Purgatory

state

Mod

Very clean, and a great use of the space.

bemis
Premium Member
join:2008-07-18
united state

bemis to denny20003

Premium Member

to denny20003
Clever use of space and tidy setup

That surface mount box on the left stringer with what looks like a 3 keystone plate--what are those jacks for? Only one cable, a yellow one, looks "special"?

You've got a 2 port coax splitter... the in use output of that spltter goes somewhere, a little tough for me to tell the pics--does that go thru a hole in the right stringer, or just stapled there and then heads down to the cable modem? My Q being if you're not actually doing a split there, why not just use a barrel connector?

Looks like the stairs are in the middle of the area? Where is the power outlet you're using to feed the Cyper(sic) Power?

...sorry for the Q's, a little slow at work today

denny20003
join:2004-12-21
Saint Charles, MO

denny20003

Member

Good questions! I don't mind answering any questions concerning my setup

The surface mount box houses a two connectors that goes directly to the punchdown panel and then to the switch. One of these two connectors is used to connect the cable modem in to the network. The connector is yellow because that was the cable that it came with. The other connector is not used at this time.
The second connector (the green one) is a connector for the ATT UVerse that I used before. I have left it there in case I want to use it again. It is green because that is what ATT gave me.

The coax splitter is actually a power injector that I didn't need. I have a antenna in the attic with a attached amp but once I started using it, I found that I didn't need the amp.
There is another cable that comes in at the same location but it goes directly to the cable modem.

As for the outlets, I installed a outlet in the frame next to my setup. It is used to power the Cyber Power as well as my exercise equipment.

jbcg
@rr.com

jbcg to denny20003

Anon

to denny20003
Cool! Thanks for sharing!

bemis
Premium Member
join:2008-07-18
united state

bemis to denny20003

Premium Member

to denny20003
Thanks for the details

...the Bay Web T-stat looks pretty cool from what I've seen about them. I considered them specifically for my house because I love the idea of getting feedback about energy use as well as the occupancy monitors.

In the end, since I'm heat-only, I went with a basic (in comparison) 7-day programmable Honeywell. It works reasonably well, but I know it's less than ideal in terms of efficiency because my schedule is not that rigid, so it ends up running in the evenings when i'm not home.

denny20003
join:2004-12-21
Saint Charles, MO

denny20003

Member

The BayWeb thermostat is great! My only concern is that they stay in business and keep the web interface going. Otherwise, that will be a very expensive simple thermostat!
I like the Nest thermostats too. I wish the BayWeb had a wall mounted unit that looked as good as the Nest does. However, I will take a solid wired connection over a wireless connection anyway.

My next steps on this network will be a NAS solution that stores all my data and then convert all my computers to SSD drives and store the data on a central location. Any suggestions on a NAS solution?

The E
Please allow me to retort
Premium Member
join:2002-05-26
Burnaby, BC

The E to denny20003

Premium Member

to denny20003
Super smart use of space! Very nicely done, sir!
Please keep us updated on your choice of NAS solutions. I'm heading in that direction myself soon.
Moffetts
join:2005-05-09
San Mateo, CA

Moffetts to denny20003

Member

to denny20003
I'm a Synology man, myself.

denny20003
join:2004-12-21
Saint Charles, MO

denny20003

Member

Are Synology NAS fast and responsive? How about energy efficiency?
What model do you use or recommend for a home user?

I quickly looked on their site and I was impressed by their selection. I will have to research this further
phantom99b
join:2008-08-04
Chillicothe, IL

phantom99b

Member

I use Qnap TS-559 Pro+ and have no issues with speed. The key I have found is to make sure that the NAS has enough ram for access speeds. I have had 2 Qnaps 1. TS-409 PRO and the TS-559 Pro+. The TS-409 is slow when in a raid 5 format while the TS-559 has greatly increased speed when writing and reading.
Moffetts
join:2005-05-09
San Mateo, CA

Moffetts to denny20003

Member

to denny20003
said by denny20003:

Are Synology NAS fast and responsive? How about energy efficiency?
What model do you use or recommend for a home user?

I quickly looked on their site and I was impressed by their selection. I will have to research this further

I would look at a DS412+. I'm not sure what the power usage is, but they are quick unless you try to web manage it over the WAN.

denny20003
join:2004-12-21
Saint Charles, MO

denny20003

Member

According to their web site, it doesn't look too bad.
Power Consumption : 44W (Access); 15W (HDD Hibernation)

The DS412+ is limited to SATA II HDD. As long as the SATA III HDDs are compatible then it looks like a great NAS.

Octavean
MVM
join:2001-03-31
New York, NY

Octavean to denny20003

MVM

to denny20003
Nice,....

Really nice,.....

But for some reason I keep picturing some kind of flood from an upstairs bathroom leaking through the steps,.....

gattaca
Premium Member
join:2003-05-28
USA

gattaca to denny20003

Premium Member

to denny20003
Where did you get the front-facing surface mount box with keystone jacks? I have a couple areas where surface mount is my only option, and I'd rather have the ports facing outward like a traditional network drop, rather than on the side like most surface-mounts seem to be.
NJ_Brad
join:2003-07-23
Trenton, NJ

NJ_Brad

Member

That looks like a regular outlet box that is commonly used for surface mounting electrical outlets and a keystone outlet plate.

»www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N ··· Id=10051

or

»www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N ··· Id=10051

denny20003
join:2004-12-21
Saint Charles, MO

denny20003

Member

That is correct NJ_Brad, I got the surface mount from Home Depot and the jack was given to me by the Att installer.

sk1939
Premium Member
join:2010-10-23
Frederick, MD
ARRIS SB8200
Ubiquiti UDM-Pro
Juniper SRX320

sk1939 to denny20003

Premium Member

to denny20003
said by denny20003:

Are Synology NAS fast and responsive? How about energy efficiency?
What model do you use or recommend for a home user?

I quickly looked on their site and I was impressed by their selection. I will have to research this further

The two big issues I find with home use of a NAS are simple things if your not careful. Number one is using the NAS with DHCP, as some NAS's have issues with renewing DHCP leases for whatever reason. The second has to do with name resolution, which can be tricky on some of the more complex/segmented networks. If you go to static map your drives, make sure you use the IP rather than device name. iSCSI solves some of the resolution problems, but is more complex than using SMB/Windows File Sharing.