Structured Wiring System Design

Step 4 Installation Details

Here are details of the installation.

Comments

[pratyushpmhptr]

(removed by author or community request)

[thb43]

1) Surge protection... no you don't have to have surge protection for LAN cables or phone outlets... they work just fine without. Having said that....my routers seem to be a lot more stable now that I am using a surge protection and power conditioning.... I haven't had to reboot the router nearly as much as without it. Most surge protectors have connections for LAN and phone so I use them both. It just good peace of mind too know that my expensive equipment is protected. One other thing... when lightening hit my grandfathers house the phone out back in the barn was blown off the wall. He didn't have surge protection.... it may have helped.

2) improperly grounded, bad amp, ESD, TV still turned on while making the connection... could be many things shocking you. I'd get it checked out.

3) readyNAS (Netgear's version of Network Attached Storage) looks pretty good. Cost and performance were deciding factors for me. My Buffalo system has been running non-stop since installed with no problems... the GUI is a bit clunky though.

I'm happy you enjoyed my instructable.... there's a lot of information here and I'm happy to share it. with everyone. I have learned a lot of things from the internet and this was my chance to give back and help out others. Enjoy!

[fireglow35062]

 what brand are the servers that you are using?

[thb43]

 The file servers are Buffalo linkstation and linkserver.  250GB each

[GasperiD]

Wow, just wow, this makes me want to cry im so happy. When i am a home owner i will definitely have to make sure that i have something that matches this amount of beauty or out does it.

[xd12c]

Instead of building the cable tray, there are specail purpose trays out there that have a premade & fit cover for vertical & upside down installation. All depends on the amount of money you want to spend. Panduit may have one.

[thb43]

I did look at several trays.  There are plenty of them out there that are really cool looking; yet very expensive per foot.  For this part of the build cost was the biggest design factor.  I opted to build my own trays using metal studs and pop rivets.  This worked well, looks good, and was a very inexpensive way to go.

[xd12c]

I can definitely agree on cost being a design factor. I was just wanted to point it out because you were concerned with the ties to the tray or something to that effect. The plastic cable trays don't have that issue. Not only that, I didn't even know they existed until I had to order them for work.

[richenbals]

I have to say, of all the awesomeness contained in your build, I was most inspired by the "spare parts tray". I'll be damned if I don't install one of those on every single build I do from here on out. Honestly, that one little step will save me more time than I want to consider. 

Kudos on a job well done!

[thb43]

I agree.  The spare parts tray rocks!

[piratemike]

im also interested in your selection of power cleaning / UPS

PS: AWESOME job. just bought a new house and am looking at doing something VERY similar.

[thb43]

I is an APC Back-UPS HS500.  I've only seen it online, never seen it in the stores.  It has worked well for several years now.  It was the only one I found at the time within my budget (approx $100) that could be monitored and controlled by a web page.

A couple complaints I have though.  1) The control program used to set the IP address only works with Win XP.  I cannot set the IP address using Win Vista.  The support at APC knows this and says they have no plans to provided Vista support.
2) I originally setup the IP address to something like 192.168.1.2.  I can change the IP to something else, but the web interface always reports the original address.  APC sent a new unit with the next firmware version and it does the same thing.  They finally said they have no further plans to provide support for this item to fix this issue.

Other than that I have no complaints.  It works as advertised and the router, switch, modem, etc that I have connected have been very stable even during a few power outages.

[mbear]

"2) I originally setup the IP address to something like 192.168.1.2.  I can change the IP to something else, but the web interface always reports the original address.  APC sent a new unit with the next firmware version and it does the same thing.  They finally said they have no further plans to provide support for this item to fix this issue."

There are two possible ways I can see to deal with that IP address issue:
1. Use an entry in your HOSTS file to point to the correct location.

2. Download an Internet Explorer Virtual PC image to get the XP support you need. It'll time out after a few months, but until it does you're golden.

[thb43]

Funny you should suggest Virtual PC with XP.  That is exactly how I was able to work around this problem a couple months ago.  It has already timed out.

I do have a host file entry.  The unit does work with whatever IP address I set using the setup program, however the web user interface never shows the correct address.

[jdf2525]

beautiful job!  my equipment closet should look so nice.

[ledzippel]

 How much dry wall did you cut into?

[thb43]

only about 2ft x 3ft.

[JSmith1103]

Can you provide me with the model number of the APC unit you used? Thanks :)