Soundproof Server Room In A Box

This was part of an office fit out. The fit out consisted of a total of 140 odd network ports. My job was to figure out what needed to be done and get all of it up and running. 

Obviously, running 140 odd cat 6 cables back to the other side of the office would take quite a few people or a considerably long time and become quite costly.

Also, the area around the centre of the building is a common area so we can't very well run 140 odd network cables as the crow flies.

Instead, we decided to run a multicore fibre cable encased in corrugated PVC conduit connected to two, 1RU patch panels at each end. Cisco 10GBASE SE-SR SFP Modules are used at each end connecting the two locations together. Along with the fibre cable, there's four cat 5E cables which are used to connect the console port on each switch and UPS to an Out Of Band (OOB) management device allowing network maintenance to be performed remotely.

The SFP modules are connected to a stack of three, Cisco Catalyst 2960S 48 port switches (non POE) providing a small measure of redundancy.

We tried to use different coloured power cabling to try to make it quick and easy to identify what device your dealing with. The image above was taken before the project was finished and as such doesn't show the labeling that was added to each power cable. When your in the field and you've got an issue to deal with, it's nice having the information as fast as possible centred around where the problem usually is.

The switches are connected to a Zero U basic PDU which came with the rack although i tried really hard to find a switched IP PDU but couldn't find a single one which would fit. If someone out there makes switched IP PDUs, please make me a half height zero U PDU please.

There are three Cisco SPA 514G IP Phones, a 2n Helios IP Uni Single Button intercom and two Cisco Aironet 2600i Access Points. Being POE devices, we installed POE injectors which are hidden inside the rack. The cabling for POE devices is standard cat 6 cabling but with yellow cabling it sticks out. Obviously, i would have preferred to use POE switches but the limited number of POE devices at the time of switch selection coupled with the additional cost put POE switches out of reach.

The PDU is powered by a an APC 750VA UPS giving the entire system a good few hours of battery backup. An APC UPS Network Management Card with Environmental Monitoring ensures UPS status as well as temperature and humidity can be monitored within the server rack.

All of the data across the floor is connected to a number of Krone 24 port 2RU patch panels. These patch panels are pretty standard fare but they don't work well with the Neatpatch NP2K648 2RU Cable Management Kit. What's that you say? To give you a brief overview, check out this video from Cable Supply.

The Neatpatch NP2K648 2RU Cable Management Kit came with 48, 2 foot cat 6 patch leads. Each of these patch leads were labelled at both ends using cable labels oriented so the label was easy to read. Have a look at the before and after pics to see what it can do.

All of this goodness is contained within an APC NetShelter CX 18U Secure Soundproofed Server Room in a Box Enclosure. It remains locked at all times and when closed, no one really knows there's IT equipment whirring around inside the thing. Check out the video from APC for more information.

Thanks for reading everyone!

IITG

Who Is The Ignorant IT Guy

An IT guy who's been in the industry for over 10 years. I left school after year 10 and started working packing computers into boxes for Acer before being moved to the production line building and imaging the computers. Earning a little over $200 AUD and being 17 years old at the time, obviously i felt like a millionaire being able to purchase random crap for myself, my girlfriend and my friends.

As my contract with Acer finished, i found work at a local sports centre. I was able to use the facilities for free, and learn about linux by implementing an LDAP domain, internal DNS/DHCP, VPN and a generic fileserver.

I managed to someone secure an interview with a medical company and began work as a helpdesk engineer. In under two years, i had received four promotions making it to a linux systems administrator by hard work and hands on self education.

I've had no formal training prior to entering the industry and still continue in this fashion. I've pretty much learnt everything i know from just getting stuck in and finding out what works and what doesn't.

Generally when something doesn't work, i need to get it fixed as fast as possible. Preferably before anyone notices.

That's who i am. That's why i do what i do. I don't claim to be an expert on anything so don't assume i am. I don't claim to be anything really.

I set this blog up to share my experiences and hopefully expand my knowledge by sharing my thoughts with you and hopefully being corrected at the same time.

IITG