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Creating a little server setup

Oli1549

Hello,

 

I was looking at creating myself a little server setup(Very basic), but big enough that il keep building on it and as my experience grow to expand.

I am looking at getting a rackmount case, this one to be exact: https://www.scan.co.uk/products/15u-dynamode-cab-w15u-el550-19-550mm-deep-wall-mount-cabinet-black?v=c

and a few components at the start I was going to get was:

Network Switch: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00GGD10FY/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

Patch Board

Small Server of some kind(Not Decided)

 

I understand the case is 19", so it supports 19" rackmount things, the network switch, for example, is only 13" in width so how would it fit in the standard 19" rackmount case?

 

Before you say the case is too big for what I'm doing, I would agree it is for now, but I really don't want to be buying 2 cases and wasting money.

as for the switch or whatever being too big, that's not my point I'm just asking for some info how you would personally put a rig like this together, and how to work around putting a 13" wide rack switch into a 19" case, and if this is even possible..?

 

Thanks a lot in advance,

Oli

 

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It comes with rackmount ears which screw into the side of the switch to allow it to fit a standard rack.

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3 minutes ago, Lurick said:

It comes with rackmount ears which screw into the side of the switch to allow it to fit a standard rack.

Do they come with the rackmount case or the network switch?

 

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2 minutes ago, Oli1549 said:

Do they come with the rackmount case or the network switch?

 

They come with the switch or whatever equipment you buy. They can't come with the rack because of the various widths of devices out there they would have to ship you a box probably 5x the size of the rack itself.

Unless you buy used, 99% of all rackmount gear will come with rackmount ears or rails to work in a 19" wide rack. Depth is another problem and might limit you in what you can install but that's something you can research on a case by case basis.

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1 minute ago, Lurick said:

They come with the switch or whatever equipment you buy. They can't come with the rack because of the various widths of devices out there they would have to ship you a box probably 5x the size of the rack itself.

Unless you buy used, 99% of all rackmount gear will come with rackmount ears or rails to work in a 19" wide rack. Depth is another problem and might limit you in what you can install but that's something you can research on a case by case basis.

Ah, Gotcha that's brilliant. 

 

As for choosing a 24 Port Switch(Managed) do you have any preferences or advise what I should look at buying?

 

Thanks,

Oli

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are you getting more than 3 computers to put in that rack? if not you're wasting more space on the rack than you win by rack-mounting them.

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1 minute ago, Oli1549 said:

Ah, Gotcha that's brilliant. 

 

As for choosing a 24 Port Switch(Managed) do you have any preferences or advise what I should look at buying?

 

Thanks,

Oli

Look for a easy to navigate GUI and good support. Check reviews from a couple sites to make sure it's got good reviews all around, and maybe look for PoE switches if you ever think you'll have cameras or other devices that can be PoE powered (cuts down on power cables). Netgear and TP-Link always seem to be the most recommended brands.

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Just now, manikyath said:

are you getting more than 3 computers to put in that rack? if not you're wasting more space on the rack than you win by rack-mounting them.

Few reasons i have in my head why,

 

I am extremely OCD would hate to not have them in a case etc, the struggle is real!

and i do plan on expanding over time and adding more servers, so yes i will be adding more computers.

 

Oli

 

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1 minute ago, Lurick said:

Look for a easy to navigate GUI and good support. Check reviews from a couple sites to make sure it's got good reviews all around, and maybe look for PoE switches if you ever think you'll have cameras or other devices that can be PoE powered (cuts down on power cables). Netgear and TP-Link always seem to be the most recommended brands.

You see, I've always thought that I was going to work on getting separate for CCTV cameras than my network, the reasoning I had in my head was someone could connect/hack or whatever into the network and see cameras, delete files or whatever, and having CCTV local only was a more secure way?

 

I wasn't going to get a PoE switch now, just a managed 24 port and get an 8 port PoE if I ever look at getting cameras?

Give me some advice on my thinking, if you think I'm wrong, you're probably right...

 

Oli

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1 minute ago, Oli1549 said:

You see, I've always thought that I was going to work on getting separate for CCTV cameras than my network, the reasoning I had in my head was someone could connect/hack or whatever into the network and see cameras, delete files or whatever, and having CCTV local only was a more secure way?

 

I wasn't going to get a PoE switch now, just a managed 24 port and get an 8 port PoE if I ever look at getting cameras?

Give me some advice on my thinking, if you think I'm wrong, you're probably right...

 

Oli

There's always a way to get around it, just a matter of will power on the attackers part and their ability and knowledge of exploits on the system or the ability to find them. Having them on the local network and then streaming to two places (local and remote) at the same time is probably the safest way to go if you want to be extra cautions. Having it encrypted will certainly help keep it hidden but it's all about how far you want to go :)

 

You could definitely add another switch later for PoE only purposes, that way if you don't go that route you didn't spend the extra money.

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4 minutes ago, Oli1549 said:

You see, I've always thought that I was going to work on getting separate for CCTV cameras than my network, the reasoning I had in my head was someone could connect/hack or whatever into the network and see cameras, delete files or whatever, and having CCTV local only was a more secure way?

 

I wasn't going to get a PoE switch now, just a managed 24 port and get an 8 port PoE if I ever look at getting cameras?

Give me some advice on my thinking, if you think I'm wrong, you're probably right...

 

Oli

Don't forget that you can create vlans to isolate your cameras from the rest of your network.

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One thing is that rack is very short and not great for servers due to seeming to have screw holes not, the square holes for servers. Id get a deeper rack.

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1 minute ago, Lurick said:

There's always a way to get around it, just a matter of will power on the attackers part and their ability and knowledge of exploits on the system or the ability to find them. Having them on the local network and then streaming to two places (local and remote) at the same time is probably the safest way to go if you want to be extra cautions. Having it encrypted will certainly help keep it hidden but it's all about how far you want to go :)

 

You could definitely add another switch later for PoE only purposes, that way if you don't go that route you didn't spend the extra money.

Yeah, thats a later problem for a future idea i think,

my aim is to get a switch working with patch board etc, i currently have a old pc running plex and file server so that will do my computing power for now, then when i wish to go down CCTV route buy a PoE switch, some cameras and put in another ticket!!

 

By chance while im here/your here.

if you have any experience with PoE Cameras/IP Cameras,

if i had cameras hooked up to the PoE switch, what way would i manage the footage that they record? is there software for that? how would you connect the PoE switch to the computer that has to process the footage?

 

Oli

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Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

One thing is that rack is very short and not great for servers due to seeming to have screw holes not, the square holes for servers. Id get a deeper rack.

For expansion and whatnot, what depth would you recommend?

 

Oli

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3 minutes ago, ThatFlashCat said:

Don't forget that you can create vlans to isolate your cameras from the rest of your network.

That is a very good point, I've heard of that, I'm not too experienced in the networking field but would definitely look into that.

 

Oli

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1 minute ago, Oli1549 said:

For expansion and whatnot, what depth would you recommend?

 

Oli

if you want a normal rack mount server you need about 40 in normally.

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1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

if you want a normal rack mount server you need about 40 in normally.

40 what?

if its inches then in not sure il ever fund/need a server that big for a simple home server???

 

 

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1 minute ago, Oli1549 said:

Yeah, thats a later problem for a future idea i think,

my aim is to get a switch working with patch board etc, i currently have a old pc running plex and file server so that will do my computing power for now, then when i wish to go down CCTV route buy a PoE switch, some cameras and put in another ticket!!

 

By chance while im here/your here.

if you have any experience with PoE Cameras/IP Cameras,

if i had cameras hooked up to the PoE switch, what way would i manage the footage that they record? is there software for that? how would you connect the PoE switch to the computer that has to process the footage?

 

Oli

The switch will only provide power if requested by the device, so you would just connect to the switch like normal and point the browser to the IP address of the camera(s)

 

Just now, Oli1549 said:

That is a very good point, I've heard of that, I'm not too experienced in the networking field but would definitely look into that.

 

Oli

 

A VLAN is a virtual LAN network and is completely segmented off from another VLAN by default. The only time they can talk is when you add SVI's (Switched virtual interfaces) and routing in the mix to allow them to talk but there are ways to segment them there as well.

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1 minute ago, Oli1549 said:

40 what?

if its inches then in not sure il ever fund/need a server that big for a simple home server???

 

 

40 inches. Most rack mount servers want cases that deep,.

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Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

40 inches. Most rack mount servers want cases that deep,.

Not sure where you're looking but all my servers are 30" deep or less.

Even my 4RU 24-bay server case was only 28" deep and fit a big motherboard in there too.

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1 minute ago, Lurick said:

The switch will only provide power if requested by the device, so you would just connect to the switch like normal and point the browser to the IP address of the camera(s)

 

 

A VLAN is a virtual LAN network and is completely segmented off from another VLAN by default. The only time they can talk is when you add SVI's (Switched virtual interfaces) and routing in the mix to allow them to talk but there are ways to segment them there as well.

 

The first thing about the Cameras, that would get me a live feed, but surely i would need a computer running x software to process, save the footage to drives, and delete after x days, and also manage playback?

 

I may be making this complicated but this would be the ideal setup...

 

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Just now, Oli1549 said:

The first thing about the Cameras, that would get me a live feed, but surely i would need a computer running x software to process, save the footage to drives, and delete after x days, and also manage playback?

 

I may be making this complicated but this would be the ideal setup...

 

Yah, you can just have a box with a couple hard drives and you'll point the cameras to that server via FTP or another method.

You also buy something like a NVR (network video recorder) or you can see if the camera supports regular FTP and then just use FTP to point to whatever box you want to store the footage.

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2 minutes ago, Lurick said:

Not sure where you're looking but all my servers are 30" deep or less.

Yea your right, 30 in is good enough for almost anything. Just get the one with the square holes so you can put rails in easily.

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2 minutes ago, Oli1549 said:

The first thing about the Cameras, that would get me a live feed, but surely i would need a computer running x software to process, save the footage to drives, and delete after x days, and also manage playback?

 

I may be making this complicated but this would be the ideal setup...

 

I just get a few ip cams and are trying out zoneminder and it works fine. Compared to just putting it on a file server it will show you when there is motion.

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Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

Yea your right, 30 in is good enough for almost anything. Just get the one with the square holes so you can put rails in easily.

Yah, now I'm sure the LTT storinators are a bit longer and need a deeper rack :P

Obviously not all gear fit's in 30" or less of space so still good thing to keep in mind

(Or fits in 19" wide racks *cough*facebook*cough*)

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