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My Network Server Rack Made Simple!
My Network Server Rack Made Simple!
#Network #Server #Rack #Simple
“Reed’s Smart Home”
Building a server rack is much easier than you think. I’ll show you what server rack I’m using, my networking equipment, smart home hubs and NAS that I have.
20U Server rack:
Extra shelf:
Surge protector:
UPS:
Klein Tools Network LAN Cable tester:
Ethernet connectors (what I’m using to extend the cables):
Cat-6 Ethernet Cable:
Unifi Dream Machine Pro:
Hard drive for Dream Machine Pro:
Unifi PoE switch:
SFP+ cable:
Screen door material:
USB extender:
Synology NAS:
Hard drives for NAS:
Upgraded ram for the NAS:
Small network switches around the house:
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Thanks for watching! Like I said this is a simple set up compared to what's out there, but works for me and hopefully it’s helpful to some of you!
see that many say you should get the unifi mini switch. those are great just remember that they add alot of latency
Not using the Flex Mini switches? I figured with the POE switch it would be a no brainer. One less power cord to plug in.
High spousal approval factor – well said! 😂
Nice build. Why not use a patch panel?
Should get the UniFi mini switches!
Have you thought about getting rid of the Hue hub, and moving your Hue devices over to plain ZigBee?
I believe you lose some Hue “extras”, but I haven’t missed those, myself. And one less secondary hub in my rack, one less network on the airwaves.
I made the mistake of thinking that 100mbs was fast 4 years ago. I need to replace my 24 port poe switch with a 1gig version.
I agree about the size. Mine is an 8u. It's perfect… but full. I have no room for anything more. But that said, I probably won't need more.
Hi Reed,
Love your channels and enjoy following your journey through the world of home automation. You're videos are very inspiring.
You mentioned your NAS and I agree these devices are very versatile. There is an app available for the Synology NAS that I found to be a game changer. I'm referring to the Surveillance Station application. This turns your NAS in to a network video recorder. Designed for direct connect IP cameras, it will support RTSP and ONVIF. I have several Wyze V2 and V3 cameras running RTSP so this was perfect for my needs.
This program IMHO is amazing. I have a Synology DS1522+ and have designated drive bay #5 for recording all video feeds. I use a Seagate Iron Wolf 4Tb drive and there is more than enough room for 30 days worth of video feeds for six cameras recording 24 x 7. If anyone wonders, I run WD Red Pro 4Tb drives in the other four bays as a RAID5 volume.
The only drawback to Surveillance Station is that each camera requires a license. Synology provides two for free and subsequent licenses cost around $55.00 each (as low as $46.25/ea. in multi-packs). Synology branded cameras have the license built in and the cost reflects that. I struggled with purchasing four additional licenses, but in the end bit the bullet and have never looked back. Again, IMHO it's worth it.
If you get a chance, you should check out Surveillance Station. There should be two "free" licenses to play with on your model, so there's no additional cost for trying. Good luck and keep providing great and useful content.
Scott
Great Video, I really do appreciate the insight and tips as it helps with my own setup and not making the same mistakes. Maybe next a video on how you setup your NAS?
Hey. I also have a Synology NAS and highly recommend upgrading the RAM. I have the "Timetec Dual Rank 16GB DDR4-2666" which is only $30 and will increase the RAM to 20GB!
I would get rid of the "dumb" small switches you have and look into the small unifi switches. That way you have managment over all network ports in the house and can then setup VLANS for segregation of different devices for a better network. The small 5 port unifi switches are 30 bucks, so not much more than the cost of the ones you have, but way more functionality.
Reed, One of the main reasons to use a patch panel is you aren't putting excess strain on the ends of the Ethernet cables by making that 180* bend going into the switch. This will protect your cables a bit more and it also looks nicer.
Patch panel isn't just about looks. The cables that are run in fixed installations such as in trunking or behind walls are usually single core conductors that will break if flexed too many times, the patch panel means you don't have to move the cable at all to change the switch or port it is connected to. Its also far more convenient to have fixed labels on the patch panel telling you where each cables go to and then short patch cables off to your switches.
An advice! You should always avoid metal or iron near hubs. It interferes with or reduces signals such as wifi, bluetooth etc. That is the disadvantage of placing hubs in network racks.
If that’s a 920+ Synology, you can find the correct RAM for an “unsupported” upgrade to 20GB. Works great. Cheers.
Are you saving bandwidth with that SPF connector? The SPF connection on that specific PoE switch is only 1Gb, so I’m surprised you saw a speed difference.
2:03 When your pipe will burst your PSU will be flooded with water
Sorry to say, but your SFP+ is a 10 GB cable, but your switch does only have 1 GBit Interfaces incl. the SFP Slot… so afaik it couldn‘t be much faster. Please test this with iPerf
I don't see any mention of what you use for WiFi. I currently use the Unifi 6LR and those things are piece of junk especially for IoT , thread, matter& smart home. I had issues for months with the switchbot matter and thought it was a bad unit, took it to my mums who uses the ISP router and it connected immediately and worked flawlessly. I spend at least 3 hours every day trying out different setting and scouring every blog or rebooting or factory resetting and it's been ongoing for the past 2 years even with replacing gears. I have ordered the eero6 to replace them for now. I'm on my final straw and looking for other options. I was looking in to TP Link Omada.
Finally! Always wondered what kind of network you had running all that smart home. I’m super jealous having pre wired Ethernet! I would have Unifi if I had Ethernet all over my house. Wondering if you setup a VLAN? I have 3 Synology’s. Love them! And since I can’t have a Unifi, I went with Synology’s Router/Mesh. I did manage to hardwire one WiFi Point to the router, but the third is a wireless backhaul. I setup 3 wired/wireless VLANS with firewall rules; the Primary network for compute devices, an IoT Network to isolate it from compute devices and a Guest Network, well for Guests. So far it’s working well. My network equipment resides in my home office with my main computer and Plex Server. Oh and I have a 10GbE Switch in there as well. I have another Digital Audio Workstation wire to the upstairs wired router for a high speed connection. Anyway, great video! Nice tech!! 👍🏻
You don’t have a UPS for your rack?
You have cables pre-run in your house?!? Who has that?!?
Reed are you using mesh wifi?
Hi reed! some questions
1. why do you need a switch if you have a unifi dream? when you said ‘brains’, does it mean it’s a router that handles dhcp, qos, etc.?
2. is your modem in bridge mode so the real “router” is the switch or the unifi? this one connects to the switch, and the switch connects to the unifi where all APs are connected to the unifi?
3. how do you offload your wifi smart devices? Do you use a separate router/ap in a separate vlan so other devices especially gaming/work devices won’t experience lag?
One thing I wish I did differently is get a larger rack. I’m pretty much at capacity without room to grow. Ironically, I just published a video on my UniFi rack setup a few days ago.
He uploaded!
Noob
I recently installed rack. I got a 12 bay rack. Wish I had gotten a 20 bay rack.
Ths is a man who had issues with cables not labeled at all XD
Actually, some humidity is good for a server room. low humidity is prone to static buildup/discharge.
Higher humidity helps prevent that. I tend to prefer 50% to 60%.
Hope the box from your isp is set to bridge mode. Double NAT is no good