I wrote about the yellow perforated panels that I bought and cleaned for the IT corner. Here are a few pictures of the interim result,

It had to become more modular, because I want or need to change a few things

Network splitter

I wanted to place three routers next to each other in the attic. Private, Stream and Smart. They were all connected to physically separate networks. So I also needed three LAN connections. The only problem was that there was only one socket with two ports in the corner.

But as network specialists, we were already using these funny splitters 25 years ago if a port was missing somewhere.

What, you would never have bought them because the reviews are all so bad? Well, here’s the thing: these reviewers are all complete idiots and don’t even begin to understand what a splitter actually does and how a network cable conducts data. They think it’s some kind of 2-way socket strip for networking.

In fact, the splitter splits the eight wires (four pairs) of the network cable into two times four (two times two pairs). The trick is then that one gigabit port becomes two 100 ports. Gigabit and higher require four pairs of wires, whereas Fast Ethernet only needed two.

The network card and the switch recognise the „missing“ two pairs and then only use 100 MBit, which is sufficient for streaming and the smart home LAN.

Of course, at the other end, in the network cabinet, there also has to be a Y-piece of the splitter, otherwise the nose will just run.

I quickly built a 0.5 U holder for two splitters so that nothing is dangling around. Otherwise it would be a waste of space.

I then plugged an Ethernet extension into the holder, otherwise you wouldn’t be able to reach the rear end of the splitter, right?

Network cabinet upgrade

This tangle of cables was annoying. As a Vine tester, however, I ordered cable holders, which were unfortunately too big, new flat patch cables and Velcro labels for labelling the patch cables.

Yes, the patch panels are actually labelled with letters. So it should have said A1 instead of 1/1.

I then designed and printed my own cable holders, the grey ones you can see on the side.

The flat patch cables were a complete success. CAT6 and flat! Nice! The plugs are also very small, but have no protection for the clips.

I then bought slightly better patch cables with my own money.

The grey thing at the bottom is my cable grommet, which can also clamp the cables in place.

Another network cabinet

In the meantime, I have also bought a damaged 10″ „2 U network cabinet for 30 euros. Yes, that’s right, 30 EUR. Because it had a few dents, chips and some rust.

In comparison to my existing 6U 10″ „chrank, this one, which regularly costs around 90 to 100 EUR, is of rather light quality. The sheet metal is much thinner and the housing consists of five parts instead of just two. Well, at least the glass door was still intact.

I did a bit of hammering and bending and the cabinet was at least technically in order again.

DIY NAS enclosure

It will house my 12-bay NAS, which I have already designed and printed. It is specially designed for the 6-bay Fujitsu SAS/SATA backplanes, which I first had to rebuild to a tenth of a millimetre. Not as easy to measure as you might think.

I also had to print it in two parts on my relatively large Artillery X4 Plus. Each print took around 12 hours and I used up the rest (3/4) of a roll of PETG filament.

BUT: Everything fit right away! I had designed the backplanes with an adjustable suspension. I can slide in the HDD frames and they snap neatly into the SATA ports! Wow, sometimes I surprise myself. It was the complete opposite of the action with the hoover!

Well, I wasn’t expecting it. As it is: 10 % of the time for 90 % of the work and 10 % for 90 %. But everything worked out here. Since I didn’t expect it, the model wasn’t quite finished yet. The light guides for the LEDs on the backplane are still missing here, but are included in the 3D model above.

The IT corner

First I had to dismantle everything. I opened the cable ducts and unscrewed everything from the walls.

I screwed the perforated panels directly to the wall, even though you could put them on the rails of Elementsystem and similar. Shelf rails. All the stuff is reasonably standardised.

I’m thinking about adding the three remaining perforated panels to the right-hand side, because the 12 U server cabinet is to go on the far right and the perforated panels are already too big for the gap at 1.20 m in length.

I fastened the cables with invisible cable holders that I designed myself, which you insert into the perforated wall and snap into place. The cables themselves are attached to the holders with adhesive tape. They can be quickly removed and closed again.

I have also designed holders for the upper cables that run across, but haven’t printed them yet. I might also look in the classifieds for the original Tegometall double-loop holders in 40 or 60 mm lengths, they are very cheap.

I mounted the monitor on the wall with a small arm like this, which was very cheap.

There are already new bits and pieces in the corner, because it’s always going on there. Whenever I have time, anyway. And money. That shit adds up, even if I really pay attention to the prices.