Show Us Your Racks

agw_01 · 7 Jul 2018 at 15:25

I knew you wouldn't mess about!

I plan to use the 2901 for CME. Got some 7941s and an FXO card to go with it.

Nice use of the dual 5505s. I was contemplating getting another 5520 and another Internet connection (I can get both cable and FTTC) but it'd just be a massive waste of money... Can't quite shrug the idea though

mikehhhhhhh · 13 May 2021 at 14:11

Thought this was worth a revival.

Just moved into a new place and decided to put together something a bit more robust for my networking needs.

Deleted member 77746 · 13 May 2021 at 16:32

What's that second switch underneath the Netgear? Any reason you added that switch when you got spare ports on the Netgear?

Nikumba · 13 May 2021 at 16:37

Bouton Aide said:
What's that second switch underneath the Netgear? Any reason you added that switch when you got spare ports on the Netgear?

Guessing might be firewall or a router looking at the cables on it

Deleted member 77746 · 13 May 2021 at 16:38

Nikumba said:
Guessing might be firewall or a router looking at the cables on it

I can't zoom in close enough to see it

mikehhhhhhh · 13 May 2021 at 17:57

Bouton Aide said:
What's that second switch underneath the Netgear? Any reason you added that switch when you got spare ports on the Netgear?

Nikumba said:
Guessing might be firewall or a router looking at the cables on it

It is indeed a router - A Mikrotik RB4011

You can see a larger version of the image here

Here's a few more details I posted elsewhere

A quick run down of what the network consists of;
900/100 FTTP connection from Zen,
400/50 5G connection for failover from EE
Mikrotik 4011 router
Netgear GS724TP 24 Port POE switch chosen for it's big POE capacity for low (used) cost
Cyberpower CP1500 UPS that'll run everything for around 60-80 minutes and auto shutdown via NUT
Synology DS918+ for NAS, some docker services and NVR
RPI4 running Home Assistant for home automation and zigbee control
Camect for CCTV object detection and alerts
Server is old J1900 router appliance for remote ssh access/jump box and testing
Access points are Ubiquiti U6-Lites

I work from home, so one of the core requirements when I built this was that everything still works if the power goes off. This is mostly achieved by a fairly decent sized UPS powering the rack, using POE where possible and a separate 12v UPS for the FTTP ONT.

teaboy5 · 17 May 2021 at 19:41

mikehhhhhhh said:
It is indeed a router - A Mikrotik RB4011

You can see a larger version of the image here

Here's a few more details I posted elsewhere

Whats the mikrotik like ? I need a router/firewall that will attach to a CCTV system but only allow certian external IP's in. I can do the port forwarding on a cheap router, but can't limit it to the external IP's I want so they just all all.

Do the mikrotik's allow for this at all, if you don't mind checking yours there!

mikehhhhhhh · 17 May 2021 at 23:45

teaboy5 said:
Whats the mikrotik like ? I need a router/firewall that will attach to a CCTV system but only allow certian external IP's in. I can do the port forwarding on a cheap router, but can't limit it to the external IP's I want so they just all all.

Do the mikrotik's allow for this at all, if you don't mind checking yours there!

Yeah, any decent router with a configurable firewall should let you do this - the Mikrotik included

You might find something like pfSense, OpenWRT, Untangle or other firewall appliance a fair bit more user friendly than the Mikrotik, however.

I've worked in ISPs, built and run networks for global corporations and later moved into building network software and I still need to do a lot of RTFMing to configure the Mikrotik.

ChrisD. · 18 May 2021 at 08:41

Yeah they don’t have the most user friendly UI. What are you using external IP ingress for? You shouldn’t really be opening up your edge device to anything other than to pass through a decent VPN.

teaboy5 · 18 May 2021 at 13:47

ChrisD. said:
Yeah they don’t have the most user friendly UI. What are you using external IP ingress for? You shouldn’t really be opening up your edge device to anything other than to pass through a decent VPN.

O it's nothing fancy. I need to allow a certain IP in to view CCTV footage as a site is monitored via a 3rd party. Didn't want to open ports for ALL external IP's but want it limited to that companies IP. It's a completely separate internet connection with only that CCTV box on the other end.

I look after networks myself, but we only use cisco gear and wasn't sure what some of the small cheaper routers have feature wise! Bit out of the loop so to speak.

ChrisD. · 18 May 2021 at 14:21

In which case I'd still recommend running an OpenVPN server on the edge device or behind it as an example.

Nevakonaza · 19 May 2021 at 11:40

I've always wondered about NAS, Isn't because its connected to your home network make whatever data you have on your drives vulnerable to an attack from the outside? Of course there is security i know that BUT i still wouldn't feel comfortable.

Deleted member 77746 · 19 May 2021 at 11:42

Nevakonaza said:
I've always wondered about NAS, Isn't because its connected to your home network make whatever data you have on your drives vulnerable to an attack from the outside? Of course there is security i know that BUT i still wouldn't feel comfortable.

Not if it's inside the network then there is no direct route inside unless the NAS communicates outside of the network.

ChrisD. · 24 May 2021 at 11:35

Same as any home device, just keep it up to date really and don’t allow unsecured access to it from the internet.

Rroff · 23 Jun 2022 at 12:17

Not my main setup but put this together for a specific task - there is additionally a UPS to go in it but I've not got around to that yet.

(FileHubs have security mitigations in place)

On Holiday · 23 Jun 2022 at 22:34

Some new custom 5u lockable individual racks delivered to our own new-build datacentre! :cool:

BusError · 4 Jul 2022 at 08:06

Bought a Precision Rack 7910 nearly 2 years ago, for an absolute *song*. It's now installed /under/ my big electronics workbench, it's pretty much invisible. It's surprisingly quiet when idle, and only ramps up when I start hammering it.
There are *massive* deals to be made for this style of machines, it's incredible. I got:
2 * 10 cores Xeon E5-2687W v3 (3.1Ghz)
256GB DDR4 ECC
H730P RAID (2GB cache) + 8 SaS disks (of various sizes, now replaced anyway)
4 * Gb ethernet
2 * 1100W PSU
Plus all the trimmings, like iDrac Pro etc -- all for 600 quid, shipped.

I've since upgraded all disks to 1TB Dell Sas, RAM to 512GB, one NVMe as a system disk (Debian).
It's been a monster for me, I remote into it with x2go, (it's in an outbuilding) and it build embedded linux distros, I'm super happy with it.

ChrisD. · 4 Jul 2022 at 10:08

Nice but that cannot be cheap to run.

BusError · 4 Jul 2022 at 12:59

ChrisD. said:
Nice but that cannot be cheap to run.

<125W most of the time. Sure it ramps up during very heavy usage, but it's surprisingly good. Also, it's not a NAS, I turn it off when I don't need it. The beauty of IDRAC is that there is a small webserver on a separate board inside it that stays on, and I can turn in on/off remotely. Perfect for my use.

Throrik · 4 Jul 2022 at 17:21

Haven't got any recent pics of the current 50+ DCs we run, as I try to avoid going to them at all costs these days, but got an oldish pic of the storage part of a Flexpod deployment.