Hopefully this is the right part of the forum. I posted this on /r/homelab but it got removed for not being related to homelabs. As usual overmoderation is rampant over there. I want to share this as I was looking for ideas on how to mount it, and I didn't really find any good full guides or posts where someone had done it outside of a commercial environment with no issues. In reality nothing will go right and it will all be a mess, like in my garage... Here is all the details
I have a rack in my house, but I also wanted to mount an AP and several PoE cameras on the garage. The garage is detached, and running cables to it via a small breezeway is very tough. I opted to do 1 run of fiber over there and have a switch, instead of running multiple runs of cat6. This also removes a potential path of lightning since I have some antennas mounted and connected back to the network for ADSB flight tracking
First I bought 30m of OM3 from Fiberstore, and a Cisco WS-C2960S-48LPD-L which has 2 x 10G SFP+ ports, and 48 PoE+ ports. The switch uses around 30w of power idle, so its not too bad for the very low purchase price
First I ran the fiber from my rack, back to my garage via some conduit I had already installed for the AT&T Fiber which terminates on the back of my garage, and runs through the house
Fiber from the main rack
Into the wall (I will neaten this up later...)
And here it comes in the garage
I got the switch configured, and hooked up a spare APC SMT1000RM2u UPS I had
I left it here and monitored temperatures for a week and everything looked fine. On to mounting the rack
I ripped off the old wood veneer(?) that was on the wall to get a look at the studs in the location I wanted to mount. Sadly the studs were 24" on center, not 16" on center which is what the rack mounting brackets were designed for. There was also a very loose stud right next to a normal one, along with some crappy power. he sheathing was also eaten up by rats (Or something) at the bottom, it looks like its been like this a while
I went ahead and ripped out the old sheathing as well as installing a new 2x4 stud 16" across from the good one. This would give me the space to mount the rack. I also screwed the loose stud to the one next to it. I installed protector plates for the electrical too. I used stud brackets and outdoor rated nails, and used a 3 inch outdoor screw in the top and bottom for added strength
I used pressure treated lumber as there were some studs in the garage that had some damage from wood destroying insects
I drilled holes in the top plate and in the sheathing to run cable through
I also run some 12/2 for a new dedicated 20a circuit
I mounted some plywood to the studs, and installed a 2 gang nylon box for the receptacles
I installed 2 x 20a duplex receptacles
I had these screws to mount the rack, but they were not suitable for the PT wood. I ended up getting the same type but in in the outdoor variety
I got a metal plate for the receptacles, looks much better now
I installed protector plates on the top holes, and then drilled some holes for cables to come into the rack. The brush plates were $6 at home depot, so I got 2 x 44c dryer receptacle covers and used those
Got the rack mounted to the studs. Its very strong, I can do pullups on it no problem
I pulled the fiber through, I ended up having to get another 30m of fiber because of where I placed the rack in the garage
Sadly I could not use the bottom 1u as the brackets from the rack take up the space. So I mounted the rails for the UPS 1u higher
They needed rear support, so I just screwed them into the plywood
It wasn't inline with the stud, but it was still very strong
I made sure the rack was extended enough to have enough room behind the UPS
I mounted the switch
Hopefully these images help someone!
I have a rack in my house, but I also wanted to mount an AP and several PoE cameras on the garage. The garage is detached, and running cables to it via a small breezeway is very tough. I opted to do 1 run of fiber over there and have a switch, instead of running multiple runs of cat6. This also removes a potential path of lightning since I have some antennas mounted and connected back to the network for ADSB flight tracking
First I bought 30m of OM3 from Fiberstore, and a Cisco WS-C2960S-48LPD-L which has 2 x 10G SFP+ ports, and 48 PoE+ ports. The switch uses around 30w of power idle, so its not too bad for the very low purchase price
First I ran the fiber from my rack, back to my garage via some conduit I had already installed for the AT&T Fiber which terminates on the back of my garage, and runs through the house
Fiber from the main rack
Into the wall (I will neaten this up later...)
And here it comes in the garage
I got the switch configured, and hooked up a spare APC SMT1000RM2u UPS I had
I left it here and monitored temperatures for a week and everything looked fine. On to mounting the rack
I ripped off the old wood veneer(?) that was on the wall to get a look at the studs in the location I wanted to mount. Sadly the studs were 24" on center, not 16" on center which is what the rack mounting brackets were designed for. There was also a very loose stud right next to a normal one, along with some crappy power. he sheathing was also eaten up by rats (Or something) at the bottom, it looks like its been like this a while
I went ahead and ripped out the old sheathing as well as installing a new 2x4 stud 16" across from the good one. This would give me the space to mount the rack. I also screwed the loose stud to the one next to it. I installed protector plates for the electrical too. I used stud brackets and outdoor rated nails, and used a 3 inch outdoor screw in the top and bottom for added strength
I used pressure treated lumber as there were some studs in the garage that had some damage from wood destroying insects
I drilled holes in the top plate and in the sheathing to run cable through
I also run some 12/2 for a new dedicated 20a circuit
I mounted some plywood to the studs, and installed a 2 gang nylon box for the receptacles
I installed 2 x 20a duplex receptacles
I had these screws to mount the rack, but they were not suitable for the PT wood. I ended up getting the same type but in in the outdoor variety
I got a metal plate for the receptacles, looks much better now
I installed protector plates on the top holes, and then drilled some holes for cables to come into the rack. The brush plates were $6 at home depot, so I got 2 x 44c dryer receptacle covers and used those
Got the rack mounted to the studs. Its very strong, I can do pullups on it no problem
I pulled the fiber through, I ended up having to get another 30m of fiber because of where I placed the rack in the garage
Sadly I could not use the bottom 1u as the brackets from the rack take up the space. So I mounted the rails for the UPS 1u higher
They needed rear support, so I just screwed them into the plywood
It wasn't inline with the stud, but it was still very strong
I made sure the rack was extended enough to have enough room behind the UPS
I mounted the switch
Hopefully these images help someone!