Where is your switch?

Where is your switch?

  • Front/Top

    Votes: 10 41.7%
  • Front/Middle

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Front/Bottom

    Votes: 1 4.2%
  • Back/Top

    Votes: 11 45.8%
  • Back/Middle

    Votes: 1 4.2%
  • Back/Bottom

    Votes: 1 4.2%

  • Total voters
    24
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briandm81

Active Member
Aug 31, 2014
300
68
28
42
I'm in the process of building my garage data center for my home lab. This means I finally get to reorganize my rack as I move everything out of the office and into said data center. So...where do you guys put your switches? Top? Bottom? Front? Back? I'm thinking of relocating mine from the back middle to the front, perhaps the top? So where is yours? Why is it there?
 

wildchild

Active Member
Feb 4, 2014
389
57
28
Have my 3750x "core" stack in the front, together with my FW cluster, my 10g switches in the back
 

Jon Massey

Active Member
Nov 11, 2015
339
82
28
37
Access - front and top, next to the patch panel. Structured cabling from the house comes in the top and putting the patch panel at the top helps keep it neat.
 

DavidRa

Infrastructure Architect
Aug 3, 2015
329
152
43
Central Coast of NSW
www.pdconsec.net
Top and back, where the connections need to be for servers. Everything is run into servers or patch panels, no cables at the front at all.

Not that the back is neat, any more. Need to find a (non-destructive) way to unlock the side panels, anyone know a good lockpicker? Actually that's not the dumbest thought I've had today (really puts my day into perspective).
 

Terry Kennedy

Well-Known Member
Jun 25, 2015
1,140
594
113
New York City
www.glaver.org
I'm in the process of building my garage data center for my home lab. This means I finally get to reorganize my rack as I move everything out of the office and into said data center. So...where do you guys put your switches? Top? Bottom? Front? Back? I'm thinking of relocating mine from the back middle to the front, perhaps the top? So where is yours? Why is it there?
Near the top, below the fiber patch panel. This is a little outdated, but should give you an idea:



Top down:
  • Fiber patch panel
  • Cisco 3845 router
  • Dell Powerconnect 8024 switch (24 * 10Gbe)
  • PowerDsine PD-9024G/ACDC/M/F 24-port PoE injector
  • Cisco Catalyst 4948-10GE (48 * 10/100/1000 + 2 * 10GbE)
These days there's a Cisco ASR1001 below that.
Not that the back is neat, any more.
I use 23" racks (w/ reducers for 19" equipment) to give me some extra space for cable management, and vertical cable management rings on one of the sets of rails (these racks have 3 pairs of rails - front, middle, and back - I've also done some installs w/ 4 pairs of rails).


Need to find a (non-destructive) way to unlock the side panels, anyone know a good lockpicker? Actually that's not the dumbest thought I've had today (really puts my day into perspective).
Take a careful look at the face of the lock. There may be a number embossed into the face. The most common one is CH751. D415A and D433 are also rather common. If you can find a number, post it and I'll let you know if I have a key for it that I can send you.
 

Jon Massey

Active Member
Nov 11, 2015
339
82
28
37
Not that the back is neat, any more. Need to find a (non-destructive) way to unlock the side panels, anyone know a good lockpicker? Actually that's not the dumbest thought I've had today (really puts my day into perspective).
The racks I have, you can access the lock barrel from the inside and undo the nut holding it in - is that possible with yours?
 

DavidRa

Infrastructure Architect
Aug 3, 2015
329
152
43
Central Coast of NSW
www.pdconsec.net
Take a careful look at the face of the lock. There may be a number embossed into the face. The most common one is CH751. D415A and D433 are also rather common. If you can find a number, post it and I'll let you know if I have a key for it that I can send you.
I can't adequately express how welcome your offer is, so I sent a PM.

The racks I have, you can access the lock barrel from the inside and undo the nut holding it in - is that possible with yours?
Not possible I'm afraid, I think it's designed for security.

But we're off-topic now :) Back to the debate on where the switches go!
 

Attachments

T_Minus

Build. Break. Fix. Repeat
Feb 15, 2015
7,625
2,043
113
Checking my 1 rack... I can take off 1 panel, 3 are locked :(
 

0dd

New Member
Oct 25, 2014
14
1
3
109
Alternative option to remove the panels.
Remove the screw/bolt on back of each of the locks


0dd
 

DavidRa

Infrastructure Architect
Aug 3, 2015
329
152
43
Central Coast of NSW
www.pdconsec.net
Sadly I think it's a spring clip on the back of the lock, not the "almost shouldn't be called a lock" lock shown by 0dd; and it looks like the clip can't be removed while the panel is on (the vertical rails for the frame, not for equipment, are in the way). I might try pulling the door lock apart since it's unlocked and accessible, while the panel locks are right at the bottom, and either behind equipment or tough to get to (when you're a fat bastard like me).