[SOLVED] In need of a suggestion of where to put my server and switch.

[ingeborgdot]

I'll try to explain this as good as I can.
I am helping a friend to setup some cameras in his big metal building. There is a camera setup already there, setup by a company that he is going to cancel his subscription with. We will be removing all of the equipment, and replacing it with his own equipment.
The server, switch, and UPS are all in a room under a staircase area. It is dirty, hot, and just not conducive to a computer and switch. But, this is where the company wired the 9 Ethernet cables and ports. If I were going to put the whole setup back in this room, I would have to clean, and find someway of keeping it a little cleaner, and cooler. I don't know if either of those is an easy thing to do considering what is going on outside the door to this room, and how it is setup.
One thing that may work, is that his office space is right across the wall. I could do several things.

1. I could take the server, and put it under a desk in the office, along with the UPS. Then run a cable from a switch on the office side, through the wall, and into the PoE switch on the other side. That would be an easy fix, considering it would only take 1 wire.
2. I could bring the server, UPS, AND switch into the office, and then find some type of system to put on the wall to run the cables that are in the other room across the wall, (from room to room if you may). This way, none of the equipment is under stress of heat, and dirt. I just don't know what I would use to run all the cables across the wall with. Something that would be kind of air tight etc. It would need to be able to support 9 cables right now, and up to possibly 24 total in the future. It is not a professional install by any means, but it will be 100 times more professional than the PROFESSIONAL group that installed it. I do like the idea of having everything in the controlled office space.

What are your thoughts on this? Any help or suggestions of what I could use to make #2 work would be great.
If you need anymore explanation, I'll try my best.
Thanks.

 

[bill001g]

How hot is hot. You need to read the specs to be sure but I have seen many even consumer grade switches that are rated to actually operate at over 100 degrees F. What I find that is kinda strange is it is the cold they have more issues with. Many are not rated to function less than freezing.

I would just leave the switch. You are likely going to need a very small UPS on the switch unless you don't care if the cameras go down.

 

[ingeborgdot]

It will never get cold, as it is more controlled from cold than heat. The other day, they had all the big doors open. It was a 100 outside and 99 inside. I could imagine how hot under the stair was. After talking with other people, I may keep it under the stairs. Fan noise from the computer, and mostly the switch is just not always nice for an office environment. I'll just look at ways to keep it cleaner, and cooler, as there is the air conditioner right in the same room. I might be able to tap into the ducting.

 

[SamirD]

I think your first idea is best--the computer is the critical part anyways and having it accessible like that is also just asking for it to be stolen if there's an inside job. Locked in the office, this is much less likely.

As far as noise from the computer--you can change the computer or mod it to be quieter because it's not going to be working too hard anyways. Or just replace it with a stand-alone nvr that will be quiet.

Having the poe switch and a UPS under the stairs won't be taxing except on maybe the UPS as those don't like heat. But a simple box fan will actually help cool it more than enough to put it back into operating specs. I have several pieces of equipment that have seen 100F+ temps. You just need to be able to recognize when hot is too hot for this stuff and compensate.

As far as those 'professionals'--yeah, there's a lot of garbage installers and IT people out there for sure. There's very few I've ever met that I'd trust and they're usually doing large corporate infrastructure installations.

 

[ingeborgdot]

I understand about security, but this place is secure as the door under the stairway is actually a closed in room that has a door that locks, so it is a secure as the main office is.
It is an office with he and his secretary much of the time, but he also has another guy that comes in and works right by the area I was thinking of putting the gear. He also has people that come in and talk business almost everyday, so you could say there is an office atmosphere that I don't want to mess up anymore than it is right now, with the equipment we have in there now.

But after looking over the situation, talking to other people, and weighing the pros and cons of all scenarios, I am going to keep the equipment in the storage under the stairway. It is a safe place overall. The door can be locked if necessary. I will clean up and try to find some way of keeping things neater and cleaner in there. I will probably talk to him about a monthly maintenance that I could do, or higher a cleaning lady. I will try to keep the dust out as much as possible.
If needed, I may look into a little spot cooler that could be vented to another area, if I feel the heat is too much, but after being in the room for an extended period, it was not as bad as anticipated. I think with the AC unit being in the same room, the duct work helps to cool the area better than I thought.

So, with that, I will begin to figure out how I want to arrange the room, and what I want to make for the system to sit on. But first, I need to CLEAN the dirty mess.

 

[SamirD]

Sounds good. If things were just on the floor/wall, think of ways to do it better with airflow. If there's an AC duct exiting from that room, I would also consider just tapping it and letting some of the air come out of the duct into the room as that will cool the room.

Aside from that, direct fans do much better than 'cooling the room'. I installed a small fan pointed at a cable modem in a 100F room and it dropped the temps 20F. I think cooling the whole room to 80F wouldn't have gotten me that result.

 

[ingeborgdot]

All good points. That is why I come to these forums. People that are helpful, and don't just say, go read about it. They are willing to share their knowledge to save me hours and even days sometimes. Thanks for all your ideas.

 

[SamirD]

Yep, and it's always nice for those of us with knowledge to challenge ourselves with different scenarios.