What's Living in Gabe's Closet? Library of Congress Intrigued by Gabe's frequent mentions of his Network Closet, Erik asks some tough questions. Why put the closet in the basement? Why all the extra ventilation? What happens when you run out of red printer ink? The answers may disturb and frighten you. A Closet of His Very Own Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 0:00 Erik digs into the history of Gabe’s networking closet. How did he decide to build his own, and why? When this podcast was newly re-launched, we discussed how to wire a house for ethernet. This topic has come up periodically, but now it’s time to learn a little bit more about the center of Gabe’s wired house. “I have a wife” And Gabe’s wife doesn’t like nerdy hardware out sitting around. Weird double entendres aside, Gabe has always tried to isolate his networked and nerdy equipment. When you put a lot of running electronics in one place, however, they produce a lot of heat. For that reason, he thinks you should install vents at the top and bottom of your network closet if feasible. It may also make sense to add a temperature sensor too, but beware. Home automation can be a slippery slope. “Like quiet and awesome mode?” Having a network closet also means you can put your noisy devices in the one room and it will still be quiet enough that you can record a podcast. What’s in there? Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 5:04 The network closet is likely the center of nerd necessities. For Gabe, his closet contains: 8-bay 1813+ Synology with seven drives Mac Mini 24 port Network Switch Network-based Printer Scanner Toolbox and Cables 3 UPS “The Dobermans bring it up” Nobody touches Gabe’s Network Toolbox. The Toolbox One of the primary uses for my network closet is to gather together all of my networking and computer tools in one place. No one goes in there to look for tools so I’m all but guaranteed to find what I’m looking for when I need it. I love this little red toolbox. It’s all metal and built solid. The cantilever design keeps every compartment visible while it’s open but closes up to a compact little carry along. My favorite tool is a simple multi-bit screwdriver by Channellock. This little driver is solidly made and has a variety of reasonably useful bits. But when was the last time a normal driver bit was useful for a computer? That’s why I have a set of micro drivers and the iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit. If you need to pull cables between floors and through walls, it can be a real pain to get it started. The Wet Noodle is a nice little find but kind of expensive for what it does. However, after you save yourself hours of pointless cursing at a hole in your ceiling, you’ll be happy to spend a hundred times what this item costs. Here’s a rundown of various other tools I’ve hidden away: Wire crimpers and cutters Wire Strippers Punch down Ratcheting crimper for RJ45 plugs Network cable tester Aviation Shears A good quality but inexpensive knife Diagonal Snips Needle Nose pliers (get several sizes) You can get a kit full of reasonably good quality tools for making network cables and connectors. Flashlights Boy am I a sucker for a good flashlight. I have some nice flashlights that can cook a turkey, but the one I use the most around the house is my Joby tripod light. It has flexible legs and magnet feet. It also takes standard batteries so I’m pretty much always ready to go with it. I upgraded to the more powerful 125 Lumen model from my trusty 65 Lumen model that my toddler now loves. Gabe’s network closet was actually planned, so he has the benefit of having it on an independent power circuit, and it stays pretty cool naturally, since it’s partially underground. He also used slatted doors on the room to maximize the ben
What's Living in Gabe's Closet? Library of Congress Intrigued by Gabe's frequent mentions of his Network Closet, Erik asks some tough questions. Why put the closet in the basement? Why all the extra ventilation? What happens when you run out of red printer ink? The answers may disturb and frighten you. A Closet of His Very Own Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 0:00 Erik digs into the history of Gabe’s networking closet. How did he decide to build his own, and why? When this podcast was newly re-launched, we discussed how to wire a house for ethernet. This topic has come up periodically, but now it’s time to learn a little bit more about the center of Gabe’s wired house. “I have a wife” And Gabe’s wife doesn’t like nerdy hardware out sitting around. Weird double entendres aside, Gabe has always tried to isolate his networked and nerdy equipment. When you put a lot of running electronics in one place, however, they produce a lot of heat. For that reason, he thinks you should install vents at the top and bottom of your network closet if feasible. It may also make sense to add a temperature sensor too, but beware. Home automation can be a slippery slope. “Like quiet and awesome mode?” Having a network closet also means you can put your noisy devices in the one room and it will still be quiet enough that you can record a podcast. What’s in there? Listen to this section on SoundCloud: 5:04 The network closet is likely the center of nerd necessities. For Gabe, his closet contains: 8-bay 1813+ Synology with seven drives Mac Mini 24 port Network Switch Network-based Printer Scanner Toolbox and Cables 3 UPS “The Dobermans bring it up” Nobody touches Gabe’s Network Toolbox. The Toolbox One of the primary uses for my network closet is to gather together all of my networking and computer tools in one place. No one goes in there to look for tools so I’m all but guaranteed to find what I’m looking for when I need it. I love this little red toolbox. It’s all metal and built solid. The cantilever design keeps every compartment visible while it’s open but closes up to a compact little carry along. My favorite tool is a simple multi-bit screwdriver by Channellock. This little driver is solidly made and has a variety of reasonably useful bits. But when was the last time a normal driver bit was useful for a computer? That’s why I have a set of micro drivers and the iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit. If you need to pull cables between floors and through walls, it can be a real pain to get it started. The Wet Noodle is a nice little find but kind of expensive for what it does. However, after you save yourself hours of pointless cursing at a hole in your ceiling, you’ll be happy to spend a hundred times what this item costs. Here’s a rundown of various other tools I’ve hidden away: Wire crimpers and cutters Wire Strippers Punch down Ratcheting crimper for RJ45 plugs Network cable tester Aviation Shears A good quality but inexpensive knife Diagonal Snips Needle Nose pliers (get several sizes) You can get a kit full of reasonably good quality tools for making network cables and connectors. Flashlights Boy am I a sucker for a good flashlight. I have some nice flashlights that can cook a turkey, but the one I use the most around the house is my Joby tripod light. It has flexible legs and magnet feet. It also takes standard batteries so I’m pretty much always ready to go with it. I upgraded to the more powerful 125 Lumen model from my trusty 65 Lumen model that my toddler now loves. Gabe’s network closet was actually planned, so he has the benefit of having it on an independent power circuit, and it stays pretty cool naturally, since it’s partially underground. He also used slatted doors on the room to maximize the ben