Creating a
Gamer-Oriented Home Network
A Network
Tech Series Feature (Chapter 1)
by CM Boots-Faubert
The realm of computers and network tech
today is so far advanced and so well integrated into the modern home
that the vocabulary of the average person includes words like
firewall, gateway, router, and phrases like cloud computing, content
curation, MAC Address, and virtual private network.
Shorthand like DNS, HTTP, ICMP, IP,
IPv4, IPv6, ISP, LAN, NAT, TCP, UDP, URL, WAN and WiFi won't present
the tech-savvy engineer a challenge, but today they are well-embedded
into the vocabulary of waitresses, auto mechanics, and even the local
parish priest but especially youngsters and college-aged students.
Which is why when Uncle Ralph and Aunt Molly have a problem with
their home network they tend to turn to a nephew or grandchild first
before seeking professional help.
These words, phrases, and shorthand
have basically crept into the everyday vocabulary of non-technical
people, this is true, but unlike said engineer, their interests in
the underlying meanings pretty much terminates at the point where
they cease to be useful in their life.
So while they know what the words,
phrases, and shorthand mean, often the relationships that exist
between them are simply beyond their need to know, so they don't know
them.
There are logical reasons behind that
expansion in vocabulary, and the broader technical understanding of
the average person - reasons that can easily be traced to the
evolution of technology, and specifically computer and network
technology - in the modern home.
Consider this: the presence of a
wireless computer network in the average home today is so expected
and unremarkable that the lack of such a service is more remarkable
than its presence.
When your daughter has her friends over
on the weekend for a slumber party -- which by-the-way they don't
actually call a slumber party anymore - they call it a LAN Party --
and the first question that the gaggle of tween guests in your home
are likely to ask is “what's the WiFi password?” as they pull out
their iPads, laptops, and smartphones.
That circumstances that create this
scenario - a scenario that unfolds in the world a lot these days -
did not happen overnight. Or in a vacuum. In fact we can easily
track the various circumstances and events that lead up to it.
The Evolution of the Home Network
In 1990 two events occurred that helped
to set in motion a movement that would eventually lead to the
Internet in its modern form. The first was the death of ARPANET,
which died not because it needed to, but because in 1985 the
directors of the National Science Foundation arrived at the
conclusion that, if they were going to obtain the level of network
and data services that they required, they would have to create it
themselves.
After years of argument, the board of
directors of the National Science Foundati on proceeded to do just
that, authorizing the establishment of a new network in 1986 first by
linking creating a very large telecommunications network (called “The
Backbone”) through which they connected six strategic member
networks - five of which happened to host Supercomputer Centers.
These were - starting from East and
heading West - (1) The John von Neumann Supercomputer Center at
Princeton University, (2) The Cornell Theory Center at Cornell
University, (3) The Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center (PSC) of
Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, and
Westinghouse Corporation, (4) The National Center for Supercomputing
Applications (NCSA) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign,
(5) National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), and (2) The San
Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California,
San Diego (UCSD).
The establishment of this new network -
which they named NSFNet - resulted in the first high-speed national
network to be created without direct input from DARPA - using a
series of six backbone sites that were interconnected via leased
56kb/s dedicated always-connected lines.
That may not sound all that fast now,
but back in 1986 the best that the average user could hope for in
terms of connectivity was a 9600 baud modem connecting via a POT -
Plain Old Telephone - single pair of copper wires - or what is
otherwise known as a phone line.
Using the V.32 standard for full-duplex
connections that were capable of 9600 bit/s at 2400 baud, V.32 modems
theoretically allowed for connection and transfer speeds at up to 9.6
Kbps - a figure that probably means nothing to you. Yet.
Here are some numbers that will mean
something to you: that 9.6Kbps actually translates to 4.32 MB/hr - or
103 MB/day. Now compare that to the typical modern high-speed
Internet connection of around 9MBs -- which translates to around 72
Mbps, or 540 MB / min which totals 32.4 GB/hr or 777 GB per day.
So roughly translated, our ideal net
user in 1986 would require roughly five-and-a-half days to transfer 1
minute of modern data rates. If they were connected to that
seemingly snail's pace backbone of the original NSFNet, they'd only
need around three-hours-twenty-minutes or so which is way better -
WAY better - than five days! So yeah, it's not super fast but, at
the time, it was.
The new NSFNet rapidly attracted
partner networks, with the Canadian National Network connecting
almost immediately after its creation, and hundreds of other networks
of all sizes joining it over the course of the following two years,
at which point the original Backbone failed to maintain the required
speeds to service what had become a Global Network - or Internet.
After NSFNET began to accept foreign
networks for permanent connection membership, by 1990 the new Global
Internet was official the decision was made to upgrade the Backbone -
which they did to the tune of a T-1 Connection between each of the
Primary Nodes (A T-1 Connection is 1.5 Mbps). To help reduce stress
on the Backbone NSFNet was divided into Regional Networks so that,
for example, a user in London who requested a page or program that
was stored on a UK system, their request would not travel across the
main Backbone but used only the Regional Net.
Eventually the Backbone was again
upgraded - this time to a T-3 Connection (45 Mb/s) shortly after
issuing the license for paid (ISP-based) access to the network - but
now we are getting ahead of the story here.
The World is On Fire
The
second major event in The Year That Changed Everything
(1990) was a small company in Massachusetts called Software Tool &
Die (AKA The World) connecting THEIR network to NSFNET.
The World was the first Commercial
Internet Service Provider (ISP) and provided anyone willing to pay
for an account access to the Internet. The shitstorm that followed
from government agencies and universities eventually forced the NSF
to grant provisional permission and license to The World to offer ISP
services, and within a year that license was extended to ISPs all
over the country and, eventually, the world itself. The modern
Commercial Internet was born.
As regular people began to use the
Internet, larger Value-Added networks like CompuServe and AOL also
turned their attention to it, and Internet Access very quickly became
a thing that forward-looking real estate companies added to their
buildings in places like New York, Boston, and Los Angeles to attract
what they thought of as upwardly mobile and thus desirable tenants.
The typical apartment lease form
featured a comprehensive Utilities Section, which in 1990 and before,
included specifications on who was responsible for electricity,
water, and gas services, and reasonable limitations when the landlord
or building owner provided some or all of those services.
In 1995 those forms began to include
something called an Internet Access Lease Addendum -- a clause that
spelled out both access terms for tenants and any use restrictions
placed upon the building's 'Net Connection -- like upload and
download limits, or using the residential connection for commercial
purposes.
These additions to the average lease
agreement spelled out the various technical details - whether the
building network included a proxy web server, what sort of firewall
was used, and what steps the residents needed to take to register
their device(s) with the Internet Service Coordinator for the
building.
By 2010 the Internet Access Lease
Addendum was fully integrated into the Utilities Section in most
markets, but thanks to the always-evolving computer threats the
average tenant often refused to rely upon whatever firewall
protections the building implemented, choosing instead to purchase
their own WiFi Firewall Router that they registered with the building
coordinator as the “computer” for their apartment.
In response to this new demand,
hardware manufacturers all over the world began to design and
manufacture a plethora of new devices that in addition to offering an
ever-evolving level of firewall protections, NAT services, and DHCP,
also included slots to install hard drives for their
Network-Accessible automatic backup software. They even started to
make Internet-Connected refrigerators - so yeah, you can easily lay
responsibility for The Internet of Things on the The Year That
Changed Everything.
To put this in
perspective for you, there is a high-rise building in New York City
that has fully integrated the Internet into their infrastructure. In
each of the flats is a dedicated screen by their entry doors that, in
addition to displaying an image of who is standing outside the door
in the hall, offers menus that display information on a variety of
building conditions.
At the tap of the
screen tenants can learn the current temperature at street-level, the
air and water temperature for the building pool and hot tubs, whether
the sauna is turned on and, if so, its current temp, and they can
call up a view of their assigned parking spot in case they want to
check on their car.
The interface
allows them to summon the concierge, send a text to the doorman or
the deskman, and even order groceries from a limited menu of
necessaries - milk, bread, bottled water, that sort of thing -
provided by a nearby store that offers delivered services to the
building.
Using the
building's wireless Ethernet service they also have access to a Wiki
Server that offers the current calendar of co-op events, as well as a
number of maintenance services.
Despite
all of that convenience at their fingertips, to maintain fair and
impartial network access and speeds, these internal networks often
limit residents to one or two Internet-connected devices, and also
had limits to data use and access to certain ports or services.
To
address those restrictions, the more tech-savvy residents either
created their own private networks or hire someone to do it for them.
These non-routed 10.10 or 192.168 private networks hid behind
the officially registered IP address of their NAT-capable
firewall-router, so that from the building network side - or LAN - it
appeared that there was only one device, while LAN and WAN access was
available to all of the devices on their private network.
Enter the Gamer
That sort of solution works great for
the average user whose needs were restricted to email, web surfing,
and streaming music or video via services like Netflix and Hulu, or
providing their kids with a connection for their iPads and
smartphones, it did not work very well for gamers who often found
that the network services provided by their building or co-op tended
to feature restrictions on large data transfers and the existence of
Open Network Address Translation.
The typical video game - whether a
console or PC game - often has an aggressive patching and updating
model, and most of the games that included online multi-player
required open-NAT in order to channel their services via specific
ports from their servers to specific ports on the client end.
In most commercial settings those
services were intentionally blocked for the protection of their
clients, and bandwidth limitations were often applied to any user who
exceeded the monthly allotment, which averages between 10 and 20 GB
per month.
Basically gamers found that access to
desirable services and games -- including a plethora of online
multi-player games as well as MMORPGs -- was severely restricted or
simply blocked. They also found that the typical game updates and
patches could easily eat up their bandwidth allotment with updates to
just four or five titles. For example the most recent patch to Tom
Clancy's The Division totaled 5.39 GB - so you do the math.
The nature of network services is such
that there really is no work-around in this case, which is why most
gamers who live in net-connected buildings still tend to contract
their own personal net connection from the local ISP - which in
recent years pretty much means either a Cable TV modem or high-speed
Internet services from the Telephone Company.
In some areas, if the network owner was
fortunate enough to obtain cellular Internet services when the
wireless phone companies were offering unlimited all-you-can-eat
contracts for a set price, you'll see gamers whose firewall router
terminates in a cellphone, but that's uncommon today.
The reason that this class of netzien
chooses to go their own way in terms of net access is down to their
need for open-NAT, the ability to assign specific ports to specific
IP Addresses inside their network, either directly or passing through
a virtual DMZ, and the need to download huge amounts of data in the
form of games, game patches, and updates.
Whether or not the gamer lives in a
Net-connected apartment or a house in the middle of the boondocks,
the basic needs for creating a network are the same - which is where
we begin in this article in our Network Tech Series.
Part
I - Planning Your Gamer-Oriented Computer Network
The sexy part of building a computer
network is when you sit down to pick your hardware. That's when the
typical gamer gets to shine a light on their tech-savvy chops, and
maybe brag a little on their choices for hardware infrastructure.
You may be interested to know that
despite the fact that it is sexy, the process of creating a new
computer network - whether it is a standard data or a gamer's network
- does not begin with picking hardware.
It properly starts with the actual
network design, which is a process that usually takes place on paper,
and covers a number of crucial elements including the three most
important decisions that must be made. Of course that presumes that
the gamer is following standards of network design.
We've seen more than a few networks
that we can only describe as Frankenstein Networks - examples where
the gamer started with a net connection in their living room that
consisted of a Cable Modem and Router with or without a firewall, to
which many things were added piecemeal over time until it turns into
a disaster.
A Sample Frankenstein Network
The results of that are what we
jokingly refer to as a Distributed Network. An example of this is
the network that belonged to a friend who asked us to help them fix
their Frankenstein Network. The problem with that is that fixing is
not really the best approach. The best approach is to throw it all
out and start by designing a proper network, making use of anything
that is already present that you can make use of.
To help you understand this let's take
a look at the network in question.
What we found when we came to survey it
was this: the WAN connection was (A) a cable modem in the master
bedroom, which was connected to (B) an older firewall router with
four ports and no WiFi. To get WiFi they ran a 60' Cat-5 cable to
the other side of the house, where they plugged that into (C) a
LinkSys WiFi Router.
There were four client systems in the
house - (D) a PC in the living room that was connected to the WiFi
router by Cat-5 cable, (E & F ) laptops in the two bedrooms
belonging to their kids which connect to the network via WiFi, and
(G) a PC in the master bedroom connecting to the firewall router by
Cat-5 cable.
There were also some game consoles -
three in the living room - but there were only three ports left open
on the WiFi Router, so they had purchased an (H) 8-port Ethernet Hub
and plugged that into the WiFi Router, plugging their (I) Xbox 360,
(J) PlayStation 3, and (K) Wii into the hub. Later they added an (L)
Xbox One and (M) PS4 to it.
When they got into playing a specific
game a few years ago they ended up building their own (N) game server
which, because there was no room elsewhere, they placed in their
garage, and connected it to the network by running another 60' Cat-5
cable through the attic to the master bedroom, which was plugged into
the firewall router.
At some point they had an almost
break-in at their house, so they bought an (O) IP Security Camera
System, which they ended up sticking in the garage, buying a surplus
(P) 10bT Ethernet Switch which they placed in the garage and plugged
the game server and IP Camera server into. They then placed the
(Q/R/S/T) four cameras that it came with at various locations outside
and inside their home, with one connected to the hub in the living
room, one connected to the last available port in the firewall and
the other two connected to (U) an Ethernet hub that they placed in
the attic, and connected to the living room hub.
It was a mess, but it got the job done
(sort of). It did have a number of problems, not the least being
lots of collisions and, due to one of the cables getting crushed,
some cross-talk on that link. They had no way to know that though,
because none of the hardware that they were using was managed
hardware so it was incapable of telling them a problem existed.
So let's begin with an inventory of the
network...
- A Black Box Cable Modem provided by the Cable Company (10bT)
- Netgear RP 114 “Web Safe” Router (10bT / 100bT)
- Linksys WRT54G WiFi Router (10bT / 100bT)
- 3Com Unmanaged Switch (10bT)
- Generic 16-Port Ethernet Hub (10bT / 100bT)
- Game Server PC (10bT / 100bT / 1000bT)
- Security Camera Appliance (10bT / 100bT)
- Security Cameras (x4) (10bT / 100bT)
Network Clients
- PC A (10bT / 100bT)
- PC B (10bT)
- Laptop A (10bT / 100bT / 1000bT)
- Laptop B (10bT / 100bT / 1000bT)
- Nintendo Wii (802.11 b/g WiFi)
- PlayStation 3 (10bT / 100bT / 1000bT)
- PlayStation 4 (10bT / 100bT / 1000bT)
- Xbox 360 (10bT / 100bT)
- Xbox One (10bT / 100bT / 1000bT)
The three major issues that we
identified beyond the mess that the physical network represented are:
(1) Divergent Ethernet Speeds
(2) Ancient Hardware
(3) Lack of reporting capability
Our Hardware Recommendations
This is a useful teaching experience
for you - because it demonstrates the decision making process as it
applies to network design.
The very first step in this process
after the inventory was creating a network plan. That meant drawing
a layout of the physical structure, and then determining the best
place to start the network from. In this case, and because of other
issues that the network owner had - and their desire to go in a
commercial direction in terms of its format (they had already
purchased a rack at the Flea), the direction the plan took was
dictated by some of those issues.
Considering that almost all of the
network hardware on their network was ancient, it shouldn't be a
surprise that we recommended replacing it all - including the
cabling. Fortunately for them, I have the tools and the know-how to
custom create Ethernet Cable and a box of Cat-6 cable in my basement,
so that eliminates what can be a significant expense.
We also live near Boston,
Massachusetts, which means that we have access to the MIT Flea Market
- an electronics, radio, computer, and networking flea market that
runs from April to October one Sunday each month. The deals that you
can get at the MIT Flea include relatively modern hardware for dirt
cheap dollars, so when you know what you are looking for, you can
find some awesome kit at rock-bottom prices!
Using the layout of their house we
created a network map for them, which first centralized the network
services in one manageable location (the garage) and offered the
capability of not only monitoring the network for problems, but also
made regular maintenance easier because instead of using the cable
modem provided by the cable service provider - which they did not
have access to - replacing it with their own model gave them
interface access, which is necessary if you need to troubleshoot a
problem.
The server rack that they had purchased
at the flea prior to consulting me turned out to be a heck of a deal.
They somehow bought an APC 42U Netshelter Rack for $100 - this is a
rack that sells new for ten times that amount. Unfortunately it was
just the primary rack, and lacked the back and front door/enclosures.
But we were able to track down some used at the very next flea.
The reason that we needed the
enclosures was because they wanted to go with a rack-mounted server
capable of supporting VPN and RAID, so that they could just have a
single-server solution to the needs on their network, which basically
was down to the game server, and the desire to have a media server
and a Wiki-style web server that they could use to organize their
business.
What we ended up recommending to them
was to replace their kit with the following:
- x1 SB6183 SURFboard Cable Modem ($81.99 via eBay) 1000bT
- x2 Netgear GS724T Smartswitch ($100 via eBay) 1000bT
- x1 Netgear Centria N900 Dual Band Gigabit Wireless Router ($55 via eBay) 1000bT
- x1 Dell PowerEdge 2950 II RM Server with rails ($250 via techmikeny.com) 1000bT
- x4 WD 2TB Drive w/2950 Caddies ($60 via techmikeny.com)
Owning their own cable modem meant that
they could return the one that was costing them $10 a month in rental
fees, so basically that new cable modem paid for itself in less than
9 months. In addition to that though, the new cable modem offered
them full Gigabit Ethernet on the LAN side of their connection - the
ancient cable modem that they had been using since they first
obtained their Internet connection was a 10bT connection. Which
considering the speed of their Internet package was ludicrous.
The matched pair of GS724T switches
were set up at the two ends of the network, one in the Garage Rack,
and one in the Livingroom Entertainment Center that contained the
games consoles, and the Cablemodem. The two GS724Ts were configured
so that ports 22,23, and 24 created a 3GB Trunk Backbone to allow for
multiple streaming clients.
The WiFi Router was placed in the
Livingroom, as that offered the best overall coverage for its users.
All of the Ethernet Cable was custom
made Cat-6, with cable run management via the basement to reduce the
mess and clutter it originally presented.
The 2950 II was installed in the Garage
Rack, and configured as a VM Server. To the network it appeared to
be four different servers - the Game Server, Media Server, Wiki
Server, and a Loghost with direct email capability. The logs for all
of the network devices were sent to the Loghost, and any alarm
conditions generated an email to the owner's account.
We used mostly free utilities to make
the networked VMs easier to manage, including FreeNAS/Plex for the
Media Server, and Webmin to manage the other three servers. We also
used a free for the bulk of the VMs - Ubuntu Linux, though the Game
Server required Windows Server.
The network that we started with was
quirky, slow, and difficult to manage. The network we ended up with
was streamlined, incredibly fast in comparison, and very easy to
manage. In the end the total cost for upgrading and replacing the
network? $1,247.50 (though I did not charge anything for my help or
the Ethernet cables).
They were able to recover almost $200
of that from selling off the hardware we replaced via Craigslist.
Proper Network Design Elements
When you approach the design of a new
network, there are specific elements that need to be planned out.
Those are:
- Cable Pathing and Management
- Network Device Placement
- Network Service Location
Before we progress any further we need
to define what those three important decisions mean.
Cable Pathing and Management:
Don't be confused by the term Cable Pathing and Management - it means
exactly what it sounds like it means, which is determining how you
will manage and place the physical network cables that will connect
your systems to the central device space.
If you were thinking that installing
and managing physical cable was only going to be necessary for the
actual physical cable that connects your firewall and router to the
WAN side of the connection, prepare to be disappointed. Because if
you are serious about building your own home network that meets
gamer-class efficiency and speeds, you are not going to be using WiFi
as your primary network connection. The latency will kill you.
When this article was written the
standard for Ethernet Cable used in home networks is called Category
6 - though there is a second generation of cable for that Category
called Category 6a (or Cat-6a) that is also available. This is the
standard for Gigabit Ethernet.
Previously when 100bT speeds were the
standard, Category 5 (Cat-5) was the prevailing standard, but with
the wider introduction of Gigabit Ethernet, Cat-6 has taken over as
the default standard. The reasons for that are simple enough.
Ethernet Cable Technical Differences
Since the original creation of and use
of cables for computer networking, a standards committee has
routinely specified the minimal technical requirements for these
cables because the performance characteristics for said cables
operates in a very narrow range.
While the differences in cable
specifications are not as easy to see as physical changes in a cable,
the specs for each are crucial to their proper function. Each
category of cable has the capability to perform at set ranges and it
is the very minimum -- not the maximum -- speeds that network
engineers are concerned with. Because the ability to at least reach
and maintain the minimal traffic load is critical to the success of a
network in terms of simple function.
In terms of cable standards, Ethernet
Cable is measured by specific requirements which include a standard
length for measurement, operating MHz, the aforementioned minimum
operational speeds, and finally the capability of offering
Power-Over-Ethernet (PoE) without that service negatively impacting
the data-side.
Here are the specs for the modern
cables that you will find in commercial and home networks right now:
|
|
Length
(in meters)
|
Speed
10Mb/s
|
Speed
100 Mb/s
|
Speed
1 Gb/s
|
Speed
10 Gb/s
|
PoE
|
Mhz
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cat-5
|
100
|
X
|
X
|
|
|
X
|
100
|
|
Cat-5e
|
100
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
|
X
|
100
|
|
Cat-6
|
100
55 for 10Gb/s
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
250
|
|
Cat-6a
|
100
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
500
|
It's no coincidence that category
number and Mhz of the wire gets higher as each category brings more
stringent testing requirements for eliminating crosstalk as well as
adding isolation between the wires.
That said, with Ethernet YMMV. We've
seen various cables used in ways that are not inline with the
specifications. Networks with runs longer than 100m, and networks
that used Cat-5 instead of Cat-5e for Gigabit Ethernet connections
and totally got away with it.
The reason for that is because the
Cat-5 wire that was being used just happened to be of a higher
quality than usually found. Cat-5e is not a different design mind
you - it's Cat-5 cable, it has just been given more stringent testing
standards for crosstalk than are generally applied to Cat-5.
You can often get away with longer runs
and using standard Cat-5 as long as it is high quality cable, but use
of that sort may not obtain expected results. It may work, but at a
lower efficiency.
Conversely just because you're using
Cat-6 cable doesn’t mean you are actually obtaining 1000bT network
speeds, because every connection on your network must support Gigabit
Ethernet to achieve that. Just like Cat-5 and Cat-5e, Cat-6 cable
was retested to achieve 500 Mhz communication (compared to Cat-6’s
250 Mhz). The point to certifying higher communication frequency was
to eliminated alien crosstalk - which allows for a longer range at 10
Gb/s sustained speeds.
If you are using older hardware and
especially if you are using dumb hubs the entire network will slow
down to the fastest speed of its slowest member. If a server on your
network only offers 100bT any of the 1000bT clients connecting have
to step down their speed to talk to it. That is something you need
to consider when planning out your network.
You also need to test all new cable
runs to verify that they are hitting the certified speeds. If you
have a bad run the network devices are not going to simply slow down
to say 900bT to talk on it, they will step down to the next standard
level - which is 100bT.
Network Device Placement: When
you plan out the placement of your network devices, at least part of
the decision process needs to include environmental requirements and
how they will be deployed. Whether or not the users will require
access, and whether the connection environment will change
frequently.
Network Service Location: When
you can't tailor your device placement to the service location,
special care must be taken to ensure that the cable runs from the
service location to the network placement is 100% correct and
functional as otherwise this will have a major negative impact on the
network.
WiFi is a Convenience: Another
issue that you need to come to terms with is that WiFi networking is
simply a convenience. The rapidity at which a WiFi router can be
over-saturated is laughable. If you have systems on your network
that need to move large amounts of data, or that depend on
maintaining the highest speeds possible, you want to be using cable,
not WiFi.
Adding
WiFi capability to a network is largely viewed as a courtesy to
unsophisticated users - like your kids who just want to jump online
with their iPad or Smartphones to check their email. It's really not
appropriator for gaming or streaming.
To Rack or Not to Rack?
We personally know more than a few
gamers who started this process by purchasing 19” Computer Racks of
varying heights as the foundation for their home network; the example
we gave in the Frankenstein Network is a case in point.
For the most part they don't do this
because they need to - they do it because they WANT to. It looks
cool. They like it. It makes them feel like they have a boss
network. So here is the thing - despite all that if you can afford
it, go ahead and do it!
I use racks for my own home network but
that is something of a special case. In addition to a pair of server
racks I have a relay rack for my network devices, which are ALL
basically rack-mounted kit. If you do decide to go that route,
understand that you do NOT have to replace the systems you want to
rack with rack-mounted systems. That would be wicked expensive.
You can either purchase standard
rack-mounted shelves to place the generic PC cases on, or for about
the same price, you can buy a rack-mounted PC case and swap the guts
of your PC into it. If you are curious go to eBay and do a search
for Rack-mounted PC Case. Prices range from $50 to $500 though the
lower-end cases will not come with a power supply. So yeah, it is
doable. And yeah, it does look cool.
In addition to looking cool, a
fully-enclosed rack will also provide noise management - which means
you can use them to reduce the noise of servers and network
appliances to levels that make placement acceptable in your house,
rather than needing to stick them in a garage or basement.
That said though, racks exist to be
home to rack-mounted components, like Ethernet Switches, Routers,
Load Balancers, and Servers, not your Xbox 360. Just saying.
Figuring out your needs means knowing
how many rack units you will require. A rack unit is a unit of
measure used to describe the height of a server, network switch or
other similar device mounted in a 19-inch or 23-inch rack (though
19-inch is the most common width).
One rack unit is 44.45 mm (1.75 in)
high. One rack unit is commonly designated as "1U";
similarly, 2 rack units are "2U" and so on. The size of a
piece of rack mounted equipment is usually described as a number in
"U" - so counting up the U for the kit you have will tell
you how tall of a rack you might want or need.
If you are going to go with a rack for
in-house use, and you plan to use it for noise management, I
recommend you choose a half-rack as that is a LOT easier to find
space for or camoflage.
Completing Your Network Plan
Now that you know the basics of
planning, it's time to complete your network plan. Start by
sketching a schematic of your house or apartment, then noting where
each piece of hardware will go.
Make a list of all the hardware and
network-connected devices you will need to accommodate, and then work
out where they will best fit into the new network plan.
One of the most important decisions you
will need to make is whether or not you require a backbone. If your
home is large and a significant amount of client hardware is located
somewhere distant from the Internet Connection where it enters the
home, then you will need a backbone.
Planning, Designing, and implementing a
Network Backbone is the subject of the next chapter in this series.
Hopefully the contents of this chapter have offered you sufficient
information to begin the planning of your new network. While you are
doing that, as a gamer, remember - this is supposed to be fun.
