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Server Shelf

One of the main joys of home ownership is the ability to run Ethernet cable throughout the house without asking anyone’s permission. For ages I have wanted to do this, and now I have. Behold.

In lieu of a server room, I have a server shelf. It’s in the laundry/garage area under the house. The gang plate terminates ethernet cables which run to all parts of the house. They are in turn connected by short cables to my trusty WRT54GS.

You may be able to just see a phone line in the centre of the gang plate; it provides connection to the ADSL2 modem. This line is connected through a central splitter to the outside world, providing as-good-as-it-gets ADSL2 throughput (still not great though because I am a long way from the exchange).

Yes, I have used a slightly dodgy double adapter to make room for the stupid wall warts to co-exist. I am, however, totally desensitised to this sort of hackery, because it just so common. The power socket people really need to get together with the wall-wart people. Failing that, there’s definitely a market for 10cm extension cords; anyone know where I can get these, cheap?

Looks like you’ve done a fine job running the CAT-5 cable through your wall there.

Totally agree about “wall warts”, they are a nuisance for all of us. Surely consumer electronics companies could set a simple standard for DC power supplies, most things run on 5V or 12V and if there was a standard input plug for these two voltages we could do sensible things like have one power supply to power multiple devices.

The best power supplies are those that can either plug directly in to a wall socket (via a suitable local mains pin assembly) or accept a mains cord.

Thanks Marxy, although I should point out that credit for the work itself should go to my friends at glenco.

I think Apple’s DC power supplies are pretty much ideal. They’re small, light, and thin. They are also modular, meaning that you can easily swap out one country’s plug configuration for another. If all else fails you can fall back to a “figure-8” power cord, which is reasonably standard. Not to forget details like the fold-out hooks for winding, and the mag-safe connector.

I also hired an electrician to do a long run of co-ax from my computer room, up between double brick, through the roof and out to the opposite end of the house. It was a terrible job, largely due to the high temperature and dust in the roof space. Poor bloke was a sweaty mess by the end. Worth every penny.

Apple have done a good job on their recent supplies but I did have the magnetic socket in the laptop pick up some little pieces of wire that were difficult to remove and risked shorting the supply. I wish a dc connector was a world standard.

Power supply plugs change frequently to stop us plugging the wrong one in, surely there is a better way to achieve that - perhaps by having a circuit to measure the incoming voltage and somehow complain if what ever is connected is outside the specified range.