I’m slowly planning my network rack, stocking most basic stuff, laying out cables, and so on. Same as lots of people here, I have a bit of experience with networking, not that much experience with rack systems & lacking the knowledge of the best practices when it comes to rack equipment.
I’d like to ask for help in planning the power supply part - from the power outlet next to the rack all the way up to the network equipment. You know - in this area I’m quite an ignorant, so initially I was just thinking of having an extension cord drawn from the power outlet into the rack and connecting my equipment to it. But I’ve seen/heard that one should use surge protection, UPS, dedicated automatic fuse, etc.
So what should I use? Do I really need UPS? Can you suggest all the types of equipment I need to have to keep my rack equipment relatively safe?
I guess some description of my planned network could make some difference, so here goes a small rack layout diagram (sorry for probably non-standard cliparts used, pay attention to the description on the right side):
Requirements for the whole network:
- It’s supposed to be relatively cheap, not much of bells and whistles are needed
- No need for any kind of power backup - if there’s no electricity, I don’t need to run my network - even video surveillance can die, really
- I plan to power 5-8 PoE devices (e.g. wall access points with rj45 socket, IP cameras) with a total energy power up to approx. 120W