How is heat dissipation in something so small?

>RGB look guys, I'm a professional because I hate RGB

@@theglowcloud2215 Yes.

Thanks! Lightning isn't really an issue around here and strikes are extremely rare so I'm not too worried. The house's TV antenna and satellite dish would become an issue long before the network cables which are much lower down. While fibre is potentially a solution for some outdoor runs (e.g. between buildings) when it comes to things like cameras and outdoor APs, copper is really your only option due to requiring PoE. If you were really concerned about lightning, what I'd probably do is have a switch dedicated to all of your outdoor devices (e.g. cameras) and then uplink this to the rest of your network over fibre. That way, if a lightning strike did cause an issue, at worst it would damage this switch and the devices connected to it, but not extend to the rest of your network.

I did, although it's really not the huge issue that people make it out to be unless you're dealing with huge high current cables in industrial settings. Look at the dado trunking used in most offices - the network and power run in the same trunking, separated at most by a plastic divider. The cable in the garage is also only the switched feed to the light, so it's powered extremely rarely.

Thanks! I keep meaning to do a dedicated video on my label maker but never get around to it! I'm using a Brother PT-E550W and while it's expensive, it's been an absolute game changer! Can create labels of exact sizes including labels for patch panels which can have equally spaced boxes. It also has a "cable wrap" feature which combined with special "Flexible ID" tape makes those labels that I have wrapped around the individual cables. It can also automatically cut labels to the correct size whereas cheaper printers with manual cutters will let you cut the label off after printing, but you'll then need to go in with scissors afterwards to trim down or separate individual labels.

I have, although it's unlikely to be an issue, nothing in this cabinet is particularly power hungry, and the router and switch are both rated for environments of up to 40c, this cabinet will come nowhere close. Metal cabinets generally aren't too bad at dissipating heat and the slots in the top of this one combined with the slot cut into the wall will further allow a way for heat to escape.

Thanks! It was definitely interesting content to make, and I still have most of the retro machines (including a few in a display cabinet) but it's just not something I really have a huge interest in getting more of nowadays. It's a pretty expensive hobby when it comes to purchasing retro machines and they end up taking up a tonne of storage space. Never say never when it comes to me making future retro tech videos, and I do still have a tonne of machines that I haven't covered but it's probably not going to really be my main focus long term unfortunately.

It's been good although it's definitely way overkill for them, it was purely just something I had spare so ended up using it. I ran a different RB2011 (with built in WiFi) as my main all in one router and AP for many years and was always happy with it. MikroTik routers are great and I'm pretty tempted to get one to try out as my main home router for a while. Can't really speak for the performance although it does look reasonably powerful. Performance benchmarks of MikroTik routers tend to be reasonably accurate although with some of their devices, especially switches, you do need to be careful as, while all of their switches technically support all Layer 3 features, on some those are handled by the switch ASIC at full wire speed whereas on others those are handled by the switch's CPU which is essentially the same as having a low spec router plugged into the switch over a gigabit link, not remotely the same as a Layer 3 switch. They're awesome devices, but do require a fair bit of research before purchasing.

​@@camerongray1515Thanks for your thorough answer. Om leaning towards mikrotik for both routing and switching though I'lll only do L2 switching and let the router do what it does best, routing. Mostly because I want to firewall off different sections of the network. Glad to hear you've had good experience with them. I'm also looking towards maybe testing out their new WiFi 6 APs but I've not yet decided yet. I'd like to get away from Unifi but haven't found anything compelling yet that is not 3-4 times as expensive as Unifi.

Temps are fine, nothing in the cabinet is particularly power hungry or hot running and at least some of the heat will be able to exit the cabinet through the slot cut for the cables and rise up into the wall. You wouldn't want to shove a tonne of powerful equipment into something like this, but for some pretty basic hardware it's absolutely fine.

That would definitely help - I use them at home but ended up using old cables that I had spare for this project, will probably get some slim ones to swap in next time I'm ordering some.

You definitely can - I actually used one on my own keystone patch panel back when I had the DSL line extended up to the cabinet. I normally do prefer to use keystone patch panels, with this project it was just a case of trying to order from as few retailers as possible so ensure everything would arrive on time and the place I was ordering from didn't have a 10" keystone patch panel. Although, in hindsight, it has been a while since I terminated a punch down style patch panel like this and it really reminded me why I tend to use keystone ones!

That's true, although power to individual devices can always be cycled by just unplugging the relevant device. The point here was that my parents aren't hugely technical so "turn this switch off and on again if anything goes wrong with the cameras or network" is by far the simplest option. Sure, it does result in devices being unnecessarily restarted but it avoids them needing to understand what everything does and decide which device needs restarted.

Not really, lightning strikes are really rare around here, and if lightning were to strike, it would almost certainly hit the much higher up TV antenna or satellite dish long before hitting the network cable.

Good to hear. My place was hit by lightning and most things with a circuit board were fired.@@camerongray1515

I'm using a Sennheiser HSP Essential headset mic with a Sennheiser EW-DP wireless system connected to the camera. Although the stuff filmed under the floor was just my phone - no way my camera would fit under there!

They were aware of the video yeah, although admittedly (although rather shamefully) the behind the couch mess was also my doing - the result of quickly upgrading/fixing things using spare hardware that I had sitting around.

@@camerongray1515 We've all got them and not always behind the couch.

The UniFi CloudKey G2 Plus contains a 1TB hard drive and acts as an NVR running the UniFi Protect software.

It entirely comes down to the particular install. There is no "best setup", just the "best option for a specific use case." Most of the time, sure, I'm going to use a full size 19" rack with high end equipment and internal wiring. However, not everyone needs the most ridiculously powerful setup, people like my parents (who couldn't care less about networking) just need something simple and more importantly, reliable. Over the years I've learned to never deploy technology for friends/family if I'm not willing to be dragged in to provide complete, free IT support for on an ongoing basis - this is why I almost never build/repair/setup PCs for friends/family nowadays. Setting up a Proxmox host and a bunch of VMs is a recipe for me needing to constantly run over to support them with it whenever anything goes wrong. Likewise PiHole, while great for people who care about it, is just going to cause them to have issues with certain websites not working properly, and me needing to run over to add exclusions.etc. Sure the Draytek router isn't the most "extreme" thing in the world, but given all they need is something to provide internet access for an, at most, 80mbps connection, it's a decently reliable option that also includes a VDSL modem and fits nicely in the cabinet (unlike their old modem) and is a decent step up from an ISP provided router. If in the future they moved to a new router (The UniFi UXG-Lite looks interesting) the Draytek can then be switched to work purely as a VDSL modem. For this setup we had very limited space, hence the 10" rack - there literally wasn't space for a 19" one and my parents weren't willing to lose any cupboard storage space. As for the wiring running externally - their house is solid brick - running any of the camera cables internally would have involved chasing walls and requiring major redecoration. If in the future they were to be redecorating a room or digging up the garden then I'd absolutely be looking to chase the cables into the walls and bury the cable to the garage but for now, running them externally was the best way to get the cameras up and running quickly.

The Draytek router is fine until it goes out of support and then it becomes a security vulnerability. Personally I think your setup is ham stringing you into making certain choices due to size of equipment. I am also thinking around similar lines to you about supporting my parents however I opted to use open source options (Debian, Pfsense, OpenWRT, Proxmox, ZoneMinder, etc etc). As I will be administering mine remotely I want to connect in via either/or a VPN tunnel and administer it either by SSH or internal web server).

Sure, there is a security risk to running an out of date router, but given that none of the router's services are exposed to the internet, the risk is pretty low for such a basic home setup. The same exact risk would apply if they were using basically any off the shelf consumer router, and at least Draytek do actually offer software updates, unlike most consumer routers! The Draytek is also likely to be a relatively short term solution that I picked up cheaply second hand when I found the existing modem and MikroTik router were too tight for the cabinet. Longer term I'd like to try out the UniFi UXG-Lite (with the Draytek just acting as a VDSL modem) since this would give me pretty decent remote access and monitoring of their network. And yes, I am making certain choices due to the space that I had to work with, I can't just magically make the cupboard larger or get my parents to get rid of the stuff that's normally stored in there! The cupboard holds boring household objects - vacuum cleaner, ironing board, clothes airers and there is nowhere else they could reasonably be stored. A huge part of designing a network involves working with the particular environment that you have - If I had space for a full size cabinet I'd have done this very differently - Likely a UniFi UDM Pro SE handling basically everything, but it simply wasn't going to happen here. As for supporting a more complex setup - that's entirely up to you, but for me, the last thing I want to end up with is a situation where I'm relaxing on holiday and get a call from my parents because "nothing is working" and be stuck having to support them. With this setup, realistically almost any issues can be solved by turning it off and on again - which is why everything is being powered from a single socket including the remote PoE powered switches - they have the simple instruction of "If anything stops working, turn that plug off and on again." I can absolutely guarantee that as soon as I mention to my parents about them having a server, or "just connect to this VPN to access your CCTV" they're going to immediately want a different setup. This setup here isn't to be viewed as a homelab style setup that's been heavily cut down to fit in a tight space, it should be viewed as the next step up from an ISP provided router and cloud recording cameras from the likes of Ring.

The cupboard is basically a game of Tetris when it comes to fitting everything in. What doesn't' really show up in this video, is that this is their understairs cupboard, so the ceiling slopes meaning there isn't actually much space above the cabinet before it hits the ceiling. At the top of the wall (towards the front of the cupboard) is where their alarm panel is mounted so it couldn't go there and then their ironing board is a perfect fit between the alarm panel and network cabinet so moving the network cabinet anywhere else would prevent that from fitting.

Huh?

@@camerongray1515 it will be too hot inside.

It won't, nothing in that cabinet runs particularly hot. It's common to have multiple high power switches in a comms cabinet, the equipment installed here is nowhere close in terms of power consumption and heat output.

@@camerongray1515 we will see.

Yep, that's all a phone line needs - at the point that the DSL extension wires are connected, all it is is a phone line that has had the "voice" frequencies filtered out.

yep that's all

I'd like to say it's magic, but it's just inside one of those annoying plastic blister packs that are impossible to open

@@camerongray1515 ohhhhhh makes sense

It really won't, nothing in that cabinet is particularly power hungry or produces much heat. Look at how many high powered switches are commonly installed into small network cabinets in commercial settings without issue. Sure this cabinet is smaller than those, but the power consumption of this is also several times lower.

@@camerongray1515 I'll check back in 6 months. Anything poe gets hot, anything ubitquiti gets hot, especially with zero airflow.

Feel free to check back but I'm certain it'll still be running fine. The router and switch are both rated to operate in environments of up to 40c, the inside of the cabinet is nowhere close to that. The CloudKey is currently reporting a CPU temperature of 49c which is pretty standard for a CloudKey Gen2+, and that's with it actively running and recording the cameras. Remember, just because something "gets hot" to the touch, doesn't mean that it's overheating. Wait until you've experienced how hot many commercial comms rooms are, this cabinet is nowhere close!

@@camerongray1515 I am little more paranoid about heat i guess but even low heat generating devices in an enclosed like that can turn that into a hot box. I would probably cut a hole in the top for some type small case fan even if it move very little air. Def want to keep an eye on it to make sure it will won't warm up cause 40c isn't really that hot when it comes to enclosed space of hardware.

Of course I'll be keeping an eye on it, but I've never seen an issue even with comms cabinets containing much more equipment - metal cabinets are generally pretty reasonable at dissipating heat - it's not like it's wooden or something like that. There are also slots in the top as well as the slot at the rear that would allow heat to rise up into the wall. I've previously ran a cabinet containing a reasonably powerful server, network switch and a few other bits of hardware and it comfortably stayed under 40c, I only needed to add active cooling once I lined it with sound insulation which prevented the cabinet from dissipating heat through the metal sides.

he said router not rowter.

@@RWL2012 he says rooter not router

The UK is definitely behind when it comes to telecoms although fibre should be rolled out everywhere in the next few years when the copper phone network is turned off. As for the house - this is just a classic case of a house from the 1960s where things have been bodged repeatedly by contractors over the years. The house would have originally been built without central heating, phone service and a relatively limited electrical setup so everything has been retrofitted and expanded over the years. As for the wiring outside the house - those are TV antenna and satellite cables that will have also been retrofitted over the years including a few redundant cables to feed TV to other rooms that are no longer in use and should probably be tidied at some point. The actual phone line is completely buried and comes in underground and pops up under the floor of the house.

If you've seen my other videos, you'll see that I generally do always use regular 19" racks and centralise all cable runs as much as possible. However, this install was for my parents who really don't care about the tech side of things and simply didn't want to dedicate so much cupboard space to a larger cabinet. That cupboard is used for storage and a cabinet even slightly larger would have made it impossible to fit their vaccuum cleaner and ironing board into the cupboard.

My style is to produce videos that are basically a live vlog of whatever I'm doing in full detail. For me, overly planning and scripting a video to make it as condensed as possible removes all of the enjoyment I get from making videos.

@@camerongray1515 You should think of your audience.

​@@camerongray1515you don't have to watch it on one go. You can split it into episodes of any length to your choosing

@@camerongray1515fair enough. Some more aggressive editing might help, but hey, it’s free content, who am I to argue! Thanks for making them one way or the other!

​@@camerongray1515I like the full in depth detail.

I use G.Fast at home, although it's not available in my parents area. They're also relatively far from the cabinet so I suspect they'd be too far for G.Fast anyway. I don't think they're really rolling out G.Fast anymore so the likely next phase for them will be FTTP.