Moving Node Zero [Longish]

["Martyn Wendon" <martynwendon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

SWMBO has decided that we *need* to make another
gadget-budget-reducing
demon spawn to go with the one we've got already, which means that my
office
/ node zero is going to be appropriated as a second nursery / kids bedroom
:(

So I'm faced with the daunting prospect of having to re-locate all my toys
somewhere else.  The "office" side of things (desk, main pc /
workstation,
printer, scanner, etc) is not too difficult as we have a "guest"
bedroom
which I can squeeze my desk in and use as an office.  But using that as a
node zero is out of the question as it still needs to retain it's main use
as guest bedroom.

The current node zero has a wall mounted rack which houses cctv dvr, cctv
web server, router, switch and is where all my CAT5 wiring terminates
(we've
got 8 sockets to most rooms).  3 servers and associated UPS are sat on a
workbench type enclosure.

Luckily I have enough CAT5 cable coiled in the back of the rack to be able
to re-locate the patch panels up into the loft (although I'm not looking
forward to un-picking and re-punching!).  I then plan to move the switch up
there too along with a small UPS to power it.

Everything else (servers, UPS, cctv stuff, router, cable modem, etc) has to
find a new home, with the only feasible solution being putting it all in
the
garage which is attached to the side of the house.  The garage is small, in
fact it's too small for use as a garage, so I use it as a workshop.  I can
probably make a 4ft sqare corner (7ft tall) available for the new node
zero.


I know that some of you have your node zeros in the garage and some have
kit
in the loft so please can you offer advise on how to tackle issues such as:

Putting patch panels / switch / UPS in the loft:

Anything to look out for? It will all probably be put in a small rack of
some sort, I know it gets *very* hot in the loft in the summer 100F plus
easily.  It's dry though, and not too dusty.

Putting everything else in the garage:

Power - our garage has power, but it seems to be a spur off a socket in the
hall, so I think a new ring main would be needed as all the kit needs
approx
8 sockets.  The electric meter is in the garage, so is it possible to
connect a 2nd consumer unit to it for the stuff in the garage?  Or should I
just run a ring main back to the main house consumer unit?

Heating / Cooling issues - in my current office I have a standalone air-con
unit vented through the wall which works ok in the summer months, keeping
the room down to about 80F which is ok as without it the room hits about
105!  I'd like to re-use this if possible, but don't really want to cool
the
whole garage!  Has anybody used one of these and "ducted" the
cool air into
a rack / enclosure?

Dust / Dirt / Water - the garage is dry, but does get dusty, especially if
I'm working on some sort of DIY project. Also I'm concerned about
condensation in the winter?  Should I be looking at building some sort of
sealed enclosure with air filtration of some kind?

Cat5 / other cable runs - with the existing patch panels and switch
re-located into the loft, I'll then need to run a bunch of Cat5 and CCTV
cabling from there down into the garage.  There's no easy internal route
that I can think of, so is it feasible to drop a length of external grade
plastic conduit i.e. drainpipe :) from the left to the garage roof and into
the enclosure / rack?


Any ideas / assistance would be appreciated!


Thanks,

Martyn




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