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What I don't get is why no one looked up

http://www.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx/Network-Power-Switch-Jr/SWI080A%C4%82R3

A networked power switch. Plug a switch in to that that goes to the main network and the device and you can power it up and down at will

Black Boxes are typically things that scare Slashdot. We don't know how they work, as compared to a documented "white box" solution.

This definition of a "Black Box" is different. It's an event data recorder, meant to be like the orange devices found at airplane crash sites designed to let everybody know the status of the vehicle before it crashed. No big privacy change because most cars already have one, it's just a law change that requires there be standards,. rules, and such for these things in the future.

Honestly any use of BlackBox would scare me. Their equipment is simply overpriced pieces of (#*$*#*@.

Definitely, remember 10Base-5? One was thicknet and the other was thinnet. I believe it looked like a garden hose. Maybe you could do it with the right equipment at each end of the cable to convert like maybe a cable modem on each end of each cable might do it.

If you can't find it here they probably no longer make it though.
http://www.blackbox.com/

You really can't adapt this - the impedance for this coax is likely 70 ohm (for cable tv) and cat 5 is 100 ohms. You could build a balun, but you'd probably have some weird distance/speed related issues you've never had before. Anyhow if anyone had the parts it would be these guys:

http://www.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx/CATV-Balun/IC448A-R2

I know that's the wrong way, but it gives you an idea of how much you'd have to pay.

You're doing it wrong.

When I'm doing networking for clients, it is between a central patch panel and a wallplate. From there, the right way to do it is with a relatively short patch cord to the networked device or the switch or whatever.

Funnily enough, I have no particular love for Belkin's products. The only good thing about them is that they're everywhere, and therefore are easy to find. But they're expensive and, in my experience, no better than other (often much, much cheaper) products.

Here's a 10 foot snagless Belkin Cat5e cable from Staples for $6.49. Meanwhile, Deep Surplus has a very very similar cable for $1.72 with a 90-day no-restocking-fee return policy. At the high end, Black Box sells cables which are even more expensive than Belkin, and are guaranteed against everything forever.

But it's not clear to me, in my experience, that either Belkin or Black Box have common cables which are substantially better than the stuff at Deep Surplus. They're all assembled by machine, they're all tested by machine, and I'll wager that in all the wire itself is purchased from whatever supplier is cheapest this week. And if I'm only paying a third as much for them, ala Deep Surplus, I can afford to guarantee them myself.

Yeah I got a tip, blackbox.com

There are solutions which meet the OP's demand, depending upon what size or scale solution he wants.

Large scale: APC makes their InfraStruXure products which can be equipped with additional hardware to deal with humidity, include UPSes, and often AC. Racks are included as well.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=258
http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=259

Sun's "Project Blackbox", which is a portable datacenter accomplishing the same thing -- but this is much larger.

http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/

Smaller scale:

Try the ClimateCab from Black Box, which is just a rack:

http://www.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx/ClimateCab-NEMA-12-Data-Cabinet-with-12-24-Rails/RM5010A ...but with their AC/dehumidifier unit attached, you should be able to achieve what you want:

http://www.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx/ClimateCab-NEMA-12-Wallmount-Cabinet-with-Air-Conditioning-Beige-Single-Hinged/RMW5130AC

Finally, consider contacting some of these companies directly! Seriously. Many of them can make custom solutions for you which could meet your needs.

But good luck doing any of this "without breaking the bank". If money is a huge concern, co-locate your boxes somewhere proper. I'm serious: do it right.

There are solutions which meet the OP's demand, depending upon what size or scale solution he wants.

Large scale: APC makes their InfraStruXure products which can be equipped with additional hardware to deal with humidity, include UPSes, and often AC. Racks are included as well.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=258
http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=259

Sun's "Project Blackbox", which is a portable datacenter accomplishing the same thing -- but this is much larger.

http://www.sun.com/products/sunmd/s20/

Smaller scale:

Try the ClimateCab from Black Box, which is just a rack:

http://www.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx/ClimateCab-NEMA-12-Data-Cabinet-with-12-24-Rails/RM5010A ...but with their AC/dehumidifier unit attached, you should be able to achieve what you want:

http://www.blackbox.com/Store/Detail.aspx/ClimateCab-NEMA-12-Wallmount-Cabinet-with-Air-Conditioning-Beige-Single-Hinged/RMW5130AC

Finally, consider contacting some of these companies directly! Seriously. Many of them can make custom solutions for you which could meet your needs.

But good luck doing any of this "without breaking the bank". If money is a huge concern, co-locate your boxes somewhere proper. I'm serious: do it right.

I've installed almost a dozen solar powered network backhaul repeater sites in Alaska for research projects. Since we go in by helicopter we have a limited time and weight available to us. So we use armored cat5 instead of pulling conduit. You can get outdoor cat5e and armored fiber from blackbox.

My grandfather worked as a launch operations engineer for an air force contractor in the 60s and 70s. They did have a "Pad Cat" living on the launch pad to control mice. He said it was the only effective thing. And yes, someone had the specific task of finding the cat and taking him into the bunk house when they cleared the pad for launches.

You could use coax like the cable company does and boost it wit something like this:

distribution amp
http://www.winegarddirect.com/viewitem.asp?p=HDA-100

I think they make these for ethernet too.

http://www.blackbox.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx?cid=425,1423,1424&mid=4965

Someone here probably knows where to get thes things cheaper too, but with coax maybe they will let you put it on the telephone pole.

Wireless. Two access points set in bridge mode with two small directional antennas or one larger directional antenna. I can fire 802.11G over many miles with two direction 14dB gain antennas, and having one 14dB or two smaller ones will more than suffice, if there is line of sight.

If not, fiber that bitch. Make sure you can with regards to permits / easements. Get either an Outside Plant (OP) UV rated cable and bury it directly or ditch-witch you some conduit (1" will suffice) and you can run an Inside / Outside Plant fiber. Get at least a 4 strand and no more than a 6 strand fiber in case there are any problems. Buy two fiber media converters from Blackbox, http://www.blackbox.com/ item #LHC013A, pay a technian to terminate the fiber for you with a decent amount of service loop in case of a future move / service. Fiber will cost you $1,300, a tech and materials will cost you $275, ditch-witch rental and conduit will be $1,800, media converters will be a little under $400. I tech company can do it all for you but you will pay $75 an hour per man hour, probably around 25 hours or so.

Ethernet is only rated up to 100 meters for 10/100.

Last option: If the phone line running down there has a spare pair on it, use a couple of ethernet extenders or DSL modems.

The Datacentre we have our kit in has these small LED based ammeters on each of the power strips.
Very handy for figuring out where our power budget is going.

Google provides the following in quick order
http://www.energyoptimizersdirect.co.uk/acatalog/E nergy_Devices.html?gclid=CJ2il5S3r4cCFTpsEAod3n1L- Q
http://www.blackbox.com/Catalog/Detail.aspx?cid=18 3,1324,1328&mid=4084

Enjoy :)

There are the ServView systems from BlackBox which are pretty much exactly what you are asking for, here is an image. They are made to be on slide-out drawers in a rackmount cabinet but you might be able to do some creative amputation to make it more portable :)

According to their VP of IS, they were future proofing to save money in the long term. I just hope they tested their current CAT5 for 1000baseT operation and it failed (I doubt it). If it was good enough, 1000baseT would have carried them through at least another six years and they would have only needed to upgrade the switches. Something tells me that this VP was just spending for the bling-bling and is a non-technical, overpaid, PHB. If I'm right, the fucker should be fired for wasting school and student money. A friend of mine working at a pretty big company just went through the same ordeal with his PHB. She (The PHB) got featured in an article because she upgraded to the buzzword "Fiber".

Check out these links for some good information and specs. Also, I managed to dig up some information provided by the company that installed the fiber.

-Lucas

Would something like this (a rack-mount power strip with 15-foot cord) be what you're looking for?

(Pay no attention to prices, Blackbox is just the first pro-stuff vendor with an online catalog that came to mind; I'm sure you can find something elsewhere for [much] cheaper.)

I might also recommend if you make this investment in CAT5 , go plenum. It will keep intereference down from power cords and light fixtures that would impede plain ole CAT5.

This is not true. Plenum cable does not differ from non plenum rated CAT5 cable in terms of how well it deals with EMI, it only means that it doesn't give off noxious fumes when it burns. If you want cable specially shielded to deal with EMI you might try something like this. No, I don't work for blackbox.

I agree with the part about checking out avsforum, there is more information there about audio/video than a reasonable person could ever hope to absorb.

Good luck.

Extron is to video gear as Blackbox is to networking gear.

They have something that will do what you want. Dig on their page, or give them a call and talk to one of their reps.

This looks like what you've described:

Flushmount Wall Bracket

Cost: $64.95

BlackBox has a line of ethernet KVM extenders that can be used with other BlackBox KVM solutions.

Blackbox Ethernet KVM Equipment

Forgive the javascript errors, this was the only way to link to that exact page on the blackbox site.

BlackBox has a line of ethernet KVM extenders that can be used with other BlackBox KVM solutions.

Blackbox Ethernet KVM Equipment

Forgive the javascript errors, this was the only way to link to that exact page on the blackbox site.

PC, Mac, and Sun KVM. Expensive, and specialized cables are required, but they will work on all 3 (and probably others, too, since newer Sun, SGI, and HP machines all use VGA and PS/2). Go Here for details.

cat5e is definitely gigabit, according to my handy Black Box catalog.
cat6 hasn't been ratified yet, but will allow gigabit and beyond.

I just checked out Blackbox and found fiber cable for $620 / 1000'. Pricey, but a consideration. Since I have fiber at my phone pole, I figure some day AT&T or Verizon will figure out a way to bring it the extra 50' to my house.

Cool rack, who makes it and where'd you get it?
See Here

"Anyone know of a place that sells 23" to 19" rack conversions?"

Try BlackBox.

There is a company called Blackbox that sells all sorts of lockable cabinets for computer systems. You might want to check out their ClimateCab and ClimateCab Desktop products. I've used these with great success in dirty and hot environments. They are NOT cheap ($4,686.95 and $3,564.95 respectively) but they are the best that I've found that include security, filtration, and cooling.

There is a company called Blackbox that sells all sorts of lockable cabinets for computer systems. You might want to check out their ClimateCab and ClimateCab Desktop products. I've used these with great success in dirty and hot environments. They are NOT cheap ($4,686.95 and $3,564.95 respectively) but they are the best that I've found that include security, filtration, and cooling.

There is a company called Blackbox that sells all sorts of lockable cabinets for computer systems. You might want to check out their ClimateCab and ClimateCab Desktop products. I've used these with great success in dirty and hot environments. They are NOT cheap ($4,686.95 and $3,564.95 respectively) but they are the best that I've found that include security, filtration, and cooling.

Another choice might be to insert a terminal server over at the remote end, connected to the lan on one side and the server's console port on the other ("10/100 Serial Server" over at Blackbox). It wouldn't give you a remote reset capability, but you'd be able to control the server no matter what state it was in, short of total unresponsiveness.

I'm not so sure about that. My PC at work doesn't have a direct connection to the computer room (the logical place you'd put all these PCs). I go through a hub, a bridge, and maybe a switch on the other side. Unless C-Link is layered over Ethernet, it's probably not compatible with your network topology.

Black Box sells a similar device called the ServSwitch Multi. You put a PCI card in the computer that connects to the KVM switch via Cat5 (not sure whether it uses Ethernet). You use a combination of serial, AT, PS/2, and VGA to connect the K, V, and M to the switch. I'm sure the Black Box engineers are working on a USB version.

I evaluated the ServSwitch Multi, but rejected it because it's wicked expensive. We went with a ServSwitch Matrix, which is simpler and cheaper.

As a few other people have mentioned, throw the computer in a closet to insulate the noise from the rest of the studio. There's 2 ways you could go about accessing the thing. Either use extension cables for the keyboard, mouse, and montior, or use a KVM switch. The only advantage I can think of to the KVM switch is the distance it can handle. Actually, the only reason I'm writing this post is to make sure someone gets a link up to the best place to shop for all this stuff: http://www.blackbox.com/

Oh yeah, they also sell insulated cabinets and such if you'd prefer to go that route... but most of those need cooling so the heat doesn't build up inside... which would mean fan noise. So you can probably forget that route.

...check out www.blackbox.com. They have pretty much every bit of hardware you could ever want for a server... They aren't cheap, but maybe they could give you some ideas if you're just out looking, and you could find something similar somewhere else...? I know what it's like to not have a lot of money to work with... good luck.

Blackbox and Mobile Planet sell an accoustic coupler that claims to be able to do 14.4kbps. Of course, it depends on the quality of the line...

I think the main problem is a lack of high-tech companies. Pittsburgh definitely has some, including Marconi (formally FORE Systems), Lycos, Black Box, the recently IPO'd FreeMarkets, and for those of you wanting to get in on a promising startup, there's the newly formed Spinnaker Networks.

Pittsburgh isn't a technology city yet, but it's getting there.

BlackBox offers one that is USB. I don't know if it is shipping yet, and it isn't listed under the KVM section of their site, but it is in their faxback archive, here.


Michael

I suspect that other switches in the same price category will work similarly well.

Make sure you get descent video cables. Cables that bundle video, keyboard, and mouse together are a big convenience.

I had a Belkin before and both its keyboard emulation and its video quality left a lot to be desired; I returned it to the dealer after a week.

For evaluation of the video, I recommend running in the highest bandwidth video mode your video card will support (say, 1600x1200 at a fast refresh rate). For evaluation of the keyboard switch, try power cycling machines in various combinations. Also, if it matters to you, try playing some FPS games and see whether the key sequences of the switch are a problem and whether it locks up under that kind of usage.

Black Box makes several external power switch options that can be controlled by serial and/or touch tone. But they're not cheap.

The other way to go might be to find a UPS that can cycle the power based on commands sent to its serial port. I know Best and some APCs can do this.