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Organizing Computer Gear Clutter?
slashyslashy asks: "At first I had only a PC and a printer. Now the home network setup has grown to consist of many units: linksys router, ASDL modem, Vonage VOIP terminal, linksys NSLU2 network storage device, and couple of external harddrives. Powering all these units is done with three Belkin 6-Outlet Surge Protectors all connected to 1 wall outlet. Currently all of these units are stacked under the table, causing their wires and cables criss-cross each other. Troubleshooting any single unit is a mess. How do other Slashdot readers organize their home computer gear? Any ideas on cheap solutions ($100) to manage this clutter?"
Just leave all the wires in a pile, in a corner. That's what I do anyway.
43rd Law of Computing:
Anything that can go wr
fortune: Segmentation violation -- Core Dumped
1. Cable ties
2. Masking tape to label the cables in the ties.
You can get cable ties anywhere (Lowe's, Home depot).
GOBACK.
Well i can't help with the main problem, since i find any attempt to tidy up just makes things harder to get to, but i'll suggest something: check the total power draw on those devices, you may be running too much off one socket. (offically you aren't supposed to chain 4-ways, although everyone does). if possible, i'd take a lead to another.
This is my Sig, this is my Gun. One is for Slashdot and one is for Fun.
Here's the solution I've come up with...hope this helps...
I purchased a cheap wire shelfabout 18x36, 2 shelves. I attached pulleys to the top of the shelf, and attached two smooth metal rods to the ceiling for the pulleys to ride on. All my systems are on the bottom shelf, all routers, switches, modems, access points, etc. are on the top shelf. Power strips are zip-tied directly to the shelf, powered by a UPS on the floor. Any unit can be taken off the shelf and placed on the workbench without disconnecting any cables. The entire shelf can be pulled out to allow easy access to the rear of the units, or pushed right up against the wall to to conserve space. And because all components are well off the ground, I don't have to worry about flooding (an occasional hazard in my basement) or excess dust accumulation inside the cases (I have two cats).
____
~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey
When I lived in an apartment, I contained a lot of the network clutter in a milk crate. Get a milk crate and a bunch of cable ties from a hardware store.
y ellow.jpg
Zip tie one of your surge strips inside of the milk crate, along with your router and your cable modem. All on different sides. Hook them all up together and use more zip ties to bundle up the cables between them.
Now put the milk crate on the floor, with the open side down, and stack more stuff on top of it. This means you not only get rid of the desk clutter from your cable modem and router, but you now have a printer stand as well. And a couple of headless boxes can get put there, too.
Here's my old setup.
http://www.roadflares.org/hardware/images/blueand
Worked well.
--saint
I tend to like Gorilla Racks a lot. They are solidly built and should last forever. Might clash with the living room decor though.
http://www.gorillarack.com/
"All I want is a warm bed and a kind word and unlimited power." - Ashleigh Brilliant
* Label your power cords for what brand, model and possibly power draw.
* Use zip ties or velcro ties to "bundle" cables that can be bundled (power cables, for instance.) Don't bundle cables that could potentially cause crosstalk/noise (ie, no audio cables running next to your power.)
* "Hang" cables and route them with slack, with regards to servicing or pulling out the devices. In general, you should have enough slack to pull out and examine the back of a device without having to unplug it beforehand.
* Another poster said this, but don't overload power sockets; if necessary, route another powerstrip to a second socket. Or look into a UPS/true power solution.
Not All Who Wander Are Lost
In my experience, organizing wires with zip ties and so forth is just as bad as no organization. Every time I make a change I either get frustrated at having to undo the zip ties, or I get frustrated at having to untangle wires. Therefore, adding the zip ties was a waste of time.
I've always had an amazing amount of crap at home. Three laptops. Four 21" monitors (including two Sun monitors), a 19", a 17", a 15", a 23" apple cinema display, two linux boxes, two spare windows boxes, an Ultra 5, an Ultra 10, a Sunblade 150, a Sunblade 2000 and a kick ass high-end windows gaming box. Then two flatbed scanners, an inkjet printer, a brother laser printer, a huge set of speakers, three D-Link 7-port USB hubs and 24 external USB-connected IDE drives.
I got tired of all the crap, so I gave away everything except the drives, the gaming box, the 23" cinema display, scanner and laser printer. Then I went out and bought a 17" PowerBook which I use as my main desktop box and my portable (to take to work) and a 30" Apple Cinema Display. Now it's quieter, there are hardly any cords (I use a wireless network, wireless laser mouse, wireless keyboard) and I stuck the gaming box in a closet and connected all of the external drives to it.
Cords, noise and heat are no longer a problem. Sure, I can't really do any gaming on a PowerBook, but if I get back into playing games a lot, I'll just pull it out again for awhile.
In summary - I found that the best way to deal with the clutter and crap is to.. well... get rid of the clutter and crap. It's amazing how much garbage hardware and computers you collect over time that you simply DO NOT NEED.
... was to just get rid of a lot of equipment. Some was sold, some thrown away, some stuff is boxed up in case I ever need it again.
I sold off a couple of desktop machines and consolidated one good one, shifted a file server off into another room, went wireless where I could (though I've since rewired the main desktop box for network) and generally tried to cut down on clutter (like unplugging some rarely-used peripherals such as joystick, drawing tablet etc, getting a wireless keyboard and mouse with a decent battery charger).
I also fixed two powerboards and a network switch to the underside of my main desk, and shortened some cable runs so the cables were up off the floor. The long cables now serve a more useful purpose with my guitar and bass amps.
Turns out I'm a lot better off, though the clutter is inevitably going to build up again.
Oh, and I also rely more on my laptops than I used to, which is a factor in cutting down on the static hardware, I suppose
Screw you all! I'm off to the pub
As long as using racks AND not paying an arm and leg for them, have a look at a MIDI rack at your biggest local music store.
They come the same size as the computer racks, costs half the price, are even available second hand...
Yes you will need to buy rackable enclosures for you pcs, but everything computer will be in the same enclosure....
Then go the platic tie and tag everything...
It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
(Yes, this is my real set-up: 3 Mac Minis (2 running Linux), MGE UPS, and a bunch or other small stuff.)
If you reply, do so only to what I explicitly wrote. If I didn't write it, don't assume or infer it.
I have no affiliation with the catalog, other than being on the mailing list.
o duct=198800zz&dept_id=13160
d uct=238359x&dept_id=1
To get cords in a small area
http://www.improvementscatalog.com/product.asp?pr
Help with all the transformers
http://www.improvementscatalog.com/Parent.asp?pro
Ignorance is not a crime; neither should it be a way of life
Congress control $ = inmates run the asylum
For under the desk, I have a vinyl storm gutter attached with L brackets along the inside back. Push the cables up over the far side (it sags a bit open on that side, so you can loop them up over your desk. I just moved, so I'm in the process of building new desks, with my old one going into the basement as a workbench.
--
Evan
"$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
At the very least screw your powerstrip to the back or underside of your desk. If you are not allowed to drill, use a c-clamp.
Seriously, I used to be into doing stuff with computers because I COULD. It was a great experience to play with Linux and BSD on lots of crappy, obsolete systems and would encourage all high school and early-college aged kids to do so (while making time for socialization).
Now I have access to all the exotic UNIX hardware I could ever care to use. I threw out everything, got a powerbook and have never been happier.
When I want to have fun tinkering, I code. I think people will get more out of programming than simply amassing a ton of hardware and installing operating systems on them (watching console messages scroll by does not make you smart). (Which is not to say that you shouldn't LEARN how to do that stuff, but having a dozen workstations at home when 1 or 2 would do serves no real purpose. No Timmy, you do not need separate dns and mail servers for timmy.com)
I use the twist ties left over from a package of trash bags. Personally, I find they do a terrible job of holding the bag closed and just tying a knot in the plastic does it much better. They're great for tying cables though. Tie back all the cables so they're just a little longer than "long-enough" (so you can shift things around). They're easy to remove and a little creativity goes a long way. For instance, thread one around two pushpins and use the resulting tie to hold wires in place against the back of your desk. Reduce, reuse, recycle. Though you probably wont have this luxury... I have three power outlets in this room, and through luck of unusual wiring, each on a separate breaker. Anyway, I use one good 8-outlet surge protector coming from each one and I use those 24 outlets to help organize my power cables. Everything stored underneath the working area of my desk, including the printer, camera dock, wireless mouse dock, and cpu is plugged into one of those. Everything that is on top of the desk runs off a surge protector clamped to the back of the table (PDA dock, monitor, speakers). Everything else is on a 1'x1'x7' shelving unit (wireless router, DSL modem, etc.). I drilled holes in the back of it to allow cables to come out, and that surge protector is located at chest-level on the back of the unit for easy acess and neatness. I find my biggest problem is that during QUICK repairs and changes, neatness is forgotten. I changed a hard drive recently, and I know that a couple wires are tugging on each other due to carelessly being tangled during the work. Two others had to be untied to remove the CPU in the first place, and they never got tied again, so now FOUR cables instead of the usual 2 touch the floor and get in the way when I roll my desk around.
That's bound to ensure that clutter is kept down to a reasonable level.
I rackmounted.
.. yet). Converted my main two computers from standard ATX cases to rackmountable cases. I picked up a rackmountable switch. I have a rackmountable UPS waiting to be setup. Most of the cables hang-out in the rack box.
:)
I found a 1/3 rack in a trash can (actually I have a full rack in my back-yard, not used
Though a bunch of them are under the desk: Monitor cables, various KVM cables, etc.
I also mounted a lifting door to the top of the rack, so I could get to the inside fairly easily. Though it has turned into a work bench, so fairly easily is now, not at all.
Basically to straighten up, stop being a slob like me
It would be cool if I mounted some tubing around the edge of my desk to pull the wires *thinks about where the next paycheck is going*
it's a sig, wtf?
Throw it all out.
Simple!
A lot of hardware and wires won't ever be easy to organize or look good. No offense, and assuming this is for home use and not your work environment (you seem to suggest that), if I was you, I would think about if I seriously need to horde all the home networking, cables and hardware and network storage at home? You need to make a decision if you want your place to be nice and sleek and simple, or to look like the place of a guy who never goes on dates. Milk crates for organizing my stuff as has been suggested, WTF? Lovely but no, thanks.
My apartment contains exactly one laptop. I also have a cable modem, wireless router, and Airport Express under the sofa. That's it. It's sleek and it allows me to do just about anything, shop, work, watch movies, learn, read, get news, download music, geek out, without actually looking like a mega-nerd. If I have to print something, I do it at work.
But if you go the guy-in-basement route, you will always have a mess. Been there, done that for too long.
For smaller stuff like that, I stack them on in/out box trays like this and run the wiring out the back. For larger stuff like systems, I use wire shelving like this. You can adjust the shelves to fit towers or rack-mount size boxes. Or at least, that's what I used to do. Now I have exactly one desktop with a UPS. The cable modem and WAP/router are hidden in the entertainment center.
Yes, they will look better with a "cable management system" of that sort in place... until one of the cables goes bad, or you need to plug one of the devices into a different power outlet, etc. At that point you will curse - using words your grandfather never even heard during his time in the Navy - the day that your wife/Felix/boyfriend/whatever was born, and the day you met said individual, and your stupidity for listening to them.
Seriously, the key to keeping a web of cables "manageable" is to keep the individual strands apart. Put as much daylight between them as you can, and as much slack in them as geometry allows. It may not be as pretty as a bundle of cables wrapped by a tight plastic helix or hidden away in an enclosed track, but neither is a domestic murder-suicide incited by frustration over constrictive cable management. (Or so I've heard.)
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
I use 3M Foam Tape everywhere, it is the most useful wire-control device I ever found. You can use the double-sided tape to stick devices together (I taped my speakers to my monitor, I taped all my little routers to the wall, etc etc) and it is a really strong bond. You can also use just one side of the tape (don't peel off the other side of the tape) and it makes a really strong cable hold-down. It also comes off pretty cleanly. Foam Tape helps organize both your stray hardware boxes and the cables too.
step 1: sell everything
step 2: take all that money and buy 1 killer machine
step 3: Go here
The Answer
What is this organize you speak of? I am unfamilar with the term. Honestly, cable ties are hard to remove if you need to move stuff around. Someone must sell these little velco "cable-ties" that APC gives away with some of their gear. I have a bunch and they work really well. They are basically a strip of velco with the hooks on one side and the loops on the other. You can probably make your own.
I took my linksys wireless router, ASDL modem, Vonage VOIP, a hub and a surge protector and mounted them on all on 2'x4' piece of 1/2" plywood screwed to the wall in the basement.
Then I used a bunch of 1'-3' ethernet cables to connect the whole mess together.
There's a 650VA APC UPS sitting on a shelf just below it which helps power the whole thing.
Oh yeah, and I bought a Leviton wiring distribution panel to distribute teh ethernet and phone over the CAT5 jacks in my house.
The NSLU2... well it's a piece of shit. I've been thinking about having a ritual bonfire for it. But right now it sits in the closet.
I made an nice looking vertical tower of devices.
:(
I got a reasonably long piece of 1x4 inch board in a wood that matches my desk.
I then mounted my UPS on one side (the "back") of the board and mounted all of my other devices on the other side (the "front") of the board. The devices were stacked vertically and had their power cords immediately routed to the back of the board so that only the devices are visible. I mounted the devices to the board by screwing wood screws just under the device and then using extra-long zip-ties to secure the devices to the wood. The devices only rest on the screw heads leaving the devices unharmed.
I then stood the board on end in a nice decorative pot that was filled with decorative rocks to hold the board up.
Then my wife saw it and said I still had to cover it up, so I got a matching panel screen and used it to cover up my newly constructed tower.
The tower still resulted in all my devices off the shelf, off the floor, and neat and tidy.
I have a large number of wall warts that power rechargers and other devices. I picked up a 4 foot power strip from Frys and mounted on the wall over a shelf. The devices sit on the shelf powered by the power strip above.
Ask me about my vow of silence!
The twisty ties used to seal some plastic bags. Available at any supermarket.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Ack, not masking tape! Get some sort of proper tagging solution instead. You'll have masking tape gooze on your cables forever if you leave it on there for a while, not to mention the tape will eventually become brittle and your helpful labels will just crack off and fall to the floor the first time you bump them.
Get some wiring duct or raceway. It's compact, easy to use and looks good. I use stuff from Panduit, but I'm sure other people make it too.
There are three things that one can do to reduce clutter (these are not my ideas, but I incorporate them in my life as best as possible). They are in no particular order. For all clutter or "projects" that you have to complete:
1. Hire it out
2. Throw it out
3. Or do it yourself
Let's say you're not doing number 1 (but if you are there's professional organizers out there who will be happy to have your business). Work on number 2 and 3, which means you first try to consolidate all your equipment. Really think about the devices you have and be honest with yourself if you really need it or if you can consolidate it with another device. For example, I don't have a network storage device, but I do share out my drives via smb. Everything that you don't need or use rarely, eBay or craigslist it or THROW IT OUT. The hoarders in us are really hesitant to throw things out---you could donate it to Goodwill or Salvation Army, etc.
Once you reduce the hardware clutter you can then work on the wires. With that, the many hints provided by the other here will suffice. Good luck and seriously, I never thought that the piles and piles of junk that I had in my home would affect my personal and emotional life. But after reducing all that junk that I had (I admit, a lot of it had to go in storage, so it's only a matter of time that I will have to deal with that junk), I have to say that my life feels much more stable. In anything that you buy or have in your home, you always have to think about whether or not you really need it, or is it something that you'll just play with for a few minutes a day without without any personal benefit.
Linux at home
A new one will cost more than $100 but a TV cabinet is what I use. You have to get one where the compartment where the monitor goes is at the right height. The bottom compartment is where the rest of the equipment goes. I ended up getting one of those distressed, faux antique dressers so I had to drill a couple of holes in the back. It easily stores three PCs, router/firewall, KVM switch, 19 inch monitor, and speakers for everyone.
With the doors open, you're staring at a data closet. With the doors closed, a casual observer wouldn't even be able to tell you're a geek.
You could try the Cable Turtle.
For longer distance things you could use spiral wraps.
And another cool product would be the cord caddy.
Have fun organizing!
I was about to post the answer "a bin", but it looks like you beat me to it...
Seriously, I always smile when I hear about geeks with five home computers in their study, seventeen kinds of connectivity to each one, and so on. I mean, how many different boxen can you type on at once, anyway?!
I think a lot of people overlook simple ways to keep things tidy that have quietly appeared recently. For example:
Basically, if you start by minimising the number of connections you have and the length of each cable, there's less to worry about tidying up in the first place. :-)
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Well, everyone has been talking about zip ties this, and velcro straps that, and reusable or not... I long ago figured a far tidier, and aesthetically infinitely more pleasing solution to the Medusa's hair of cables that plagued my workspaces:
Rubber Hoses.
...and that's it. Buy couple of rubber water hoses in colors of your choice, making sure diameters are sufficient for your needs, and slit them open lengthwise. Then simply array the cables within the tubes. if you're overloading your tubes, zip-tie them at intervals to keep them from spilling contents, but usually, rubber should be pretty good at containing cables by itself. Here are another couple of tips:
Shielding: Try to avoid putting power cables and data cables (network and other I/O) in the same hose - even though I/O cables are in theory shielded (you are using FTP/STP for networking, aren't you?), putting them in direct contact proximity of hi(gher) voltage cables might cause problems for your signal quality.
Aesthetics: I packed several of my more visible cable trunks (A/V multimedia, running from my PCs to my home entertainment, and portions of networking layout) in transparent/semi-transparent hose, and mixed in some optical fibers to add a bit of flair - it also makes for awesome 'Don't trip on me' warning if you have cables crossing the doorways etc).
'...computers in the future may have only 1000 vacuum tubes and perhaps weigh 1.5 tons...' Popular Mechanics, 03/49'