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?"

Comments

Get a wife

[Anonymous Coward]

That's bound to ensure that clutter is kept down to a reasonable level.

Re:Get a wife

[NoStrings]

I don't think this falls in the "under $100." category.

what NOT to do

[tverbeek]

Do not - no matter how much your wife/Felix/boyfriend/whatever nags you about the clutter - zip-tie, twist-tie, or otherwise tightly bundle your cables together to make them more tidy and less unsightly.

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.)