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Cable Management To Defeat Clutter?
igny writes "I have just recently cleaned up my home office, reducing the clutter, but I could not come up with a neat solution to my cable problem. I believe my cable usage is even below average for a slashdotter, but still I have three computers with a bunch of ethernet and power cables, two cellphones, video and photo cables, with several proprietary chargers/AC adapters, printer, two NASes with a couple of external drives, phone, audio system, routers/switches, modem ... Everything requires cables of different kinds. I believe that AC adapters still draw some power even with no device hooked to it. So I organized my power cables by usage with several power strips to turn off adapters which I use less frequently. I am asking for advice from experienced slashdotters. How do you cope with your cable problem? Do you use dedicated tables, shelves, armoire for the cables? I am still looking for a neat, efficient, and safe (I have small kids) solution."
You will feel more comfortable if you don't see all those cables
Velcro ones might lose grip after a while but those worked for me. Or cheap garbage bag twist ties are ok. You can usually collect them from bagged loaves of bread.
I used to deliver to a company in santa cruz county that made a lightweight plastic hose with a slit down the middle to insert all the cables into. So instead of a bunch of different cables you just had one big 'hose' running through your room. It was a more organized look, sorry I can't remember the name of the company but you can probably modify something to do the same thing.
I just use my laptop, use a shoebox for the cables for adsl modem. put an extension cord inside the shoebox, all adapters cables etc inside the box, let wires hang out from a hole in the box.
Zip Ties
Velcro strips to bundle the cables work quite well (IMHO). The desk furniture I use (ikea) has room between the desk frame and the surface to thread the velcro strips through to hold it close under the desk.
I've used velcro in racks too -- very convenient when you are constantly changing cabling.
Invalid Checksum. Retrying.
I would recommend you design and build your own desk. Nothing beats being able to locate features fit to your own requirements and workspace. Mmmmm cables and oak.
I don't get it - you have all those devices in one room that you're having cable problems?
Can you put the cables through the desk, then under the carpet?
As for your other devices, maybe put a surge protector into a drawer or on a shelf or something to hide them.
If these solutions don't work for you for whatever reason, try consolidating the cables into a vacuum hose or something similar.
So I put a door on my office, and closed it.
The power draw @ 0.10/kWh is not worth worrying about, despite what the green hippies tell you.
Make some improvements to your home's insulation instead, if you are worried about reducing your energy footprint.
In the meantime, organize cables how convenient. I have a powered USB hub on a desk I use for charging stuff. I don't unplug it either.
..don't panic
Power: Get a big power strip (like for a lab bench, with lots of space between outlets -- NewEgg sells some), and attach it to your desk. This lets you keep the cables under the desk and (with wire ties and possibly duct tape) off the floor.
Ethernet: Same thing; mount your hubs/routers so a wire always has a straight shot without having to go around or through anything, then wrap up excess cable. You'll just have one cable to your wall plate for power and one for networking.
Cables for portable devices are not as easy to solve but cleaning up power and ethernet makes a big difference.
One word: scissors. Took care of all my unsightly cable runs.
This guy's the limit!
One piece of advice that I give to any sysadmin or tech before opening a new office/datacenter: Estimate the amount of cable ties that you will need -- then triple it. You can never have enough cable ties. Velcro/hook & loop is very nice because it is reusable, and it won't slice up your arms like cut-off zip ties can (some telcos actually explicitly ban zip-ties for this exact reason - many techs have to use wax string).
Otherwise, all of the best cable management that I've encountered tends to be made for rack-mounting. Get some hooks from your local hardware store, and then develop a system to coil, bundle, and otherwise tie off your excess cable. Hang the excess coils/bundles from the hooks under your desk or otherwise out of sight. That should keep your desk looking pretty enough. Also, if you have a lot of excess USB cable for small devices, try a USB hub and buy shorter USB cables.
-Turkey
My home office desk has wheels, so it's easy to roll back from the wall, and it has a large solid panel in the back. So I screwed velcro strips in to the backside, labeled my wires on both ends and the middle, coiled them up, and strapped them to the back. The only wires that leave the desk are one coax and two power, so my desk is mobile and nearly self-contained, with few visible wires on the front or top.
Admittedly, though, it's also enormous.
But if you want it to look better velcro would look best
I do not recommend my current method of just having the wires running about, they seem to like getting in knots just sitting there somehow.
Anything can be found funny, from a certain point of view.
I believe that AC adapters still draw some power even with no device hooked to it.
yes, they draw some. some devices like televisions can even draw an appreciable amount, like 20 watts.
Your average AC adapter has a transformer to step the voltage down to say 12-18V and then a rectifier to turn it into DC, and probably an inductor after that as a filter to smooth out the left over ripple.
When your AC adapter is plugged in with nothing plugged into the DC side, the transformer will still draw a bit of magnetizing current, but it is fuck all.
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformer#Equivalent_circuit
I think magnetizing current might be 1% tops, so for your 60W laptop power pack you are talking .6 watts.
Even adding up all your power packs you are talking tens of watts.
at $0.30 a for 1000 watts for an hour, those power packs being plugged in is costing you next to zero.
The mess is one thing, but don't worry about the power.
Don't make coils out of excess cable. Loops of cable act as an inductance. When you switch on a device which is connected via a long power cable in loops, the extra load from the inductance can be enough to blow the fuse of the circuit.
Cables go under the desk. Kids stay out of the office. Simple and effective
They occasionally post clutter-busting suggestions over at www.lifehacker.com. The original links from this one no longer seem to work, but I thought it was brilliant:
http://lifehacker.com/237789/diy-under+desk-gadget-mount
Basically, mount a peg board on hinged stand-offs with hasps to lock it in the 'up' position, and then mount all the small peripherals and cabling to the bottom of the desk. May not be completely child proof, depending on the size of your children and the extent of the cable fasteners you use.
I use those plastic cable ties loosely connected so that you can run new or additional cables through them. I secured the cable ties under the desk with small eye screws. Power wires are routed through one set of cable ties while my data cables (Serial, ethernet, USB & such) are routed through a second set. Nice, clean and easy to use.
You know those ties that most all cables come with already to keep them bundled up?
I never throw them away. Rather, I use them to keep each cable at its proper length.
Lots of cable clutter comes from having excess cable. Simply keeping the excess tied up neatly helps a lot.
If you don't know how much cable you'll need at first, just wrap the wire tie around the end of the cable.
It'll be there once you figure out how long you need.
The next idea is to actually route the cables to avoid weaving & tangling. Sure, it's easier just to plug in one end and then just throw the cable over everything and plug in the other end, but you'll save yourself time later if you actually think this out and run the cable over things that move less frequently and under things that move more frequently and generally along with other cables going to the same place.
When you have several cables going to the same place, and you're not likely to move them in a while, then you should also bundle them together, again using wire ties (or, if you prefer velcro ties, plastic cable ties, wire loom, shoelaces, etc.).
Something else that helps is cable hold downs attached to the furniture. You can get sticky-back plastic cable-tie anchors (or use one of the 3M products you find everywhere). Stick them behind & under furniture so that you can hold cables off the floor and near the appliances they are going to. Again, you can use wire ties to attach the bundles to the anchors. (Of course if you have wire rack furniture, you can tie bundles directly to the rack).
Cable management takes time & thought, but done well it looks nice and saves time later.
Power running through a wire creates a EM field. Run power and signal cables separïately.
Someone once told me of a car audio installer who kept running the cables in parallel next to each other. He kept wondering why every time he would rev the engine his speakers would make noise.
Cross power and signal cables at right angles and put some distance between them if you're running in parallel.
Besides that I find grouping the cables with electrical tape every couple of feet works well. Electrical tape has no electrical significance I just like using it.
Give up, and embrace the Electric Spaghetti.
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
What are you trying to accomplish? If you want neat and pretty, that needs one type of thing. If you are trying to organize the cables behind the computer, that needs another type of thing. If you are only trying to neaten the cables between computers, that needs another. You building a rack-room or want something professional? My only concern was getting in-between device cables off of the floor and above doors. Went to home depot, bought 1.5 inch PVC Pipe mounting clasps (used to hold pipes to walls), and suspended them 8 inches from the ceiling. Then ran the cables through the clasp. To manage power-cables behind desk, I strap-tied the power cables to the desk, leaving other ethernet/keyboard cables which will move around loose. If you want something to impress girls, don't think having neat cables counts. Most women that have seen the cables dangling from my walls are more than a little worried.... Keep meaning to string LED lights along them to make them look less disturbing.
Here's to losing my Karma Bonus again....
There is an easy place to get all of the declutter stuff you need. It's called Home Depot.
I agree; my house is cluttered with items I got at Home Depot!
Go to your local Home Depot (or whatever) and get some plant ties. Work every bit as good as velcro "Cable Ties" (maybe because they're the same thing) but they're dirt cheap because they're marketed for plants rather than computers. 50 feet or so runs about $4.
-- I prefer the term "karma escort."
Get a couple of these. Works great, is simple, can be quickly reconfigured, works with almost any desk that you can screw into the bottom of, and did I saw it works great?
Add some velcro ties to it if you have too much stuff otherwise all the individual hooks give you plenty of places to hang loops of cables.
1. http://cableorganizer.com/ This site is good for hours of fun.
2. Velcro cable ties are great.
3. Build your own custom-length Ethernet cables.
4. Label all your cables and transformers. See http://www.brother-usa.com/Ptouch/Ptouch_HandHeld/
Dave Barnes 9 breweries within walking distance of my house
During the remodel I ran cat-5e from the designated computer room to several other sites around that room and at least one run to every other room (including garage) in the house, plus satellite TV cable, an extra cat-5e loop for phones, and two 20A circuits (combinable for 240V) in each bedroom/potential office. (In hindsight the cat-5e should have been conduit, to future-proof by providing a path to pull whatever the next technologies turn out to be. Also: The DSL phone line might have done better in the single run of the thicker phone-company's cat-3(?) to reduce high-frequency attenuation.) That eliminates room-to-room stuff and one desk-to-desk ethernet line in the comp room / office but does nearly squat for the cable nest near the servers.
I got some plastic cable ways at Fry's. Couple inches square with snap-on cover.
I had already mounted shelf brackets on the wall behind the computer bench so I just mounted these under one row of their mounting screws and ran all the signal and low-volt power in the plastic cable ways, a few inches above the outlets. Looped the slack back-and-forth in the cable ways so the wires are all straight right-angle shot up or down the wall to the equipment. This cleaned things up a BUNCH.
Power is still going from the wall or plug strips directly to the equipment (which is mostly at one end except for the monitors). I also got some plug strips to mount below the cableway. Plan to run the power cords to that and bundle the slack with twist ties to avoid slop lying about.
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Put some eyehooks into the back edge of your desk, and hang carabiner clips from them. Run the wires through those. It's even easier to get the wires into and out of than velcro, and holds up well.
Ive found there is no real solution in a home environment for me. My office is too much of a lab to be able to contain the cable beast, and my desk configuration is in a constant state of flux. Working on others computers, working new components into the A/V rack, dragging old consoles out, all kinds of stuff. I COULD get a nice test bench/desk with cable routing etc., but its expensive and not really 'home-like'. Besides that it took me years to wire it up the way it is now, and EVERY TIME i introduce cable ties into the works, I have to later remove it. I have put a lot of thought into this over time and realized that any solution I came up with would have more drawbacks then I would like. ANy 'design' would be hard pressed to be cost-efficient, neat and flexible. Its a 'choose only two' type situation.
Good-bye
I put up one of those cubicle bookshelf, (like this one), that has a lid that comes down. I stuck a couple of Micro ATX machines, cables, and switch in it, and I'm done. Since they're low-power machines (one is a Via C3, the other is a low-power Athlon X2), I can run it closed up just fine.
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
Seriously a good idea. I got a bunch of these http://www.belkin.com/surgeprotection/concealed/
They are great, I have just one box on the floor under my desk, easy to sweep around, doesn't collect dust and looks tidy.
On the power side of things I'm a big fan of Belkin's Conceal Surge Protectors.
For everything else I use a mix of common (and cheap) cable management stuff.
The problem is that there are too many cables, right?
So you want N cables to become 1 cable?
Well, why not take a generic bus system?
But the connectors are mostly different?
So you either have to use devices who all have that generic bus connector, which is not realistic.
Or you find something that lets you combine all the cables into one bus, right at the device.
Unfortunately, I don't know of such a system. At least not one that could really combine most of the cables.
So my only suggestion left, is to use cable binders that you can open again, and bind everything down to one strand right at the device.
And create as little branches as possible.
Or invent such a generic bus system, and get all the vendors to actually use them, despite their desire for lock-in, and buy the new versions of all your devices. ;)
Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
To keep computer cables managed, I'd suggest you simply bundle them together, and where possible, get shorter cords or wrap them up. the monitor, box, and printer cables can generally be consolidated fairly easily, and that's just a start. You can also get away with bundling data-carrying cables with each other (yes, I know, RFI, but you'll get more RFI from power cables).
Three computers and their connecting cables: go with wifi internet where practical (G or N, you're not actually hosting anything, are you?) As far as the utility cables, I'd suggest cable bundling where practical (you wouldn't bundle that wired mouse, for example, but the keyboard? probably.)
Two cellphones? Phone charger plugs were standardized around USB not too long ago, and with those, you can ditch the wall plugin by getting a simple adapter cable. Even the USB-to-proprietary adaptors would clear up a bit of wall adapter mess.
Video and Photo cables should be bundled as well, and as for their proprietary chargers/cables, tuck them away neatly.
Printers are fairly easy to keep neat, especially if you have a print server. It's not hard to do. For that matter, external hard drives tend to be practical with a single fileserver, because it keeps the extraneous clutter managed, and it's consistent to access. For three computers, do you really need two NAS'es where one will do well?
The phone system should be fairly straightforward, but if you're looking for reducing cable clutter for an office workspace, I'd personally go the cell phone route.
Audio systems go two ways: wired, or wireless. I prefer very low lag in my sound, so I prefer wired, but that's my preference. Either way, you're talking about hiding either power cables or the audio wires to your speakers, and those aren't that hard to hide. Do keep them hidden, and not crossing any traffic though, no matter how much better it might sound with it placed a certain way.
Routers and switches are nice and all, but so is the ability to go wireless. Choose something that will get you the least interference and the best signal (I've been happy with my DD-WRT), and choose a good channel (avoid those overcrowded factory settings channels like the plague). Sure, you'd lose an expansion slot, but you'd also lose those cables, as well as the hazards those cables bring with them. Go with the N standard if you have interference issues where you are at, because so few people actually have wifi-N to interfere with you.
If you'd like to watch your power consumption, get one of those load meters. They'll help you figure out whether or not it's those idle bricks that are pulling more power, or that idle photo printer. The wireless router may pull a good draw though, I'm not sure.
In general, my own cable mess is tucked neatly out of the way. The things I use (like my cell charger) is accessible, on the desk, attached to my USB hub. My printer is easily turned off (and stays off for the most part), as is my monitor (max power saving is good).
You can tuck those power strips anywhere, including under furniture (properly insulation is a good idea). Power bricks are harder to hide, but they can be put with them (and hot bricks should -always- stay where they can at least maintain a good temperature). As such, I tend to avoid the cabinetry, since my laptop brick can get scalding hot sometimes, and tend to opt for the behind-the-cabinet approach, where if something does go wrong, I can take care of it. Forgotten surge strips are useless surge strips.
Use your intuition, and be safe!
There are no perfect answers, only the right questions. More questions at http://foresightandhindsight.blogspot.com/
Everyone keeps talking about cable ties, tape or Velcro but a better way to clean up is to move some devices around. There is zero reasons to have your printer sitting right beside your computer. Use one of your three computers as a print server and get your printer as far away from your main work area as possible. Run a long usb cable to a hub to a table or other far away point for all of your devices. External drives, cameras ect. The more you get away from the computer the cleaner the area is, then you go nuts with the cable ties to get what needs to be there.
Sell your kids, and then take the money and pay someone else to clean up your cables for you.
I've replaced 90% of my zip ties, mounting bases, velcro, etc. with Dinosaur Duct.
It's available in shorter seqments from Markertek.
Kirkland Signature
I recommend them for anyone who doesn't like loose wires. A tad pricey, but they last forever.
Awesome stuff, easy to cut, easy to install and a clean finish. Panduit
Imagination drew in bold strokes, instantly serving hopes and fears, while knowledge advanced by slow increments...
I work in IT over at Arizona State University and had to cable manage hundreds of computers. What we used was super Velcro which allowed us to connect switches, hubs, etc. to the underside of desks and then we used this spiral cable wrap to wrap all the cords together. It was the first time I had seen anything like it but it worked wonders. I don't know where you can get it the cheapest but this website carries it http://cableorganizer.com/richco-flame-retardant-wrap/ so check it out. Once the cables are bound (which can be undone relatively easily) you can then zip tie or Velcro them under a desk or against a wall. It keeps everything nice and tightly. I noticed in the store the other day a great option that may help in your desire to reduce power usage by AC adapters that are not currently plugged in to anything. It is a special surge protector that has two outlets that are âoeAlways onâ and then several others that are connected to the on off switch on the surge protector. This allows you to give certain components (i.e. routers, NAS boxes, etc) constant power while other components (i.e. AC adapters) can be turned on an off at the flick of a switch. You can even control the on off with a remote control which I thought was pretty cool, save on having to bend down underneath a desk just to turn on your power strip. You can check it out at http://catalog.belkin.com/conserve/features/ so that may help your endeavor as well. Good luck!
Do it the old school way.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_lacing
-- I have a private email server in my basement.
I hate cable clutter. I installed a piece of plywood to the underside of my classic writing desk. I then mounted two power strips to the plywood, directing the cable to an inconspicuous corner of the desk and directed them to a surge protector on the floor. All hard drives are fastened by straps to the plywood and the cables are directed on the plywood in orderly fashion on the plywood by velcro straps and cable guides (cheap plastic things I got at ACE hardware). Cables come out in a neat arrangement from one side of the desk and are distributed to a monitor and a detachable laptop which are mounted on stands which further hide the cables on the desktop. Materials about $75 (from ACE hardware) Time about 1.5 hrs
The best solution ever is to just get a bigger monitor and hang it all from the back of it. Really though if you have 3 computers on your desk it means none of them are fast enough with enough video to do what you need. Your desk should maybe have 2 systems, a workstation and a notebook. More than that and you are being a packrat. I do like the peg board under the desk idea, but my desk surface is glass. Then I like the eye-hooks with the carbineers, but the supports for the desk are wrought iron, I'd hate to drill holes through it. In the end the cleanest and most professional look is velcro straps and split loom tubing together. And limiting yourself to less hardware is a lot of effort on it's own, and in the end I still have surround speaker wires running around behind me, you can't get rid of all of the wires.
learn to love clutter. I used to be a neat freak, then I embrced my own messiness, and life is so much simpler now.
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
and safe (I have small kids) solution.
Well there goes all my ideas!
Back when my primary computer was a Mac mini I had no cables on the floor, not even power cables, and even now I have very few. My computer desk is a table, and mounted to the wall underneath is a shelf with cable modem, router and the larger wall warts. Mounted to the underside of the table are two power strips. In my Mac-only days all the cables were tied to the underside of the table or the back legs of the table. Even the power cables from the wall didn't touch the floor. It was wonderful to be able to stretch my legs and never touch anything.
Now I have a PC on the floor. Ugh. Most of the cables are still off the floor, though.
Im am very much a cable freedom enthusiast...let them be free, dont restrain them. I imho really like all the cables being around me...it gets me a tingling feeling ^^ Sometimes when i reach down to the depths of cables to get one i dont need very often i even get a small electro shock...still havnt figured out where it comes from.
Clutter will defeat Cable Management when they meet in the ring! Clutter was in this game long before Cable Management and Clutter will totally trounce Cable Management when they tangle this Sunday! That's just a new costume that Cable Management has and nothing more. Cable Management still has the same weak and wimpy skills that Clutter mopped all up and down the ring last time around! Clutter did it before and Clutter will do it AGAIN!!! OOH! Can you FEEL IT?!? Watch Clutter flex those biceps!
[signature]
Quit vacuuming and pretty soon all your cables will be nicely concealed.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Go to your local office supply store or Home Depot type store. Seriously.
They sell all kinds of cheap conduits, tubing, etc. that are used for that exact purpose in constructing business office spaces. Everything from free hanging conduit/tubing that you'd hide in false ceiling to nicely enameled or patterned stuff that you can attach to the wall/shelf and match the decor.
For most of my hardware like routers, switches, etc. I simply install some small shelving out of reach of children and pets. Power strips can almost always be mounted with screws in nice places out of reach.
The idea of consolidating on different power strips is a good one, I do it as well- that way I can just flip off most of the less used equipment to save on power... just be sure not to overload the strips' ratings if you chain them.
Cables can be easily controlled with velcro, any office store sells velcro loops with a sticky reverse side for mounting under things, twist ties are even cheaper (but be careful not to get them too tight or you could damage wires).
Ditch any wired devices you can, like mouse, keyboard, etc. in favor of IR, bluetooth, etc. Use wireless NIC instead of ethernet if it will support your usage patterns.
I've personally got my rat's next of wires down to power cables and monitor/tv cables, with a few small exceptions where I use a short ethernet patch cable. No need to buy a 50' cable if you're only hooking up to a device that's 3' away.
After umpteen failed attempts at cleaning cable messes at home and in conference rooms at work, I've decided the most important thing is to get everything possible up off the floor and hidden under tabletops. The equally important thing is to find a solution that allows changes without huge amounts of effort.
The solution that works best for me (couldn't be happier) is to hang a narrow wire shelf under the back of my desktop or conference room table, then use tie-wraps or velcro to attach all the ugly up and out of sight.
I'm talking about a rubberized wire grid like dish drying racks. Kinda like this rack at Amazon .
In the San Francisco bay area I buy 'em at Daiso (http://www.daiso-sangyo.co.jp/english/storeinfo/usa.html) very cheaply (under a couple bucks IIRC). (Daiso is also a fantastically cheap source for velcro cable wraps, split platic flex-tubing, etc. by the way. A real find.)
I hang them just using large cup hooks, oriented parallel to the tabletop but offset an inch or two to make wiring easy. Any sort of standoff would work - epoxy some cable-wraps if you can't use screws. The goal is to hang it where it isn't visible but isn't in the way of anyone sitting at the table/desk (knee-knockers aren't a valid solution). You also need to ensure that any knockouts, cable raceways, and access holes have easy access to the grid.
Once you've got the grid in place, just velcro or tie-wrap all your cables, outlet strips, small devices, etc. to intersections in the grid. You want to hide all the gathered-up cable slack in individual bunches tie-wrapped under the table (which is why you should attach an outlet strip or two to the grid itself). Adjust the cable-slack bundles so that you have just the right length for neatness but with enough slack to not be annoying if you need to move something slightly.
Try to gather like cables together, and then enclose them in as few "wire looms" as is reasonable (e.g. Monster Cable's slightly expensive product). If I've got, say, 5 USB devices attached to a hub that's on the grid under the table, I'll use a small diameter wire loom to keep all the cables together for most of the run, then split them out individually to each device (with just the right length extending for each one). Try to avoid running power cables in the same loom as signal cables.
This has proven to be far and away the tidiest, most flexible, and easiest cable management system to modify I've found for general cable management in human workspace areas (versus datacenters). It's very straightforward to change things when you add, change, or delete a device or three. Before this system I used to spend hours trying to route everything neatly only to be brought to tears a few weeks (or even hours) later when I want to make just one small change. The only thing that's a pain at all is removing a cable from a loom as required, but that's really not all that much of a headache either.
Most electrical supply companies produce cable ducting. If you've ever looked inside a control box for an industrial robot or other automation, you know what I'm talking about. Here's the version produced by ABB(though you can get it from almost anyone):
http://www.abb-control.com/pdf/catalog/LV001.pdf
It's available in a wide range of styles and sizes. At ~$17 for a 6' section, its inexpensive and easy to work with.
Apply to bottom of desk/desk legs/inside of entertainment cabinet/etc. with screws or 3M double stick tape. Keeps my work area toddler friendly and organized...
Comment removed based on user account deletion
PowerSquids, or decently priced Cable & Cord Organizers
As well there are things like the ChargePod bundle or Charge4All's solution. The much hyped powermat which has made the rounds at CES and other geeky tradeshows hasn't hit the consumer market yet.
Get a cable tray (or wire tray) from your local office store (I got mine at Office Max, but they had them at Office Depot, and electronics stores like Frys) - mount this either on the edge of your desk that would be facing a wall, or underneath the desk itself. Any extra wire, just run it back and forth in the cable tray. If you have a wooden desk, IKEA makes a wire manager called a SIGNUM - that makes this easier. I use braided sleeving to bundle wires from all my peripherals, so instead of having 4 or 5 cables running over the top of my desk, I have one that goes down the middle of the desk and then forks to all my peripherals. Using a hole saw and cutting a hole, then use a grommet to run your wires through is also a good alternative and doesn't require all your wires to run to the edge of your desk. There's lots of cool stuff on CableOrganizer.com but you can usually find a cable tray and some sleeving locally.
Simple solution, while still allowing you to retain some semblance of space utilization:
Put the surge bars under 5-sided boxes made of wood. Just the thinner plywood would do. Then drill holes in the boxes for the device-mating side and set the devices on top of the box while charging or in use (or to the side, depending on the device, etc. Cable manage all the cables under the box, and unplug the unused power strip(s).
There's also the "put everything on a shelf" option, which works well. Put your surge bars below the shelf, and cable tie all the cables (which hang behind the shelf) under the shelf. You can use the "plant hanger" hooks to hang cables if you don't want to attach them to make a quasi-rack-like cable management system with the assistance of some kitchen twist ties or string.
Since I'm changing things often, and my environment is more like a "lab" than a server room, I've got the most previous example employed for most of my stuff, except the surge bars sit on the wall above wherever the devices will sit, about 3' over the bench/table, with the slack in the device cables 'wound up'. I've got 4 surge bars: 1 for 'muck with stuff', 1 for 'devices that are always/usually on' (servers, main switch, workstation and other 'main' computers, modem, etc.), one for "workbench" stuff (which is over on the far side and slightly closer to the bench, so I can put extra things on the floor if need be), and one for miscelaneous things that are only plugged in on occasion that is under the initially mentioned 'box' for charging my camcorder, cell phone, digital camera, mobilepro, and so on.
~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
You have three different problems: your stereo, charging, and data transfer.
The stereo fix is to buy a stereo with a single daisy-chanable optical interconnect. It's probably too later to tell you that, though. I'm going to concentrate on the other issues, and leave the stereo as "a problem for the student" (but see the URL at the end).
If you can't go back in time and have better taste in connectors for the devices you buy in the first place, there are several companies that sell dongles with a proprietary connector on one end and a mini-USB connector on the other that plug into the device and stay plugged in. Some of these are just little things that look like rubber trim around the now-standard on the device, while others are full blown cases with extra batteries inside them. Here's one example for an iphone, which includes a lithium battery in the "case", and gives it a standard connector instead of Apple's proprietary "dock" connector:
http://www.case-mate.com/iPhone-3G-Cases/Case-Mate-iPhone-3G--3GS-Fuel-Battery-Extender-Case.asp
and then you plug everything you want to charge into the one or two mini-USB cables that you keep around for that.
For the keyboard and mouse clutter -- get bluetooth. This also works for syncing smaller amounts data from your mobile devices with your computer, when the intent of the cable is to transfer data, rather than charging the device. If you have to have higher speed, e.g. for the video, then make sure at least one of your cables that you keep around has the other end plugged into a computer rather than into a power adapter plugged into a wall/power strip.
For the ethernet cables, go WiFi. Your WiFi hot spot for the computer, the router, switches, and you NAS can go on a shelf in a closet. Who cares what the cables look like to someone standing on a ladder in your closet, at that point? I assume the modem is a cable modem? If so, it can go in the closet with the switches. There's enough supposedly 802.11n hardware around out there that you can expect a half a gigabit transfer speed if you get it all from one vendor.
For the separate power connectors on the monitor and the base unit: live with it, or get an all-in-one device like an iMac.
In the future, when you are thinking of buying a portable device, make sure it can use mini-USB for charging, to avoid adding any more cables.
PS: If the remaining (power only) cables still bother you after getting rid of the data cables and unnecessarily local equipment, buy some of these:
http://cableorganizer.com/richco/kurly-lock-adhesive-base.htm
and stick them to the bottom of your desk or wherever and put the cables through them.
-- Terry
While I was at the Home Depot media center the other day I noticed that they have some zip-tie sticky hubs (I do not remember their proper name). They are a piece of square plastic with 4 slots to put 2 zip-ties through at right angles to one another. On the back of this there is a piece of double sided sticky tape to mount it on the wall, etc. I would use these with either zip-ties or velcro strips to bundle stuff.
I don't understand why do you want to tidy and organise your geek 'den'? Would you rather prospective girlfriends found you a creative geek genius or a pedantic nerd that must cable-tie everything in the constant war against entropy?
Perhaps I don't have nerdy mpulses to make sure everything is organised but my geek 'den' is a complete mess and there is no real disadvantage to this. Mess is good, great infact, embrace it. The problems with a mess is only when you try to tidy it up. The only people who complain about a mess is people who dread the thought of tidying it up.
Personally I never consider tidying up.
To clarify the BirdsNest organisation method:
Everything is: Where I left it
Installation: Plug it in, forget it.
Removal. Unplug it. Leave cord where it is in birds nest.
No, thanks for asking, but I don't charge for my advice. Donations welcome however.
After logging in slashdot still does not take you back to the page you were on. It's been that way for 20 years.
In this age, when most electronic devices live on low voltage DC, why do we keep building them to plug into AC power, with all that lost energy and lost space taken up by bricks and other power supplies?
Instead, why haven't we standardized on some standard DC power plug, maybe with +5V and +12V, with some minimum power cleanliness? Houses and office buildings could be wired with that alongside AC, and people could buy power strips that plug into AC and provide many standard DC outlets (old houses would not have to be rewired). Then many devices wouldn't need power supplies at all, and others would need much more minimal power supplies that would just clean it up and maybe alter the voltage level to its own purposes. I know that DC doesn't travel well for long distances, so still only AC would come to the house/building, but I'd rather have one big, efficient brick in the basement, or one medium-sized, efficient brick in my office, than zillions of little inefficient bricks all over the place.
I guess we kind of have some standards like this, because you can buy 12V stuff for off-grid homes and there's the "cigarette lighter" adapter for cars, and another one for airplanes. But still most stuff we buy plugs into AC.
Imagine a world with no power bricks, and smaller, quieter PCs, tiny phone/camera chargers, etc.
Presumably because of economies of scale, the AC/standard DC adapters could be built to be smart enough to consume not much more power than they emit.
Why haven't we done this? Couldn't a relatively small coalition of big manufacturers do something like this to add value to their products and reduce their costs at the same time?
I admit to being an analog electronics moron so there must be something I'm missing.
Cables are a pain, but the real eyesore is cables going off in all different directions. Add the tripping hazard for your feet and accidentally unplugging something while you are working... or your kid does that while playing hide and seek under your desk... I have a simple solution: Zip Ties
That's right. Zip Ties.
Not velcro. Kids can undo velcro far too easily. Use zip ties to bundle your cables together every foot or so and secure them to table legs or what-not. Takes care of routing, tripping hazards and can even allow enough slack to remain on your desk for your mouse and keyboard. Extra lengths can be folded up and zip tied. Zip ties are cheap. A pair of dykes makes it really easy to remove them and redo.
As for all those power adapters sucking power when not in use, get a kill-o-watt meter and you'll find out what I did when I ganged up ten chargers on a large power-strip. Unused, they were sucking down two (2) watts total. Change ONE lightbulb to CFL and you've saved more power in a year than you will ever save over the life of all your current devices idle draw.
These opinions guaranteed or your money back.
To make your own life easier buck a 19"rack and use some extenders to put in your existing non-19-inch-stuff (DIY or buy). Actually I started buying non 19" stuff years ago. I have my patchpanel, 1000Mbit Switch, 1000Mbit Synology RS407 and all the other stuff in a nice rack from Kell systems very cool, quiet and sleek!! And cable management is very well organisable for these racks.
Anyone who suggests zipties should be shot, kicked, beaten, stabbed, sodomoized, then forced to install vista over ME on an Acer PC with a cyrix processor.
You can't tell what you're going to do with those cables in a year, or what cable will mysteriously go bad. Velcro straps > pretty much anything else.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
All the loaves of bread in my refrigerator are always half empty with the bag twisted and tucked under.
Those velcro tie thingies, you can get them for a couple bucks at any Office Depot. They're strong enough to hold huge wads of cables (like the ones from my 3 LCD monitors), yet easy enough to take off/change if you need to modify something.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Seriously. You can use a number of braiding, wrapping, or tying tricks to remove the clutter and make it aesthetically pleasing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binder_clip - Run a cable through the handles and clip exactly where you want it.
This all came about after several revisions of my home office workspace.
I started out with power strips way in the back. I was always plugging and unplugging stuff, often in the dark during a power failure as I tried to get my monitor back onto the UPS to shutdown... Or discovering (the hard way) that a paperclip had fallen onto the power strip I was blindly trying to plug into...
Well, I needed something better. Not prettier. Not expensive. Just better.
So I took a plastic shelving unit like:
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100010588&N=10000003+500474+10401001
There are several features of this "shelving unit":
(2 strips on each rectangle for UPS power, and 2 more for merely filtered power.) If you dig around, you can get cheap power strips for like $2-$3 a pop. Maybe less. They're all plugged into UPS-power or UPS-filtered-power, so going cheap is good.
(A couple of cheap nightlights (neon or electroluminescent) can be useful to verify power is on.)
As I look around my current office, I now have 3 such shelving units, with 6 of those plywood rectangles, for a total of 144 outlets. About 3/4 are filled, though a number of power strips are turned off.
Upshot is that you now have your computer/monitor/etc on the table, and plenty of shelf space up above for NAS, external drives, etc. And a means of keeping the cables tidy.
-Dave. (Being lazy, posting anon.)
PS: Need I mention: Get a labeler and label your cords. Labeler's are cheap. You'll thank me later...
Cost - zero
Flexible organization - priceless
Step 1. Get a Powered USB hub
Step 2. Weld it to a USB External CD-rom..
go with a 12V input on the hub it will make life simple.
Step 3 Go with a Bluetooth (or wireless) keyboard mouse and sound system.
Step 4. get a USB video card
Plug it into the usb jack on your monitor and into the vga cord, all neatly attached to the monitor.
well if you welded the cdrom-- why not the monitor.
plug the monitor into the USB hub. ok if all goes well you have 2 cables to your pc, 3 to the cd-rom beast. and 2 to the monitor.
and plug in a usb wireless adaptor to the monitor, or cd-rom.
Plus side is that you can hide the main box most of the time..
And you could post the project online for fame and lack of profit.
Storm
http://lifehacker.com/5299994/rain-gutters-as-cable-management-tools A simple, elegant, cheap solution - hang a couple rain gutters on the wall and just let the cables fall into them...
I cleared lots of clutter by replacing cables with ones that were as short as possible for everything. 1' ethernet, 1' computer power cord, 2' ethernet, etc. Monoprice seems to have a reasonable selectiong of differently sized cables.
For cellphone charger clutter, I put all the power bricks on a multi prong extension, stuck it all in a shoebox, and cut small holes for just the ends to stick out -- just laid the charging device on the top of the shoebox. Clean and simple.
Raceways might work in some places but they are a bit expensive. Here's something that works like raceway but is far less expensive. Use plastic rain gutters. The metal ones are likely to damage the cables so stay with plastic. This solution does not look very professional but it works for me.
That is something I read recently. It came from a reputable source, and it doesn't hurt anything, so why not. Tie three knots in the main source power cable to your UPS or main power filter to the PC.
I've heard that having some "Get well soon" cards help in this regard. Put them in strategic places in your house. Visitors will see them and think that the mess was because of some illness.
While I was learning electronics from my father, he went through a major learning experience. He built a project for his employer with neat bundles of wires tied every few inches, and neatly done so it looked very nice. Of course the system didn't work. The fact the wires were bundled in such close proximity caused crosstalk between wires. In order to fix the system, he cut the cable ties and ruffled the wires into a chaotic rats nest of wires. The system came right up and worked perfectly. As a Virgo, I like neat, and what I just described is distasteful, but this is a true story. For what it's worth.
It leaves no marks on surface, so one can reconfigure cables setup as often as needed.
Velcro. Panduit sells rolls of velcro that is double sided. Cut to length. wrap cables.
ZIP TIES ARE BAD. They have the potential to damage the wires in the cable. Do not use zip ties.
IMAGE VERIFICATION IS EVIL!
An ancient store by some people's standards but they do redeem themselves once in a while. This may be one of those times: http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=wire%20management&origkw=wire%20management&sr=1
The problem isn't the cables, it's the multitued of boxes and each box has I/O cables AND the AC power thingie. My latest version is plastic paper trays, the cheapest are for 8 1/2 x 11 but come in 81/2 x 14 and even 11x17. I got mine from Goodwill for $1 for 3 trays. I put the box and it's power thingie in each tray. The cables feed nicely out the back. The plastic trays stack nicely and don't affect the WiFi signal. I saw somewhere to use toiltet paper tubes to put cords in (the cables can come out one end or both ends). For the USB/Ethernet/audio/video cables I buy them in different lengths and colors.
There is nothing like velcro strips. I clean up everything with this stuff. You can even buy it on a roll.
if your super cheep you could get some of the plastic coils used in coil (spiral) binding. they come in many different diameters, colors, and available at the nearest copy/print shop. it takes a little while to twist them around the cables, but they work.
If you buy yourself a couple of industrial ducts (the "open slot" version) you end up with a sort of long box (they come in 2 and 3 meter lengths where I buy them). Take the lid off, run cables in and out at the places they need to go and put the lid back on - ready.
The nice thing is that it allows you to change your mind later, and they have a near eternal life.
Example: see RS Components online.
Insert
there was this instructable cable organiser http://www.instructables.com/id/The-IKEA-charging-box---no-more-cable-mess!-Very-e/ (a closed plastic box containing powersockets and had a few holes in it so you have a dust-proof container with just a few small adapter plugs coming out. The only problem i have with a solution like that is that you cannot individually switch te adapters on and off. But, if you build your own set of powersockets and add a powerswitch for every socket ( by british example ). you can save clutter and money (and heat for that matter) When i move i am planning to build a cabletree inside a PVC pipe (sewer / rainpipe)
My workstation has additional connections to two mixing desks with eight channels - and that's just the inputs. There is also my auratone, two vu meter sets, the subwoofer output apart from both screens, both monitor speakers have power cables. There is also the control surface.
I found that learning how to braid cables really neatened things up. Three way and four way braids really make the cables look nice and neat. For me I also got two four channel desk mounted usb hubs.
As much as possible all cables are hidden and my set-up looks very neat, but it's never enough. I have mounted power boards on the back and underside of my desk, which is a dial up height adjustable. I keep refining the set-up, finding new way to hide cables when things start looking messy to me again. screw on cable ties, cable organisers and velcro straps also keep things under control.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
awesome.
Get rid of the power strips which only serve to "turn off" cables with only one end attached. The energy you save is like spitting into the ocean to fill it back up. Oh, and some energy WILL be lost simply going through yet another power strip.
The only solution I have would be cable ties; at least the mess is organized... but only if you don't need to take the cable with you.
When building a desk, I take 1-1/2" PVC pipe (thick wall) and run it along a 3/8" straight router bit. I then screw it to underside of desk, with slot at the 10 o'clock orientation. Is easy way to hide cables but still have them available for moving around. Also, PVC can be scuffed with sandpaper and then painted or you can use that black plumbing pipe (heavier than PVC, more expensive).
I drank what? -- Socrates
Use a velcro product called rip wrap to tie your cables together.
http://cableorganizer.com/ripwrap/?src=froogle&CAWELAID=261927836
Organize the cables by termination, that is, bundle cables going to one device together and combine them with other cables going to nearby devices. Don't overlap the cables. Do power cables in a separate run as they can interfere with certain information carrying cables.
If the cables are different lengths, loop the cables in a spot that can be hidden. Make sure you keep enough slack so you can pull the device out to access the cable terminations.
Found this, looks interesting for the DIY type.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-your-own-remote-power-switches/
Synergy II on sourceforge.net can eliminate the need for more than one keyboard and mouse. And if you use a wireless keyboard and mouse you just got rid of 5 un-needed wires
'Nuff said
I call bullshit. You really should do your homework before you make pronouncements like this.
The estimate of PG&E is that these wall warts comprise six to eight percent of the average household electricity consumption.
Unlike you, I'm not yanking this out of my ass; I actually spoke to a CPUC guy who e-mailed me a copy of the information he had on file from PG&E. Does even six percent sound "negligible" to you? That six percent might even be an unreasonably low estimate for hardcore geeks. This is precisely why unnecessary wall wart proliferation is such a huge problem: they don't just cause clutter and waste space, combined they also waste a LOT of electricity.
We use this in the control panels we build...so I just screwed on a bunch of it across the side of my desk and across the side-table extension. I then attached two four-foot power strips directly below.
Works great!
Lifehacker.com has a bunch of great ideas for cable management: http://lifehacker.com/364054/top-10-ways-to-get-cables-under-control
There are 97 articles at lifehacker that talk about cable management. Surely one of them would have what you need.
http://lifehacker.com/search/Cable%20management/
VELCRO VELCRO VELCRO oh yeah and power sockets with on/off switches Its the way forward ,, you know its a good idea !
I use twist ties. They are nearly free because they come on loafs of bread, any new products with power cords usually have them too, etc. They keep all the cables together, and you can make nice spools of unused lengths of cables and use a twist tie to hold them. I think the best part is that they are so easy to remove.
Shrink wrap power together Shrink wrap data together terminate ends at correct lengths. Result your own home office snake made just for you.
Unlike you, I'm not yanking this out of my ass; I actually spoke to a CPUC guy who e-mailed me a copy of the information he had on file from PG&E.
...and if they are in fact using active wall warts in their calculation of this statistic then it's really not very useful information. After all, when considering power consumption what is the difference between a wall wart plugged into an operating device and a device with a built in power supply? Take your PC for example, after the power supply itself, absolutely nothing inside of it uses line power--so how is that different from a wall wart device?
I've heard this claim before, however I haven't seen any evidence to back it up--I'm not necessarily disputing it, I just want to see the write up myself.
I think the distinction comes to a wall wart that is plugged into a device and wall wart that is not plugged into a device.
I assume if this PG&E claim is true then it is probably a matter of them spinning reality to make an interesting press release, and I would guess that what PG&E did to come up with their 6-8% estimate due to wall warts is count the usage for *all* wall wart's including those that have actual operating devices connected to them at the time of measurement. I would fully believe the 6-8% statistic in that case.
Wall warts that are plugged in to line power, but do not have a device connected--i.e. cell phone charger not plugged into cell phone--do not draw very much power, certainly not 6-8% of the average household's use. For about $24.95 you can buy a Kill-A-Watt device and see this for yourself.
Not all AC adapters draw power when not being used. My cell phone adapters do not despite what those commercials say.
Get a kill a watt and find out for yourself.
It probably didn't make that distinction; I skimmed the PDF file and saw mention of no-load states in it, though. It also estimated the average CA home had 5-10 of them (in 2004), but I have over twice the higher amount... is that because I'm a geek? One of the biggest problems with them, which should be old history by now, is that "linear" ones convert far more of the power drawn into waste heat than "switching" types; the switching ones are also much smaller than linear ones. Anyway, here is the email reply I got as a followup to the phone conversation; I can't attach the case study PDF for obvious reasons:
The study was done *by* PG&E, but it was done *for* the CPUC. The regulations he mentions have been intended to take some of the sting out of these critters, both when they're actually being used (and making heat) and when inactive. Back in the Nineties I had seen an article that used a figure of 8%, so perhaps these regulations are actually making a small difference. As Ken had said when I talked to him, the CPUC, at least, is far from done regulating them.
I'm not sure if you are trolling or just bad at sensing truth. But next time you doubt my statement, touch your power brick after it's been detached from it's device for a while. Is it warm? If it's really consuming a non-trivial amount of power, how is the energy being dissipated?
Did this 'CPUC guy' tell you how many of these wall warts were ALSO plugged into devices that are on stand-by when he came up with this statistic?
As for my homework, I did it previously when doing a cost analysis on power strips vs adapter inefficiency.
tOM
Epitaph: At last! Root access!
I wrote a longer-winded answer a moment ago and then lost it, but the short reply is that you didn't do your homework as well as you think you did. I do indeed have warts that stay warm with no load. Perhaps yours are all so new they're all of the switching type. Not many of mine are yet. The brick for my Dell laptop will nearly fry an egg regardless whether the battery is fully charged or not, even though it probably is a switching type.
By the way, lots of posters here have recommended using Velcro. What you get from most computer supply stores are ridiculously expensive, $1/strip, and they tend to be ridiculously thick. A roll of 50 thin strips costs about $5 at Home Depot, in a pair of rools, one black, one gray.
I bought a decorative storage box from IKEA. It stores about 3 1/2 cubic feet of cabling, including A/C D/C converters, a cable modem with corresponding cables, ad splitters, some network cabling. A mac mini may be mini, but it's cabling sure isn't. (OK and a monitor, keyboard, time capsule, external 250 MB drive, external 1TB drive, eyeTV converter, etc)
Wenn Fliegen hinter Fliegen fliegen, fliegen Fliegen Fliegen nach.
8')
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
LIke if you happened to use an extension cord roller w/ multiple cords plugged in powering a few machines at a lan party...
YOU WILL have smoking wire.
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
I hope we're all geeky enough here to know the definition of an "electric heater," and that basic electrical safety goes without saying.
Kid-proof tablet..
I've had space constraints for some time. I found that nearly all the under-shelving, bookcase-sides, and under-desk flat spaces were virtually clutter-free. So I went to local bigbox store and got a 6' x 3" strip of adhesive backed velcro [walmart in the arts & crafts section]. I put about 2" - 4" velcro strips [larger pieces on heavier items] on things like power strips, batt backups, USB multi-port, router, cable modem, surge protectors, and external backup-in-a-box, etc, etc, etc and stuck them under desk surfaces, under book shelves and on bookcase sides. The cables are still everywhere connecting the various now mounted-out-of-the-way gizmos, but they will soon join the velcro'd gang's relative locations.