This is a project I had planned for a while, but finally have the time and cash to finally start it. Basically its going to be a 50 cal ammo crate with 4x8 port Gigabit switches and a router built in. 10 Seconds out of the box and warranty already voided, apparently I bought out Newegg's stock of them, because the 4th one is arriving tomorrow. Switches removed from case and the ammo crate in the background, there were a few stickers on the case, I'm currently removing them with some Goo Gone. Checking the clearance with the standoffs installed, I still need to desolder the power jacks and wire them all up to a single power supply. I'm going to wait for the 4th switch to arrive before starting that. Just checking how it looks in the case so far, everything will be mounted to an acrylic cage that will be able to slide in and out of the case as needed. Another shot of the standoffs with the switches in action. I have been messing around with the idea of using keystone ethernet jacks to tidy up the layout and hide the cables connecting the switch to the main ddwrt router. along with moving the leds and using some nice looking metal led holders for them.
Obviously you will need to link the modem and routers via short utp cables. Could look neater if you could plan a way to do this internally? and the same for the power on the routers. Maybe remove the jacks and solder wires in there place. [EDIT: ignore that!] Good idea though
i say make put everything internal the use extenders to make a custom faceplate for all of the ports it would look alot neater that way you could also wire up all of the wall worts inside as well you have plenty of space so a crazy idea popped into my head WC those chipsets use the fan hole that you are planning and make it a closed loop with no res.
HAHA! Yes watercooling would be epic. I had originally planned on shot ethernet cables, but using extenders like that would definitely look cleaner, I will have to look into that.
I'm going to desolder all the power jacks off the boards and get a higher amperage power supply and run everything off one. It would definitely be way too messy using multiple.
Just a quick update, the 4th switch came, so i decided to test fit them on the acrylic mounting tray I made. Switch 1 mounted All 4 on now I had originally planned on installing it facing this way then running cables directly to the ports on the faceplate. I'm throwing around the idea of just having the leds visible with the switch facing this way, that way it will hide the ethernet cables running to each jack.
Great idea, What about putting a raspberry pi inside it too? Then you can also have a desktop wherever you take it, or for a small server.
I would love some measurements/parts list for this, I've got an ammo tin being used as a toolbox atm and this would be epic.
another suggestion. If you do go the custom front panel routew then I would suggest plugging each of the switches into a different lan port on the router, so that you can setup vlans to segregate the network if needed (so you could have an admin LAN, console LAN and a PC lan etc).
this looks pretty cool. i agree with the suggestion for a raspi in there, offering some basic services that aren't covered by your router, maybe even add a HD to provide a central location for file sharing at a lan party? just spitballing, but you could try some kind of accessible disk caddy under the hood? it looks like you've plenty of space to play with.
Go internal otherwise you'll need 4 external jumper cables to connect the switches and router together. Get one of these; you can actually take the individual 6 port modules off the rackmount. It will be a mess of wires inside, but harmony on the outside.
Considering how hot my D-Link & Alcatel switches get during LAN parties I think you might want to increase airflow or direct it across your switches.
