Computer equipment cabinet

Materials: AKURUM Wall Cabinet, Door, Hinges, and shelves. small fan, computer fan dust cover, cable protector and L brackets.

Description: I needed a place to store all my computer network equipment in one location as all the items, cables, and equipment have taken over my mechanical room.

I looked at other commercial options and the starting price was over $150.00 for a computer rack. I decided that I could pick up a basic wall cabinet and cut holes for the wiring, add a small fan and then mount everything in the cabinet out of sight.

I picked up an AKURUM 21 x 30 wall cabinet, hinges, door, and 2 sets of shelves, and a roll of cable loom from Ikea. I picked up a small fan, fan cover, and L brackets to finish out the hardware.

All of the telephone, video, and computer network cables are run in two holes created in the top of the cabinet with a 2″ hole saw. Each of the shelves has 2 “U” shaped holes cut out in the rear to allow for cables to be run and also for ventilation.

On the bottom of the cabinet is one hold for the power cord and the fan is mounted over a 2″ hole on the right side with the fan cover screwed to the outside of the cabinet. All of the outlets in my home are wired with the TIA-56A standard so I can connect either a telephone or computer to any of the jacks and just run a patch cord from the patch panel that is mounted under one of the shelves using the L Brackets. In the future, all I need to purchase is a Telephone Module that I will mount in the cabinet and connect to telephone Network Interface Box.

All of the video cables from the home are run into the bottom of the cabinet and can be either of the feeds from my Dish Network receiver.

Currently I have a WD My Book, Linksys N2slu (connects WD book to my home network), Linksys Cable Modem, Linksys Wireless Router, Linksys wireless router and 4 port switch, Wired network Switch, Wired Network Patch Panel, and fan.

One of the nice parts of this project is the noise from the equipment is cut down and also dust is kept out of the cabinet with the dust cover that is placed over the fan.

~ Ryan Kelzenberg