The Server cupboard

[Labarum]

Over the past two years I have been refurbishing a bungalow in Nicosia. Here are some pics.

The lounge. TV, Squeezebox Classic and MB Quart 980s visible. That's all.

The Ikea Box

The server cupboard in the hall

The inside of the cupboard

In a temperate climate I would probably have just bolted a small format HTPC to the back of the TV, but here the temerature will top 45C and some pretty furious fans will be needed.

It's not hot yet so I have one of the three 120mm 12v fans running on 3v and that is enough with the old laptop sitting on a laptop cooler. When the old laptop gives up I will reconsider, but it runs the Squeezebox Server and BBC iPlayer and drives the TV next door through a 10m HDMI cable. The Squeezebox is also cabled, but works as well wirelessly.

I may need extra holes and a couple of fans in the Ikea box to cool the power amp. We'll see.

The old phone is just a bit of fun, but it does work and the loud bell is useful. The real work is done by a pair of cordless hybrid DECT/VOIP phones.

 

[Dev]

Neat!

 

[RobHolt]

Nice Brian.
Dont often see a 520.

 

[rsand]

Looks neat, well done. I'm into stealth installs too.

 

[Labarum]

Looks neat, well done. I'm into stealth installs too.

The Ikea bookcase offers quite a lot of space to cover all future options. It is seriously modified and fixed very firmly to the wall. The skirting board was removed to make that possible. The consumer unit is behind the board above the cabinet - lots of consumer unit as we have a three phase supply to power the air-conditioning. I still have some finishing to do.

The two 120mm fans push from the side, and one pulls out through the top. Below and to the right of that fan is a cheap multi-voltage power supply - at present it is set to 3v. Between the two side fans is a six gang domestic light switch - again, very cheap - which acts as a low voltage distribution box. I can turn fans on and off individually. At the moment I have only the top pulling fan working at 3v and the laptop cooler running at its nominal 5v, and that is plenty. Daytime temperatures rise to about 26C at present - by July we will be hitting 45C. When the laptop cooler fails I will make my own with some spare 80mm fans I have.

If the laptop fails I have many options. I could run a motherboard naked in that cupboard.

The primary router is in the cupboard, but under the stairs at the rear of the house there is a second wireless router wired to the first and configured as a range extender. Wired to it are a Squeezebox Boom and the wireless base unit for the hybrid DECT/VOIP phones. That range extender and the phone base unit blast right down the garden to the palm trees at the bottom.

In the lower section of the cupboard I will line up all the charging adaptors and cradles I have for various devices - that will stop them littering the house. The top shelf of the lower section accommodates a scanner. The rest of the cabinet is for a collection of telephone directories and stationary. There is a second matching bookcase on the other side of the room for some books and the domestic filing system.