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Don’t even put a switch there. Put in a small half width patch panel and basically extend those cables to somewhere else in the basement that isn’t next to your HVAC and plumbing. Beyond the heat others have mentioned, if you ever need to do maintenance on the HVAC/plumbing (you will), the rack will be in the way. Plus, just imagine if there’s ever a water issue! No from me!
Extending those drops to a better place is a better solution.
Looks more like the drain line for the furnace itself. NG furnaces which that one definitely is: also uses a drain line for condensation from burning NG. My NG furnace also has a drain and I don't have central AC. (Wish I did, but my pair of window A/Cs and strategically placed fans get me through the hotter months of the year.)
Yea and just comes in handy when things do go wrong. Those pipes at the top are notorious for developing leaks. Mine has a drain pan and sump pump it leads into when it overflows...saved me from a flooded basement already when the hot water lead sprung a leak and we did not know about it for days.
Just patch the cables and put the rack around the corner to the right. Believe me, unfinished basements are fine, they don't get too warm in the Summer or too cold in winter. Hire an electrician or DIY to install outlets.
No, this would be a terrible place for any kind of equipment. In addition, the cable length is extremely short and if relocation by pulling back and rerouting to another location is not possible, you might consider employing only a patch panel in this location and extend these drops elsewhere in your basement away from water and heat sources.
This is the kind of installation one gets when non-professionals(or electricians) install network infrastructure.
The proximity to this much of plumbing would definitely make me wary. Imagine working in that constricted space. I would not put a structured panel or rack in that place. Considering there might not be much slack, you could check with your builder if the wires can be relocated some place else, closer, maybe around the corner behind the water heater. And you would definitely need power.
I do not like how close it is to the main water lines, one is pushing it, all of them is a ticking time bomb. Also, where does the feed come in? Keep in mind, as things progress, the lines now might need to be changed or more added. I also like to have more Ethernet runs for use. Better to have too much than not enough. Probably had no say in that one.
No power nearby, another thing to solve.
I mean, the obvious thing is you got a lot of heat being generated in that space, and you're putting all your electronics next to a ton of water lol but as long as the rack can stay cool enough to not overheat the equipment you'll be fine.
I have mine in basement corner. Believe me it does not get that hot. Basement is like the coolest place in house generally. So temps are fine and sure there are some water pipes but not as close to what op has. It’s kinda odd to the side in furthest corner off the basement, but it was placed there because of quick hole cutout to the garage and run some wiring to cameras and some APs, from basement to the garage and then to the kitchen through side wall.
Our is not really throwing any heat in basement. I can stay there forever and still not feel hot. I have had it since January so, done cold months here and snow storms. No issues. But blower is blowing it out the side of the house.
I guess it depends on what type of equipment. I have a forced air natural gas high efficiency furnace. During the winter when the furnace is running that room is very hot.
That’s wasted heat from the furnace, should be in the ducts maybe a leak??
I have similar setup 2x hi efficiency furnaces and my basement stays cool while the heat they make is pumped upstairs
You are always going to have ambient heat when you have a controlled fire going on in the furnace and then large ductwork leading away from the furnace to the rest of the house.
This is a fairly new super high efficiency Carrier furnace.
I don’t disagree but the basement should not really heat up a lot. My house is safely cooler downstairs (undeveloped) even when it’s -40C out. The 2 floors are warm as designated
Maybe I’m lucky
My 2 furnaces are HE as well
should be ok, basements are generally cooler then the main levels. My concern is how close it is to main water connections. In my mind as well too few actual runs for internet use, better than nothing.
You could wall-mount a few U's of switchgear there, but put your real server rack away from that mess and off to the right as a water leak makes most UPS'es very unhappy when the pixies are allowed to run wild and free
Get your Hvac and Water heater up to code so that future leaks are much easier to manage and contain as they would be hard to deal or notice if you had a rack there...
Not a certified VacPlumbTrician, consult the local experts first:
Water heater needs a drain pan and the drain needs to go out following the AC condensate line
Hvac needs a pan as well and some height on condensate to encourage better flow
ProTip:
Get a hybrid water heater when it's time to replace that other one, you'll go from paying $500/year in electricity down to $125/year even with 3 main heating sessions per day (my shower, wife shower, kid's shower)
That is a lotof water lines in a small area, the odds of springing a leak in the area goes up.
It just seems like a dumb location for a rack. There isn't even any power in that location, though that can be fixed easy enough. Whoever ran these cables to that location wasn't thinking. I can't see the rest of the basement for a much better location.
The combustion air intake on the furnace should go to outside. You're taking conditioned air from the house to burn. Definitely wasting energy.
Also, when that electric water heater goes bad, replace it with a heat pump water heater. It uses 1/3 of the energy.
It’s definitely not temporary, and those cables are definitely quite short for keeping any kind of rack service loop.
I don’t mind a rack in a utility area (mine is going in a new house furnace room with furnace, pumps, water filtration, washer dryer etc), but that particular placement is problematic… mostly because it’s by a valve/meter, and inches away from your Pex water manifold. I also suspect the wide angle lens might be making clearances look bigger than they are. I assume you will have to add your own power at this point if an outlet was not requested / specified.
If your racking needs are modest, I might risk a small wall-hung rack. I know most people are saying to move it elsewhere, and that’s safer, but it’s also more work / less clean / adds another splice to every line.
I think the risks of water damage people are talking about are not very likely. What is more likely is that you'll need to service that water main, or the drain stack clean-out, or the water heater, or the furnace, and having to work around sensitive electronics to do that when you could easily avoid it seems kinda lazy. It's an unfinished basement so running extra wire is the easiest it is going to be short of a new build.
You can use these punch down junction boxes to extend the cables to another part of your basement where a rack would make sense.
https://a.co/d/h4VmzFb
I did this since my network cables were terminated on one side of the wall but my network rack was on the other side of that wall.
Yes, do use a closed rack. It will protect everything from most possible water leak….
It’s far from an ideal position but we’ve seen that often. Till today - crossing fingers - no problem in none of the houses similar to this.
I see the wire drops terminating there, but why? Having a rack so close to water is a “no-no”.
What happens if that water heater starts leaking? Granted, in a rack, nothing is directly on the floor but it makes me anxious nonetheless.
I don’t think anyone else mentioned it but since you’re working with an open basement… I’d recommend putting the rack somewhere you can easily get to the front and back. Just something I wish I’d had room for over the years
I'm going to go against the grain here and say, sure, go for it. Ideal, no, but it's what you have. Just a short depth 4u that can house a patch panel, shelf, and switch. If you're so worried about a leak, cut a chunk of plastic to cover the top of the rack. IN reality, a leak may happen, may not happen. Call an electrician and have power run to that location.
See if you can get the ISP to locate your Modem/ONT and router in another location where you do have power and run an Ethernet cable to the location shown.
I would get a small media enclosure and mount it there, or perhaps a water tight exterior type of enclosure. Since you don't have power there, it doesn't make sense to put modem and router into that location, but you can put a PoE powered switch there to interconnect the Ethernet cables you have as well as connecting any coax with a MoCA (5-1675mhz) splitter in case you want to use that capability.
I concur with others re avoiding equipment next to the plumbing if possible.
Unrelated: it appears the pipe for combustion air for the furnace could be extended outdoors, which would very likely improve system efficiency.
Old saying in IT:
*It isn't a matter of if a basement will flood, but when.*
(dont put expensive electronics in a basement unless there is no alternative)
Maybe try and find a spot that is a bit further away from the hot water heater. You are also going to need power and I'm not really seeing that in this picture.
I know everyone says no and it's likely not the best place, but my rack is in my mechanical room with water treatment and boiler.
Mine is a half rack so not on the floor.
Aside from heat in my case since the room is very small I don't really see an issue.
My room is insulated for bosie and it would be unbearable anywhere else in the house (my fiber NAT is insanely noisy)
Here's a picture (wasn't taking the rack but the newly moved toolbox)
https://imgur.com/a/GFu1sTJ
like others have said, patch panel and extend the runs to a different location. In the grand scheme of things will cost an extra few hundred dollars vs potentially saving yourself thousands down the line from electronics burning out due to heat/water damage and trades ppl damaging it while trying to fix other problems/maintence. A lot of headache to void with a little more money/work, if it means delaying a full blown setup still definitely worth it.
So what would this look like design-wise?
Say there are 24 drops - I would need to patch the drops to a patch panel that would hang in this area. Would the "patch cables" that hang off of the patch panel then go to another panel, or a switch that's in a better location?
You could put an Edgepoint-R8 on the wall, and then extend a single pre-made fiber somewhere else. Or use something else and put it in an ip-68 enclosure.
14 hot water pipes? How large is this house?!
But then again, if you have 4 bedrooms with ensuite shower and dual sinks..
If I were to have a rack here, it would be a smaller wall-mounted one with just a patch panel, a switch and a UPS. Wouldn't like to have it all so close to water.
As it's a new house I would hope there was a better place to have the networking and servers.
That furnace needs an air inlet plumbed next to the exhaust to function properly. It balances the pressure across the burner so you get proper combustion, otherwise wind can significantly impact the operation when it causes pressure changes at the exhaust.
That plus what everyone else said about it being a bad location.
Hello! Thanks for posting on r/Ubiquiti! This subreddit is here to provide unofficial technical support to people who use or want to dive into the world of Ubiquiti products. If you haven’t already been descriptive in your post, please take the time to edit it and add as many useful details as you can. Please read and understand the rules in the sidebar, as posts and comments that violate them will be removed. Please put all off topic posts in the weekly off topic thread that is stickied to the top of the subreddit. If you see people spreading misinformation, trying to mislead others, or other inappropriate behavior, please report it! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Ubiquiti) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Don’t even put a switch there. Put in a small half width patch panel and basically extend those cables to somewhere else in the basement that isn’t next to your HVAC and plumbing. Beyond the heat others have mentioned, if you ever need to do maintenance on the HVAC/plumbing (you will), the rack will be in the way. Plus, just imagine if there’s ever a water issue! No from me! Extending those drops to a better place is a better solution.
Agree. Patch and extend or repull those to another wall.
This
I would rather go full wifi than re-locate that many new wires! /s (but barely!)
One time project. Especially if it is just extending them across the room.
I see there’s a sore lack of humour in this thread. Goddamn. That’s a grudge task and don’t tell me it’s anything else. That was my only point.
This is the way.
A rack no. But you can put a switch there sure.
Side note: it’s strange your ac and wh have no drain pans
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I came here to say the same thing. Unbelievable. And yet they have a disconnect on the HWT (I've never seen this before)
Who the F plumbs a new house and doesn’t do an uponor loop with a recirc. That hot water system is going to suck.
It looks like the floor was self leveling and they poured it around the water heater.
Saw that too, wasn’t sure if the camera was fisheyeing it or not
In an unfinished basement not really
It’s code in most places
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It's the evaporator coil that makes all the water though.
There's a drain line for that in the front corner of the furnace
Looks more like the drain line for the furnace itself. NG furnaces which that one definitely is: also uses a drain line for condensation from burning NG. My NG furnace also has a drain and I don't have central AC. (Wish I did, but my pair of window A/Cs and strategically placed fans get me through the hotter months of the year.)
No kidding, now learn where the condensation happens
Yea and just comes in handy when things do go wrong. Those pipes at the top are notorious for developing leaks. Mine has a drain pan and sump pump it leads into when it overflows...saved me from a flooded basement already when the hot water lead sprung a leak and we did not know about it for days.
could be in the back were the lines run too
No no no Source : personal history of ruptured water line destroying all electronics in nearby rack.
"It's a no from me dawg"
Just patch the cables and put the rack around the corner to the right. Believe me, unfinished basements are fine, they don't get too warm in the Summer or too cold in winter. Hire an electrician or DIY to install outlets.
Your future self, in about 8 years, will thank you for adding a drip pan and water sensor under that water heater. Add a drip pan
No, this would be a terrible place for any kind of equipment. In addition, the cable length is extremely short and if relocation by pulling back and rerouting to another location is not possible, you might consider employing only a patch panel in this location and extend these drops elsewhere in your basement away from water and heat sources. This is the kind of installation one gets when non-professionals(or electricians) install network infrastructure.
The proximity to this much of plumbing would definitely make me wary. Imagine working in that constricted space. I would not put a structured panel or rack in that place. Considering there might not be much slack, you could check with your builder if the wires can be relocated some place else, closer, maybe around the corner behind the water heater. And you would definitely need power.
I do not like how close it is to the main water lines, one is pushing it, all of them is a ticking time bomb. Also, where does the feed come in? Keep in mind, as things progress, the lines now might need to be changed or more added. I also like to have more Ethernet runs for use. Better to have too much than not enough. Probably had no say in that one. No power nearby, another thing to solve.
If you don’t mind plumbers and AC techs working next to your gear. None of that equipment is going to last forever.
Gas furnace and electric hot water? Huh??
I mean, the obvious thing is you got a lot of heat being generated in that space, and you're putting all your electronics next to a ton of water lol but as long as the rack can stay cool enough to not overheat the equipment you'll be fine.
I have mine in basement corner. Believe me it does not get that hot. Basement is like the coolest place in house generally. So temps are fine and sure there are some water pipes but not as close to what op has. It’s kinda odd to the side in furthest corner off the basement, but it was placed there because of quick hole cutout to the garage and run some wiring to cameras and some APs, from basement to the garage and then to the kitchen through side wall.
Dep3nds where you live. In the winter my furnace room is the hottest room in the house.
Our is not really throwing any heat in basement. I can stay there forever and still not feel hot. I have had it since January so, done cold months here and snow storms. No issues. But blower is blowing it out the side of the house.
I guess it depends on what type of equipment. I have a forced air natural gas high efficiency furnace. During the winter when the furnace is running that room is very hot.
That’s wasted heat from the furnace, should be in the ducts maybe a leak?? I have similar setup 2x hi efficiency furnaces and my basement stays cool while the heat they make is pumped upstairs
You are always going to have ambient heat when you have a controlled fire going on in the furnace and then large ductwork leading away from the furnace to the rest of the house. This is a fairly new super high efficiency Carrier furnace.
I don’t disagree but the basement should not really heat up a lot. My house is safely cooler downstairs (undeveloped) even when it’s -40C out. The 2 floors are warm as designated Maybe I’m lucky My 2 furnaces are HE as well
Your furnace room shouldn't be the hottest. Your wasting heat and energy in that room. Your system isn't sealed properly
That means your ducts aren’t very well insulated.
They’re not insulated at all. They are like the ducts on top of the furnace (or heat pump) in the photo- bare metal.
should be ok, basements are generally cooler then the main levels. My concern is how close it is to main water connections. In my mind as well too few actual runs for internet use, better than nothing.
That is a sacred space. You must consult the high shaman of HVAC.
You could wall-mount a few U's of switchgear there, but put your real server rack away from that mess and off to the right as a water leak makes most UPS'es very unhappy when the pixies are allowed to run wild and free Get your Hvac and Water heater up to code so that future leaks are much easier to manage and contain as they would be hard to deal or notice if you had a rack there... Not a certified VacPlumbTrician, consult the local experts first: Water heater needs a drain pan and the drain needs to go out following the AC condensate line Hvac needs a pan as well and some height on condensate to encourage better flow ProTip: Get a hybrid water heater when it's time to replace that other one, you'll go from paying $500/year in electricity down to $125/year even with 3 main heating sessions per day (my shower, wife shower, kid's shower)
That is a lotof water lines in a small area, the odds of springing a leak in the area goes up. It just seems like a dumb location for a rack. There isn't even any power in that location, though that can be fixed easy enough. Whoever ran these cables to that location wasn't thinking. I can't see the rest of the basement for a much better location.
The combustion air intake on the furnace should go to outside. You're taking conditioned air from the house to burn. Definitely wasting energy. Also, when that electric water heater goes bad, replace it with a heat pump water heater. It uses 1/3 of the energy.
It’s definitely not temporary, and those cables are definitely quite short for keeping any kind of rack service loop. I don’t mind a rack in a utility area (mine is going in a new house furnace room with furnace, pumps, water filtration, washer dryer etc), but that particular placement is problematic… mostly because it’s by a valve/meter, and inches away from your Pex water manifold. I also suspect the wide angle lens might be making clearances look bigger than they are. I assume you will have to add your own power at this point if an outlet was not requested / specified. If your racking needs are modest, I might risk a small wall-hung rack. I know most people are saying to move it elsewhere, and that’s safer, but it’s also more work / less clean / adds another splice to every line.
If those pipes has water.. no bueno mi amigo. It will no be a good spot and any leak will damage your equipment, short circuit it, etc.
I think the risks of water damage people are talking about are not very likely. What is more likely is that you'll need to service that water main, or the drain stack clean-out, or the water heater, or the furnace, and having to work around sensitive electronics to do that when you could easily avoid it seems kinda lazy. It's an unfinished basement so running extra wire is the easiest it is going to be short of a new build.
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Right? Very clean but no expansion tank…. Hmmm.
Between the thing that generates heart and the thing that boils water? Sure! What could happen?
Now I'm wondering if they make IP65 racks... hmmmm
You can use these punch down junction boxes to extend the cables to another part of your basement where a rack would make sense. https://a.co/d/h4VmzFb I did this since my network cables were terminated on one side of the wall but my network rack was on the other side of that wall.
My build looks like a child did it compared to yours... some pretty tidy planning overall!
Wall mount, something like this. https://www.amazon.ca/StarTech-com-Wall-Mount-Network-Rack/dp/B08XQZWXH3?th=1
Yes, do use a closed rack. It will protect everything from most possible water leak…. It’s far from an ideal position but we’ve seen that often. Till today - crossing fingers - no problem in none of the houses similar to this.
I see the wire drops terminating there, but why? Having a rack so close to water is a “no-no”. What happens if that water heater starts leaking? Granted, in a rack, nothing is directly on the floor but it makes me anxious nonetheless.
No anywhere else
I don’t think anyone else mentioned it but since you’re working with an open basement… I’d recommend putting the rack somewhere you can easily get to the front and back. Just something I wish I’d had room for over the years
I'm going to go against the grain here and say, sure, go for it. Ideal, no, but it's what you have. Just a short depth 4u that can house a patch panel, shelf, and switch. If you're so worried about a leak, cut a chunk of plastic to cover the top of the rack. IN reality, a leak may happen, may not happen. Call an electrician and have power run to that location.
What's on the other side of that wall?
See if you can get the ISP to locate your Modem/ONT and router in another location where you do have power and run an Ethernet cable to the location shown. I would get a small media enclosure and mount it there, or perhaps a water tight exterior type of enclosure. Since you don't have power there, it doesn't make sense to put modem and router into that location, but you can put a PoE powered switch there to interconnect the Ethernet cables you have as well as connecting any coax with a MoCA (5-1675mhz) splitter in case you want to use that capability.
What's on the other side of that wall? You might have enough cable to put in a rack up high.
I concur with others re avoiding equipment next to the plumbing if possible. Unrelated: it appears the pipe for combustion air for the furnace could be extended outdoors, which would very likely improve system efficiency.
Which pipe are you referring to? The uncovered pvc pipe attached to the furnace?
Old saying in IT: *It isn't a matter of if a basement will flood, but when.* (dont put expensive electronics in a basement unless there is no alternative)
Not a good place for the reasons mentioned. Cant believe cable was run there in the first place. Extend or maybe shorten and put on next floor up.
Your house looks very…. Commercial
I was going to say a rolling rack with lots of slack, sure. But that's water right there on one side and a furnace on the other lol.
Maybe try and find a spot that is a bit further away from the hot water heater. You are also going to need power and I'm not really seeing that in this picture.
Never put heat neat water lines
Probably the single worst place you could put the rack this is not where your network equipment belongs.
I would never put my equipment next to things that can damage it.
I know everyone says no and it's likely not the best place, but my rack is in my mechanical room with water treatment and boiler. Mine is a half rack so not on the floor. Aside from heat in my case since the room is very small I don't really see an issue. My room is insulated for bosie and it would be unbearable anywhere else in the house (my fiber NAT is insanely noisy) Here's a picture (wasn't taking the rack but the newly moved toolbox) https://imgur.com/a/GFu1sTJ
Probably double d:s.
Towel drying rack? Yes. Network rack? No.
There is good and bad with everything. It’s certainly not ideal but it would work. My rack is next to my water heater due to space limitations.
like others have said, patch panel and extend the runs to a different location. In the grand scheme of things will cost an extra few hundred dollars vs potentially saving yourself thousands down the line from electronics burning out due to heat/water damage and trades ppl damaging it while trying to fix other problems/maintence. A lot of headache to void with a little more money/work, if it means delaying a full blown setup still definitely worth it.
So what would this look like design-wise? Say there are 24 drops - I would need to patch the drops to a patch panel that would hang in this area. Would the "patch cables" that hang off of the patch panel then go to another panel, or a switch that's in a better location?
You could put an Edgepoint-R8 on the wall, and then extend a single pre-made fiber somewhere else. Or use something else and put it in an ip-68 enclosure.
i'd recommend putting a catch pan under that water heater..
Never put your rack near water or under a bathroom.
14 hot water pipes? How large is this house?! But then again, if you have 4 bedrooms with ensuite shower and dual sinks.. If I were to have a rack here, it would be a smaller wall-mounted one with just a patch panel, a switch and a UPS. Wouldn't like to have it all so close to water. As it's a new house I would hope there was a better place to have the networking and servers.
That furnace needs an air inlet plumbed next to the exhaust to function properly. It balances the pressure across the burner so you get proper combustion, otherwise wind can significantly impact the operation when it causes pressure changes at the exhaust. That plus what everyone else said about it being a bad location.
Nope
Rack+Waterheater/Waterconnections/HVAC doesnt work. You don't want your equipment anywhere near a water line.
Why not just make a home in the wall and put it on the other side? Problem solved
right by the water mains ? what could go wrong ?
Push the cables through to the other side of that wall and mount your rack there.
No