Howdy all.
After seeing the video on the Mini Rack, I was immediately struck with inspiration for this build.
On the day to day, I’m a theatrical sound designer and audio engineer that mainly works with companies on short-term gigs. This requires me to carry a lot of networking equipment and gear that I am constantly setting up and tearing down.
Requirements
To support this workflow, these were my minimum requirements for this build:
- 3 networks - WAN, LAN, and Dante Multicast
- A wireless access point to the LAN
- NAS and VPN, Server and Clients for both
- Cat 6a Keystone Panel
- UPS Power Supply
Build
Over the past year, I’ve been accumulating the networking equipment to remove my dependency on house networks and mobilize my own digital tools. Thus, I only had to purchase the rack, keystone panel, patch cables, PDU, and UPS. From top to bottom, here’s all of the equipment.
— FRONT —
— BACK —
| u |
component |
model |
purpose // notes |
| 4 |
PDU |
Tupavco TP1713 |
I enjoy how much space there is for wall warts. Goes out of stock quickly on Amazon whenever it is available. I ordered direct. |
| 3 |
Unmanaged Switch |
TP-Link TL-SG108 |
Dante Multicast Network; Port 8 runs to the managed switch. The rest go to the patch panel. |
| 2 |
WAN & Wireless AP |
GL.iNet GL-MT3000 Beryl AX |
Keeping stock firmware for quick configuration of WAN and Wi-Fi, while using its OpenWRT features for VLAN trunk configuration. WAN port goes to the patch panel. LAN port to the managed switch. Tailscale for Remote Access and off-site NAS access. |
| 1 |
UPS |
Tripp Lite BC600R |
A single-cable power solution for mission critical items. |
The VLANs allow me to access all of the networks from both wired and wireless access points. Extra special are my firewall rules to configure Dante Controller from the LAN, which prevents any pre-configured Dante networks from receiving any address allocation from my own networks. WAN configuration allows me to use both wired and wireless upstream internet access, and the LAN configuration allows extra ports for Front-of-House control (sound consoles, playback computers, etc.) and Back-of-House control (wireless mics, output DSP, etc.). Open UPS ports are for FOH console and anything else mission critical, like sound recording and playback. WAN access from the LAN solves the issue of not having an internet connection while on the control network.
Plenty of ports are open to add Dante devices, such as external computers for recording or quick Control access directly into the network itself.
Tailscale is a game changer with subnet advertising, allowing me to remotely troubleshoot any mixes or routing snafus while I’m off-site. I can also access my home network for file access and backups.
Closing Thoughts
Future desires:
- better power solution to eliminate the wall warts. PoE is likely the way to go. This could also eliminate the need for the PDU entirely.
- better placement of access point for wireless stability. This could be an opportunity to get an AP with external antennae, but issues could arise with EMI within the rack.
- ACTIVE COOLING. While it hasn’t been a problem, I would like the peace of mind.
- addition of an SDR for RF monitoring for when BOH network access is unavailable. A bandwidth of 6MHz-2.5GHz is essential.
- tighten up aesthetics (brush plates, black rack screws, crimp shorter patch cables)
- buy a label maker
Next up, a playback and recording rig based on an M4 Mac Mini. It's likely to be a standard sized 19" 3-4U rack with an interface, though, rather than a 10" rack. I’m open to any comments and suggestions.
Howdy all.
After seeing the video on the Mini Rack, I was immediately struck with inspiration for this build.
On the day to day, I’m a theatrical sound designer and audio engineer that mainly works with companies on short-term gigs. This requires me to carry a lot of networking equipment and gear that I am constantly setting up and tearing down.
Requirements
To support this workflow, these were my minimum requirements for this build:
Build
Over the past year, I’ve been accumulating the networking equipment to remove my dependency on house networks and mobilize my own digital tools. Thus, I only had to purchase the rack, keystone panel, patch cables, PDU, and UPS. From top to bottom, here’s all of the equipment.
— FRONT —
Running Pi OS (for now).Now running OpenMediaVault!— BACK —
The VLANs allow me to access all of the networks from both wired and wireless access points. Extra special are my firewall rules to configure Dante Controller from the LAN, which prevents any pre-configured Dante networks from receiving any address allocation from my own networks. WAN configuration allows me to use both wired and wireless upstream internet access, and the LAN configuration allows extra ports for Front-of-House control (sound consoles, playback computers, etc.) and Back-of-House control (wireless mics, output DSP, etc.). Open UPS ports are for FOH console and anything else mission critical, like sound recording and playback. WAN access from the LAN solves the issue of not having an internet connection while on the control network.
Plenty of ports are open to add Dante devices, such as external computers for recording or quick Control access directly into the network itself.
Tailscale is a game changer with subnet advertising, allowing me to remotely troubleshoot any mixes or routing snafus while I’m off-site. I can also access my home network for file access and backups.
Closing Thoughts
Future desires:
Next up, a playback and recording rig based on an M4 Mac Mini. It's likely to be a standard sized 19" 3-4U rack with an interface, though, rather than a 10" rack. I’m open to any comments and suggestions.