On 14/02/2018 14:07, Tim Watts wrote:

I'm looking to site a small 19" network cabinet in my attic space, near
the main ELV cable tray.

It will contain some running equipment - PoE network switch, IP Cam
recorder, UniFi Wifi controller.

Probably not my 2 small servers - they;d be better on a shelf in the
hall. So probably 200-300 watts of net consumption at worst - ie needs
some ventilation but not loads.

Mindful of a piece of faulty equipment not starting a fire in a space
filled with wood and stored "stuff", I am thinking of a full metal
cabinet, the sort with lots of small vent holes/slots all over.


My feeling is:

*If* (and it's rare, but I have seen it happen, couple of items from
1000s of bits of kit I've been involved with over the decades) a bit of
equipment incinerates, that doing so inside a metal box is likely to
significantly reduce the likelihood of any fire spreading outside before
fuses blow and the source of the fire quenches. There after all is not
actually that much burnable material in say a metal boxed network switch.

Given a bundle of Cat-x cables are coming in, let's also assume I'll use
low-smoke LSZH type cables as far as practical.


Any comments?

That pretty much describes most comms cabinets these days... (although
they normally have a glass front door). e.g:

https://www.comms-express.com/produc...ck-390mm-deep/

You could clad it in insulation for added fire protection and protection
from ambient temperatures in the loft, but then you would need to have
some active airflow through the cabinet. You could fit a network
connected temperature sensor. (I note that some of the draytek wireless
APs have that built in now).

If you are fitting mains interlinked smoke detectors, then fitting one
in the loft would seem like a good idea.

The first cabinet I used domestically was a plastic cabinet (only
because they were available in smaller sizes and significantly cheaper
at the time). I more recently rehoused everything in a metal one as I
needed more space (and these days the metal ones are pretty cheap). Mine
is in an under stair cupboard, so perhaps more noticeable if things were
to get too toastie!


--
Cheers,

John.

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