Reply 120 of 133, by Scythifuge
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darry wrote on 2021-05-27, 19:24:Scythifuge wrote on 2021-05-27, 19:12:darry wrote on 2021-05-27, 17:50:I agree about the the aesthetics/visibility aspect. Though not a factor for me as far as network equipment goes, it definitely does matter to many people (and TBH, who doesn't like a few "blinkenlights" here or there) .
For your answer to point a), I will not dispute the realism (ah, the memories), though I question the desirability (not my kink, if you'll pardon the cable related pun) .
For point c), there is another thing to consider and that is the risk of damage to connected equipment. Using old power strips is fine as long you are not expecting any advertised surge protection features (if any) to still work after years of use . The metal-oxide varistors (MOVs) typically used in surge protected power strips do wear out as they do their job of absorbing surges and eventually silently fail (power strip still works fin but no longer offers any surge protection) .
I forgot to mention that our electrician is going to install a whole-house surge protector on our panel. The entire house is rewired, and all he has left to do is install that, and run power to an out building and install an exterior light and a motion light. I'm going to eventually install a structured media panel and run CAT cable throughout the entire house with wall jacks on every wall, and build a modern server alongside the retro server (still thinking dual P3's for that.) I looked up Cat5 and it came out 1995, so using it will be perfect for the retro project. Cat5e came out in 2001 and is thus disqualified for the retro LAN.
That is reassuring to read (regarding electricity). Also, now that I know more about what you have in mind, your desire to use retro networking gear makes a lot more sense to me . Increasing the retro scope to room decor will definitely add something special to the setup .
Best of luck in your project . Looking forward to seeing video and/or photos of the end result .
Thank you! I will probably make a thread with photos of the Ultimate Retro Rig and my Ultimate 486 Rig and the desk setup, once I get the retro LAN and all of my CF cards set up. I'll take pics of the insides, the desk area with PCs, and probably some screens, after I tweak my config.sys and autoexec.bat files to my liking. I'll update it over time as I upgrade/alter/change/add to the setup and/or decor. I'll probably throw some bonus pics in of the retro living room tv/console setup as well.