I have two VDSL lines at home, and for a while now, I've been contemplating putting together a rack-mount modem "appliance", using a 200/250mm deep 1U 19" enclosure such as this:
Contents would be:
- 2 x HG612 PCBs
- 1 x 5-port managed switch (to combine the PPP and managment LANs over VLANs)
- Maybe a raspberry Pi (for monitoring purposes)
- A single PSU to power all these components (preferably internal)
It would just need two RJ45 connectors mounted on the front panel - one to take the DSL lines (I already have the incoming lines connected to a port in my patch panel via a single CAT5e cable from my master sockets, so would split the pairs out internally), and another to present the ethernet to connect to my router (with the management LAN and PPP interfaces on their own VLANs).
The main reason is to tidy up my mess of a comms/data area (the cupboard under the stairs) and reduce the number of individual PSUs, and am wondering what the pros and cons of such a device would be.
I'm assuming putting the modem PCBs in a larger enclosure would help with heatflow, and I could probably further assist this with a fan if needed.
Anyone have any suggestions for how to power this? I'm worried about introducing more sources of interference, especially if I chose an internal PSU.
One solution would be a standard "flex ATX" 1U server PSU, which would give me a variety of 12V and 5V outputs. e.g.
http://www2.seasonic.com/product/ss-250-su-active-pfc-f0/Would that be a bad idea?
I have a strong VDSL signal (both lines achieving around 80/20), so am not that worried about eeking out the maximum performance. But I also don't want to make it any worse than it is already.
Any thoughts welcome.