Table of Contents

It was time

Time to create an updated post of my improved home office setup. Let’s dive right into it.

Table

The table is 1.60m (~5.24934 feet) long.

The cable management has been improved in comparsion to my previous setup post. It can still be further improved but it is much better than before and I’m finally happy with it now.

Table / Desk Shot

Computers

Gaming

This compliments my “small” Steam library pretty well and the Valve Index headset which is pretty dope to use and play games on.

Workstation

The “heart” of working at home.

NOTE

For version 3, I’m planning to upgrade the workstation to have at least 64GB, and a newer, bigger AMD processor. A AMD Threadripper would be nice. If it is affordable maybe even an AMD EPYC processor.

New GPUs and 40G network card are on the list of potential improvements for version 3. Though new GPUs and network cards will probably “include” a AMD Threadripper + a fitting Motherboard.

Monitors

A big shoutout to Ricoo Medientechnik as their monitor stands are awesome and not too expensive!

I’m using the following monitor stands from Ricoo:

Audio

Moving on to the audio equipment, I use the following pieces for audio input and output control:

To “blast” music at the neighbors I have a very old 5.1 sound system, which sadly has a high level of noise when no sound is played. I’ll probably replace the sound system with something better and check if it is worth to go for some USB sound cards.

Chair

A noblechairs EPIC Gaming Stuhl - schwarz/gold because your arse and back will thank you for it.

Pretty good chair, though if you want to spend more go for a more expensive one with, e.g., “limitless” backrest and more features.

Home Automation (+ Lighting)

I’m using the awesome Home Assistant to control the lights in all rooms of my apartment. I also have temperature sensors and power measuring power plugs, etc to “keep an eye” on the apartment.

The following video is a demo of me cycling the color of the desk lights.

Network

Network Map

A network map showing the cable connections between the routers, switches, clients, etc.

Network Map Diagram (click image to enlarge)

Icon / Image Credits:

The Network Rack is shown in detail in the next section below.

Network Rack

The rack is 12 units (12U / 12HE) high and 600mm in depth.

I have added some Noctua fans to the top / “roof” of the track to have some air pushed into the rack. The fans are controlled by a NZXT Grid+ V3 (AC-GRDP3-M1; the NZXT website does not list it anymore..).

I’m a huge Neon Genesis Evangelion and Evangelion Rebuilds fan so I put some cool stickers on the front.

Network Rack Front Shot (a slightly older picture than from the front overview below)

The network rack provides up to 10G network and power to my PoE powered devices.

NOTE

Version 3 will probably have 40G network. The prices for used 40G network cards (and other equipment) are getting lower and lower every day. In addition to that I want to be able to monitor the power used by the equipment, which is definitely high on the list to have for version 3.

Rack Contents

The cables are mostly from FS.COM GmbH. The “icing on the cake” is that some cables are custom lengths (e.g., 0.15-0.25m) so they fit just right and not have too much cable leftover.

Network Rack Front Shot

OPNSense Firewall / Router Specs

Additional Equipment

From the Network Rack there is an empty “pipe” (German: Leerrohr) for cabling going through the wall and outside down to the basement. The “pipe” holds fiber and coper cables inside, and “zip tied” to the outside of the “pipe” is a compressed air line to a compressor.

Having compressed air available for cleaning computers and other equipment is cool to have.

Summary

Well, what is there to say? I beefed up my setup even further to be able to achieve more and have fun getting to know the new hardware.

Have Fun!