Well as time wore on, and crime has increased, the oppurtunity has arisen to place the network on the forefront. After deciding with my wife that it was time to install some security cameras I got the green light to build away. 

Step 1 was to cut a hole in the closet wall and see what I could see under our stairs. This space was walled off and for most other purposes unusable. But for such a man as I it smacked of home server magic. I’ve run a few configurations and it should work out pretty good.

Step 2 is ordering the equipment. Starting from scratch means buying tools in addition to materials. So far I’ve got 1000′ of CAT6, a 16 port POE switch, my current modem and router, a NAS box, flex bit for drilling, and fish sticks for fishing the network cables. I’ll be terminating all the cable at a 24 port patch panel, which is the last item I need for basic function of the network. All that’s left is to pick a day to drill and pull everything to the central location.

Step 3 will be building out the Security camera grid starting with a PTZ on the front of the house and transitioning to a camera for each kids room the finishing with full coverage outside. I’ve structured everything to work in phases so we can build as time and money permit.

Step 4 will be an HP server to distribute media and handle the NAS function for video.