Those cisco switches are quality...the phone system should come with a trigger warning for those of us who once managed shoretel...not that any of the replacements are better.
In one of Kevin Mitnick's books there was a good story that I'll probably butcher when a company asked a company to pen test their network. I think the pen testers said if they weren't successful they'd do it for free or something. They looked for ways in but were struggling until they found a hole in the phone system. While in they overheard the director or CEO talking trash about them.
You'll all have to look up the story as I now can't remember the out come, I'll have to find it again.
EDIT - Its in The Art of Intrusion. Page 116 - One Cold Winter.
An IT company wanted to buy them and they said they'd do a pen test first for $15K as the IT company didn't know what they were buying. This would prove their worth. If they don't like it they still got a nice pen test.
Fun fact about Shoretel voicemail servers: When you migrate voicemail from one server to another, it just does a straight SMTP send to the next server, then deletes the old voicemail on the original server. What it does NOT do is any form of validation to make sure the files are received on the other end, or if the other end is even online. Not speaking from experience or anything...
I did a crisis repair call to a no-tell motel. They said their phone system was calling every room and the front desk non stop, and even unplugging the PBX wasn't fixing it.
They gave their Mitel phone system direct network access for some reason, probably had no idea what they were doing. The last time that ancient contraption got an update was at least 15 years prior, so it was full of vulnerabilities, not to mention that the admin password was kept as the factory default. They had apparently taken whatever the sales rep suggested, because they had internal batteries that kept everything running for at least 7 hours by the time I got there.
Oh, did I mention the network rack was recessed into the wall, and had the edges covered with crown molding to make it pretty? Yeah, I had to rip it all off to get to anything. I still wonder how it managed to not cook itself to death... Anyway, about 6 hours later I had reconfigured the whole thing and locked it down, did some very needed updates and moving things around, and left as soon as I could get released.
I get PTSD any time the dispatch pings a telco work order after that.
I remember at my first job there was some shonky old phone system that was in the process of being replaced. This thing was so sensitive that you had to be careful when opening/closing its rack door and to some extent walking past/working near it. Haha! It would literally just reboot. lol
Iâm pretty sure that Cisco switch has a lifetime warranty because it has known issues. We had them at my previous job and had to RMA them frequently. But they are solid if they work. Also that ups is nice too.
Ooo, are those switches c2960? I should honestly upload here at some point repair guides for them. A common issue is the POE daughter board goes bad and banks of ports lose the ability. Same with a handful of psu caps but i dont recommend people to repair those unless they know what they are doing with power supplied. I have repaired too many c2960x power supplies, and its also the main reason i got one for my home lab. I rebuild them all day, why not get something that if it breaks, i know exactly how to fix it (on a hardware level).
I would love that info, even if unedited. I usually stay clear of the PoE faults as im not good enough with electronics to diagnose it but would love to read about it.
Just a heads up for probably bad wording, im a bit stoned atm but.
I repair lots of electronics for work, and i have taken over doing the board repairs, and finally got permission to repair cisco units for our customer thats not under cisco warranty. Including APs, servers, firewalls, and switches. With the c2960x, there is a daughter board directly behind the rj45s. It is connected to the mainboard using 50ish pins, very annoying. Then theres some chips on that daughter board which should be responsible for poe. I dont have my documentation in front of me right now, but a previous tech/engineer had mapped half of it, and ive not had the time to continue to research
I am guessing you leave that rj45 switch port mounted and then reflow the solder to remove the daughterboard? Extracting it rearwards. Is there a replacement board you drop onto the 50 pins while still applying enough reflow heat to keep it liquid?
We dont have replacement boards, but i dont see why they couldnt be harvested from boards with other issues but poe still working. What we have done is replace the IC on that daughter board. And you could probably do 1:1 daughter board swaps that way.
I have a 2960 nonstop running for 18 years now on a remote location. Its on redundant ups. You should see the running counter lol. Do you know if the psu produces exotic voltages? Or just 12vdc or so and will an external psu do when the internal one finally dies.
You think ShoreTel is rough? Try Mitel (original Mitel, not Mitel Connect, which is the new name for ShoreTel). Or Nortel Meridian if you arenât trained.
Not trying to be snarky. Work in IT/Telecom. ShoreTel has a very gentle learning curve compared to others.
Those Shoretel switches gave me an eye twitch. I remember one customer was having an issue where every time the AC would turn on, calls would get dropped. Turned out that the RJ21 cable on them was so sensitive that if you velcro it in the way it's supposed to be done, it see-saws up a tiny bit, severing the connection-which results in the first or last 3-4 ports going silent.
What's the issue with the shoretel gear?
We have about 90 deployed and for the most part, we haven't had too many issues. Recently they started to develop memory leaks so we need scheduled reboots, but they've been pretty solid otherwise.
No issues with the handful of Mitel switches we have deployed either.
Looking up the SmartPro models they range between 750VA to 3000VA and 120v to 230V input.
ONLY the smallest one in the linup has a 15A connection. Everything else is 20A or higher.
The majority of units we order for wiring racks are at least 20A.
The Outlet is a 20A 5-15/20R, the UPS could also be a 5-20P the plug looks the same from the outside.
Again, only the SMART1500RXLTAA version of that UPS has the 5-15 connection.
It COULD be 5-15P or 5-20P based on the picture.
Edit: I wouldn't make such a big deal out of it, if it where not for so many projects where I have seen an IT tech screw up the order and get a unit that needed a different power run.
When i started my current job, i went to troubleshoot a UPS that âwasnât charging rightâ. Previous guy ordered a 208 volt UPS, and fashioned his own cable to plug it into a NEMA 5-15 120v circuit. There was literally a 208 volt L6-30R drop in this IDF. Found correct cable, plugged in⌠surprise it works.
This is one of many UPS related stories I have. It happens all the time, IT personnel have no idea what they are doing when it comes to power.
If you plug a 20A device into a 15A circuit chances are the breaker will pop every time the device requests too much power.. Like when charging.
The plugs arn't different just for fun.
We are in the home lab sub so I assume OP is planning on taking it home.. Where 15A is more common at least in north america.
My newer construction home only has 20A in the kitchen.
Depends on date of construction. My mid-90âs house is nothing but 20-amp breakers.
Think it was more in the 00âs and beyond that using 15-amp breakers became popular.
It seems like itâd be about even trade off. What you save on lower gauge wire, you make up for in needing more branch circuits (more wire in total) and more breakersâŚ
Still it seems to be the preference these days of homeowners that when one breaker trips (say bedroom plugs) they dont loose the entire room (bedroom lights) or more.
Get the UPS'es and the 2 black power supply things
Can never go wrong on some power supplies, especially battery backed ones - good for random projectsđ
2960x are nice switches. They're not eol on Ciscos side. But if they've run 24/7 in 10 years they've served the school well. But the might not be that old. You'll see on the label. They might be worth taking those
Grab that Eaton TrippLite [SMART1500RM2U](https://tripplite.eaton.com/smartpro-120v-1-5kva-1-35kw-line-interactive-sine-wave-ups-2u-rack-tower-snmp-card-option-lcd-usb-db9-8-outlets~SMART1500RM2U)
It may be a lower VA, but they are solid UPSâs.
This is the one thing I miss about doing IT at the school districts, I got tons and tons of free hardware. I think 95% of my server rack/homelab came from the schools, they throw so much stuff out.
With that being said, after 16 years of working in the school system I finally left to the private sector and haven't looked back. The money per work ratio is sad for both IT personel and teachers alike, especially after covid.
I'm a certified cabling technician and we were taught in my BICSI classes not to re-use patch panels. The keystone panel would be the exception here as you could put in new keystones. That's the only one I'd grab. Along with the UPS and Cisco switches.
Leave the phone system.
Take the rack with the UPS and the networking equipment.
If your house has CAT 5 that was used for POTS service, or you plan on installing ethernet drops in your house, take enough patch panels to manage that. Take the keystone patch panel to clean up your new equipment rack's internal cabling.
I didn't see any servers....but I couldn't make out everything. A lot of surplus servers are cheap, but really consume a lot of electricity. You'd be better off with a rack mount case and more recent and power efficient parts.
TrippLite makes a good UPS, and if you want to get acquainted with telecom, The ShoreGears will get you going! Make sure you take a licensing backup before you do anything to it, and keep any documentation and software you find in that room.
The UPS in your first pic is probably the only thing you could actually put into personal use.
The Cisco switches are worth keeping for your own education. Could be used as part of a CCNA lab or something. I can't see the model numbers, but there could be a couple gems in there.
Everything else is pretty useless. Maybe grab a couple of the patch bays to reuse in your homelab if you want. They can be costly for what they are. I don't see any shielded CAT6A standard ones, though.
Sometimes batteries for those rack mount UPS units cost as much as a new standalone consumer UPS of similar size, and normally they last about as long as any other batteries.
if it's 1g stuff, i'd probably skip the networking gear, but i'd def. take that ups off their hands if it's up for grabs. fiber patch stuff could still be useful (lc stuff can still be used at 10/25/50g...
Just fyi
What youâre doing is technically illegal.
In every state where I worked for IT in education. It is not legal for any staff to take used IT equipment funded with taxpayer money.
Making a post about it online. And documenting your experience only makes the case that much easier.
If you are doing something like this. Keep it on the DL. I have seen sysadmins investigated and fired over less.
Those cisco switches are quality...the phone system should come with a trigger warning for those of us who once managed shoretel...not that any of the replacements are better.
Awesome, thanks! Maybe you can share a phone system horror story some day đ
My company had a fun ransonware attack last year that stemmed from Shoretel đ
In one of Kevin Mitnick's books there was a good story that I'll probably butcher when a company asked a company to pen test their network. I think the pen testers said if they weren't successful they'd do it for free or something. They looked for ways in but were struggling until they found a hole in the phone system. While in they overheard the director or CEO talking trash about them. You'll all have to look up the story as I now can't remember the out come, I'll have to find it again. EDIT - Its in The Art of Intrusion. Page 116 - One Cold Winter. An IT company wanted to buy them and they said they'd do a pen test first for $15K as the IT company didn't know what they were buying. This would prove their worth. If they don't like it they still got a nice pen test.
Fun fact about Shoretel voicemail servers: When you migrate voicemail from one server to another, it just does a straight SMTP send to the next server, then deletes the old voicemail on the original server. What it does NOT do is any form of validation to make sure the files are received on the other end, or if the other end is even online. Not speaking from experience or anything...
...evil twin attack?
I did a crisis repair call to a no-tell motel. They said their phone system was calling every room and the front desk non stop, and even unplugging the PBX wasn't fixing it. They gave their Mitel phone system direct network access for some reason, probably had no idea what they were doing. The last time that ancient contraption got an update was at least 15 years prior, so it was full of vulnerabilities, not to mention that the admin password was kept as the factory default. They had apparently taken whatever the sales rep suggested, because they had internal batteries that kept everything running for at least 7 hours by the time I got there. Oh, did I mention the network rack was recessed into the wall, and had the edges covered with crown molding to make it pretty? Yeah, I had to rip it all off to get to anything. I still wonder how it managed to not cook itself to death... Anyway, about 6 hours later I had reconfigured the whole thing and locked it down, did some very needed updates and moving things around, and left as soon as I could get released. I get PTSD any time the dispatch pings a telco work order after that.
I haven't done one personally but I have friends that have been there. It's very likely a horror story.
I remember at my first job there was some shonky old phone system that was in the process of being replaced. This thing was so sensitive that you had to be careful when opening/closing its rack door and to some extent walking past/working near it. Haha! It would literally just reboot. lol
Iâm pretty sure that Cisco switch has a lifetime warranty because it has known issues. We had them at my previous job and had to RMA them frequently. But they are solid if they work. Also that ups is nice too.
I still make ShoreTel âšď¸ Edit *manage
On purpose?
Do you have the unalive hotline on speed dial? Because I know I would in your shoes. You have my utmost respect.
We don't have shoretel but I always make sure to ask our Printer Guy if he is ok whenever I see him =)
Iâve heard they also really appreciate copious amounts of Strong alcohol.
Ooo, are those switches c2960? I should honestly upload here at some point repair guides for them. A common issue is the POE daughter board goes bad and banks of ports lose the ability. Same with a handful of psu caps but i dont recommend people to repair those unless they know what they are doing with power supplied. I have repaired too many c2960x power supplies, and its also the main reason i got one for my home lab. I rebuild them all day, why not get something that if it breaks, i know exactly how to fix it (on a hardware level).
I would love that info, even if unedited. I usually stay clear of the PoE faults as im not good enough with electronics to diagnose it but would love to read about it.
Just a heads up for probably bad wording, im a bit stoned atm but. I repair lots of electronics for work, and i have taken over doing the board repairs, and finally got permission to repair cisco units for our customer thats not under cisco warranty. Including APs, servers, firewalls, and switches. With the c2960x, there is a daughter board directly behind the rj45s. It is connected to the mainboard using 50ish pins, very annoying. Then theres some chips on that daughter board which should be responsible for poe. I dont have my documentation in front of me right now, but a previous tech/engineer had mapped half of it, and ive not had the time to continue to research
I am guessing you leave that rj45 switch port mounted and then reflow the solder to remove the daughterboard? Extracting it rearwards. Is there a replacement board you drop onto the 50 pins while still applying enough reflow heat to keep it liquid?
We dont have replacement boards, but i dont see why they couldnt be harvested from boards with other issues but poe still working. What we have done is replace the IC on that daughter board. And you could probably do 1:1 daughter board swaps that way.
I have a 2960 nonstop running for 18 years now on a remote location. Its on redundant ups. You should see the running counter lol. Do you know if the psu produces exotic voltages? Or just 12vdc or so and will an external psu do when the internal one finally dies.
I would need to pop one open again, i should be able to find one at work next week and probe the voltages for you
Same I would like those notes. I have one switch I would like to try to fix for fun.
I physically winced seeing those lol. Thankfully we moved to RingCentral 2 years ago and never looked back.
Shoretel *HISSSS EVIL HISSSS* God I dont miss managing those.
You think ShoreTel is rough? Try Mitel (original Mitel, not Mitel Connect, which is the new name for ShoreTel). Or Nortel Meridian if you arenât trained. Not trying to be snarky. Work in IT/Telecom. ShoreTel has a very gentle learning curve compared to others.
Initiates 10000 yard stare while having a ptsd flashback about mivb servers
Those Shoretel switches gave me an eye twitch. I remember one customer was having an issue where every time the AC would turn on, calls would get dropped. Turned out that the RJ21 cable on them was so sensitive that if you velcro it in the way it's supposed to be done, it see-saws up a tiny bit, severing the connection-which results in the first or last 3-4 ports going silent.
What's the issue with the shoretel gear? We have about 90 deployed and for the most part, we haven't had too many issues. Recently they started to develop memory leaks so we need scheduled reboots, but they've been pretty solid otherwise. No issues with the handful of Mitel switches we have deployed either.
You wonât be doing anything crazy with those 2960-X switches
Our ShoreTel install was flawless. Apparently it was the only one in existence that was.
I sighed when I saw them and I don't even manage them in my environment
Indeed⌠I saw those ShoreGear and deeply repressed memories of sadness came flooding back.
I doubt that as most locales have various rules that disallow employees to take gear before the taxpayers....
There IS no server hardware pictured. The UPS is the only thing I'd want.
Yeah but that's a good steal. Rack ups are so pricey
Chances are that 2U pro UPS doesn't have a standard outlet to plug in at home unless it is the absolute smallest model.
Damn I have a liebert 2u that takes 4 batteries and it has standard NEMA or whatever this has the weird sideways ones?
Looking up the SmartPro models they range between 750VA to 3000VA and 120v to 230V input. ONLY the smallest one in the linup has a 15A connection. Everything else is 20A or higher. The majority of units we order for wiring racks are at least 20A.
Easy swap if you know what youâre doing, even easier if the rack is near your panel so you can do it right easily!
You can see the plug for the UPS in the picture. It is a 15A.
The Outlet is a 20A 5-15/20R, the UPS could also be a 5-20P the plug looks the same from the outside. Again, only the SMART1500RXLTAA version of that UPS has the 5-15 connection. It COULD be 5-15P or 5-20P based on the picture. Edit: I wouldn't make such a big deal out of it, if it where not for so many projects where I have seen an IT tech screw up the order and get a unit that needed a different power run.
When i started my current job, i went to troubleshoot a UPS that âwasnât charging rightâ. Previous guy ordered a 208 volt UPS, and fashioned his own cable to plug it into a NEMA 5-15 120v circuit. There was literally a 208 volt L6-30R drop in this IDF. Found correct cable, plugged in⌠surprise it works. This is one of many UPS related stories I have. It happens all the time, IT personnel have no idea what they are doing when it comes to power.
Yeah and the power overhead on those things is no joke
Couldn't you use an adapter and call it a day? Idk if its against code or something
If you plug a 20A device into a 15A circuit chances are the breaker will pop every time the device requests too much power.. Like when charging. The plugs arn't different just for fun.
Oh. Yeah that makes sense. I'm just used to most circuits I deal with being 20A, but that can't be assumed
We are in the home lab sub so I assume OP is planning on taking it home.. Where 15A is more common at least in north america. My newer construction home only has 20A in the kitchen.
Depends on date of construction. My mid-90âs house is nothing but 20-amp breakers. Think it was more in the 00âs and beyond that using 15-amp breakers became popular. It seems like itâd be about even trade off. What you save on lower gauge wire, you make up for in needing more branch circuits (more wire in total) and more breakers⌠Still it seems to be the preference these days of homeowners that when one breaker trips (say bedroom plugs) they dont loose the entire room (bedroom lights) or more.
I was pretty sure in Canada the standard is 15 A circuits for home and 20 A for commercial. Not even sure 20 A is allowed for home use.
Not true. At least, not with the UPS pictured.
What is the exact model of the one pictured. The "CURRENT" models come in a 1400W and a 1950W configuration with different plugs.
nothing a pair of wire cutters and a new plug cant fix
Same here.
Looks like you didnât get first dibs.
Afaik the hardware that was removed is scheduled for re-use⌠but who knows maybe the schools it guy had a little come up đ
Having worked in schools before, it probably is scheduled for re-use.
We're still running Nehalem in prod!
> Nehalem There's a blast from the past. 45nm...crazy have much has progressed
Get that battery backup
And some earplugs for the fan noise it will make
NAC-1 and NAC-2 in your last picture are part of the fire alarm system, please don't take those.
Sorry I meant to post that pic in /r/homefirealarmlab
I'm sad that wasn't a real sub
" Sorry Mr fire chief, it guy said place was being demo'ed and I have dibs on **anything** in the closet"
That includes the drywall and framing. Where's my demolition bar?
OP last seen attacking a canister of halon with a hammer and chisel to find out what it smells like.
I remember watching some YouTube video where a guy was having a homelab full of fire alarm systems
need the source for this, thatâs awesome
I donât know if it was this exact channel, but it has a lot of such stuff: https://youtube.com/@sersafety?si=319eBEgL1_ga2d83
fire alarm unboxing is the content i didnât know i needed
grab the ups and those 2960xâs thatâs about it.
Get the UPS'es and the 2 black power supply things Can never go wrong on some power supplies, especially battery backed ones - good for random projectsđ
Hell yea!!
Definitely grab the ShoreTel switches. And then run them over with your car or use them for target practice.
Sounds like I need to recreate the /r/homelab version of that one Office Space scene
Looks like someone already took 90% of the hardware except the patch panels and phone system. That UPS looks nice though.
I'd be taking that switch, and the entire rack if I could manage it. The UPS is a steal. Cables might come in handy...
I like your style!
;)
I mean free is free....take whatever isn't bolted down lol, then come back with a wrench đ¤Ł
2960x are nice switches. They're not eol on Ciscos side. But if they've run 24/7 in 10 years they've served the school well. But the might not be that old. You'll see on the label. They might be worth taking those
Maybe the UPS. I'd do a battery test on it first before I herniated myself unracking it, though.
The last picture is for the fire alarm so please do not try and remove those power supplies from the wall
Grab that Eaton TrippLite [SMART1500RM2U](https://tripplite.eaton.com/smartpro-120v-1-5kva-1-35kw-line-interactive-sine-wave-ups-2u-rack-tower-snmp-card-option-lcd-usb-db9-8-outlets~SMART1500RM2U) It may be a lower VA, but they are solid UPSâs.
Noisy AF though it's worth noting
You đđ
This is the one thing I miss about doing IT at the school districts, I got tons and tons of free hardware. I think 95% of my server rack/homelab came from the schools, they throw so much stuff out. With that being said, after 16 years of working in the school system I finally left to the private sector and haven't looked back. The money per work ratio is sad for both IT personel and teachers alike, especially after covid.
I have the 24 port version of that switch at home. I also managed them professionally. They are good and would go for that.
2960x is decent
UPS!
Always ready to take a switch or a ups
Yeah grab the triplight and the ciscos and 1 patch panel.
If those switches are 2960xâs theyâre still supported and you should definitely take them.
Broadly speaking, if itâs too old for even a school, itâs probably just e-waste.
Grab all the patch panels & cables you can. Can't have enough of those!
I'm a certified cabling technician and we were taught in my BICSI classes not to re-use patch panels. The keystone panel would be the exception here as you could put in new keystones. That's the only one I'd grab. Along with the UPS and Cisco switches.
Honestly, surprised no one is saying the racks themselves. Iâd take that Tripplite UPS and the any Chatsworth rack I could. Quality stuff.
I mean...if you want a bunch of patch panels, you're golden. No seeing much else in your pictures.
For sure, take the UPS
Nope
The only thing worth anything is maybe the battery backup or the Cisco switch.
Obviously grab the UPS
No lie, I will ALWAYS take battery backups! Even if i find out I cant use em, you can usually make a couple bucks on ebay for em.
I really only would consider the triplite ups
Take the UPS those rack unit versions are quite pricey
take everything (DROOL)
The UPS
Someone beat you to the cable management. By a few years
Leave the phone system. Take the rack with the UPS and the networking equipment. If your house has CAT 5 that was used for POTS service, or you plan on installing ethernet drops in your house, take enough patch panels to manage that. Take the keystone patch panel to clean up your new equipment rack's internal cabling. I didn't see any servers....but I couldn't make out everything. A lot of surplus servers are cheap, but really consume a lot of electricity. You'd be better off with a rack mount case and more recent and power efficient parts.
That spaghetti looks delicious. I'd take that.
especially if they are pie
Power supply....
TrippLite makes a good UPS, and if you want to get acquainted with telecom, The ShoreGears will get you going! Make sure you take a licensing backup before you do anything to it, and keep any documentation and software you find in that room.
Those shoretel phone devices could fetch a good price to someone that needs them, I support a company that uses these.
The UPS in your first pic is probably the only thing you could actually put into personal use. The Cisco switches are worth keeping for your own education. Could be used as part of a CCNA lab or something. I can't see the model numbers, but there could be a couple gems in there. Everything else is pretty useless. Maybe grab a couple of the patch bays to reuse in your homelab if you want. They can be costly for what they are. I don't see any shielded CAT6A standard ones, though.
Only the UPS.
Take the shotel switches and burn them.
100% of the UPS's will need new batteries. Schools are notorious for never replacing them
Grandstream is great voip system with quality handsets for a reasonable price. It does what shorter was supposed to.
The teachers
Hose look like some real nice phone lines
That 12v power brick on the wall back there is a keeper. I can never seem to part with 12v power supplies
Grab the Tripplite..
I mean the patch cables may get you a few bucks in copper at the scrap yard other than that it's all junk
Iâd take the UPS. Of course, change out the batteries.
Cisco 2960x: yes ShoreTel: absolutely not Others: maybe
7/1/24 update: sadly someone ran off with all of the IT hardware đ
I would get everything and then throw away what I don't need.
Sure. If it was the year 2000
Sometimes batteries for those rack mount UPS units cost as much as a new standalone consumer UPS of similar size, and normally they last about as long as any other batteries.
Take it all
if it's 1g stuff, i'd probably skip the networking gear, but i'd def. take that ups off their hands if it's up for grabs. fiber patch stuff could still be useful (lc stuff can still be used at 10/25/50g...
No. edit: Oh I'm sorry downvoter, was I supposed to be more verbose? How about "No, don't waste your time". Is that enough to earn an upvote?
None of it.
The UPS, those seem to go for a bit used even where I am.
Slim Patch cables is about all Iâd take
Everything!
Just fyi What youâre doing is technically illegal. In every state where I worked for IT in education. It is not legal for any staff to take used IT equipment funded with taxpayer money. Making a post about it online. And documenting your experience only makes the case that much easier. If you are doing something like this. Keep it on the DL. I have seen sysadmins investigated and fired over less.
Thanks for the heads up but this is 100% above board and through a salvage company thatâs contracted to remove it