Bracket or Velcro 24 port switch inside cabinet?

Hi folks,
I'd like to know what people do when installing a 24 port switch inside structured media cabinets.  Specifically, what make and model bracket, if you use one of those. Also, if you have a photo, that would be nice to see how you fit it in the can. I like to use Legrand's 4250 can and their DA1008 and DA1458 units.  But, those take up a lot of room in the cabinet, in addition to their separate power supplies.  To achieve 24 ports with those, I would need four of them. I've used some of their brackets when installing other components and sometimes I use Velcro to secure other devices such as cable modems, etc.  
 
Thanks.
Rick

There are some relatively compact 24 port switches out there.  I can't recall the model numbers at the moment.  I'll have to go look at the one I have as it was pretty compact.
 
Bear in mind with switches you do want to take traffic patterns into account.  It's not just about total port numbers, it's about how much traffic has to travel outside of/between switches.  You're at the mercy of the interconnections between switches when you use separate ones.  As opposed to one with more ports, that way the traffic stays in the switch.  This allows multiple devices to operate at near wire speeds (assuming their CPU/bus can handle it).  Otherwise you'd be choking them all through an uplink.  And before anyone suggests using multiple lines as trunks between them, there's often more trouble with that than it solves.  That and you lose ports in the process.

Thanks, Bill, for the reply.  I have multiple 8 port gigabit switches in my own home and haven't noticed any major issues.  I agree, one switch with multiple ports would eliminate most trouble.  The system that I'm working on would have one 24 port unmanaged gigabit switch housed in a Legrand EN4250 structured media cabinet (SMC).  One port would serve a detached guest house where an 8-port switch would reside.  A 5 or 8 port switch may be needed at the TV locations to handle a few devices such as Apple TV, Receiver, TV, Gaming Device, etc.
 
But, mounting the switch is my concern at the moment, such as bracket or Velcro.  Most 24-port switches seem to be made for rack or desk top, not SMC. I guess it really doesn't matter as long as it stays put inside the cabinet and the door can close.  But, I'd like it to be secure and look good.
 
Rick

Hopefully someone else can chime in with specifics, but it's been my understanding most SMC vendors have some sort of long bracket(s) you can use for mounting.  The idea being you screw your gear down onto these brackets and then attach them using the clips designed for the SMC.  Leviton has some skinny ones I plan on using for my gear that needs it.  I seem to recall other vendors having similar solutions.  That or 'clamps' that straddle the gear and fit into the SMC mounting holes.
 
A lot of times the 'ears' used for rack mounting the devices can be turned downward to facilitate non-rack mounting.  Sometimes you mount the ears to the brackets first so, when mounted, they're tucked under the gear (instead of splayed outward)  Then you slide the device into the brackets and screw them onto it.

Thanks.  I've seen the Legrand brackets and have used a few of those for things like battery holders, mounting pcb of alarm panels, etc. I guess the best thing to do is select a 24 port switch and go from there.

I used a TP-Link TL-SG1024DE in my Leviton 42" can. 
 
It is a small footprint managed Gb switch that fits fine inside of the can.
 
It is reasonably priced. 
 

 
Support Port Based/802.1p Based priority
Support 4 priority queues
Rate Limit
Storm Control
IGMP Snooping
Link Aggregation
Port Mirroring
Cable Diagnostics
Loop Prevention
Supports up to 32 VLANs simultaneously (out of 4K VLAN IDs)
MTU/Port/Tag VLAN
11.6*7.1*1.7 in. (294*180*44 mm)
 
     
Legrand EN4250
 
Depth U S: 3.7"
Height U S: 42.1"
Width U S: 14.3

I may have to come back to add from a PC but quick answers - Velcro will fail whether in days weeks or even months it will fail - the glue gives in from the heat and gentle strain of wires applying directional force.

Leviton on makes a perfect accessory that clamps onto things like switches - can't look up the link now tho; or they make thin full width ones that you can screw your devices to.

Work2Play said:

I may have to come back to add from a PC but quick answers - Velcro will fail whether in days weeks or even months it will fail - the glue gives in from the heat and gentle strain of wires applying directional force.

Click to expand...

I have to agree with this, even if the cables are properly attached they will twist and turn the switch about. The velcro will more than likely let go. Though I did have some velcro that wouldn't let go no matter what. Of course that was the velcro I needed to get off some equipment.

I've used the Leviton half-brackets (47612-6SB) along with one-wrap velcro and haven't had any issues; that's how these were held in:
 

I have a net gear GS116 mounted in a Channel Vision Product Holder (Large), inside my CV enclosure.

http://www.avsforum.com/photopost/data/2215739/d/df/df2e36cd_IMG_20130424_195304.jpeg

I got that idea from electron, but I can't find his pic, atm.

Neurorad had the one I was thinking of... those basically clamp any device in place.
 
drvnbysound - great lookin' can - too bad it has that horrific Linksys switch in there bringing it down!  :throwup:
all in fun of course... I've just had such horrific experiences with Linksys that I cringe every time I see one...

Work2Play said:

Neurorad had the one I was thinking of... those basically clamp any device in place.
 
drvnbysound - great lookin' can - too bad it has that horrific Linksys switch in there bringing it down!  :throwup:
all in fun of course... I've just had such horrific experiences with Linksys that I cringe every time I see one...

Click to expand...

 
At least it was running DD-WRT It's gone now and I'm running at Cisco 871 ATM, and looking forward to a Cisco ISR as soon as I get my new server built out and get ready to install IP cameras

Ah yes - I've had an 871 and later an 881...  Had to give them up when I left the job.  I do have a 2911 in the garage but that's REALLY overkill!
 
If you like the ability to do tricky stuff on the router you might like a Mikrotik - fraction of the cost and near limitless in capabilities.

I only care to do a couple of things really, but I know someone who is very knowledgeable with Cisco products... so, for example, setting up a GRE over IPSec tunnel between our networks was a fun exercise. That's how I got the 871 and he got a SageTV extender and access to my media server I think he got the better end of the deal!
 
The reason for me going to an ISR (2851) is that I've already pulled down my analog cameras and DVR, and am soon to replace them with IP cameras. The price of the 2851 with 16-port POE module is VERY competitive with any other 16-port POE solution(s), plus I get a lot of added features/benefit from the ISR vs. POE switches.