IKEA BEKANT Sit/Stand Desk (2016 Update)

I purchased an IKEA BEKANT Sit/Stand desk back in late 2014 as an update to my old GALANT desk and it has worked great over the last 2+ years. I've updated my desk a bit since then and wanted to post a quick update for 2016.

Current Setup:

• IKEA BEKANT Sit/Stand (Black-Brown/White)
• IKEA SIGNUM Cable Management
• Mount-It! MI-773 Triple Monitor Mount
• (3) Dell UltraSharp U2415H
• Dell AX510 Stereo Soundbar
• APC Back-UPS 550

IKEA BEKANT Sit/Stand Desk

I purchased my desk in late 2014, before the initial recall for an electrical UL label that IKEA forgot to include with the desk. Since then I have had no issues whatsoever. I've since purchased a second desk, post recall, which I've had to return 4 times due to the power supply/legs failing to move. This has been a chronic issue for a lot of BEKANT owners for the last year or so, just search for "IKEA BEKANT issue". Luckily IKEA offers a 10 year warranty, so replacements have been more of a time waste than a financial burden. The last replacement has been working great for 6+ months now, so hopefully that issue is behind me.

Monitor Stand & Monitors

I'm a supporter of multiple monitor setups (at least for me!) as I find them much more efficient than a single monitor, regardless of size. For my current setup I chose the Mount-It! MI-773 stand. I found it to be much easier to use than the MI-753 I had previously. The MI-773 had fixed arms while the MI-753 had articulating arms, which never lined up correctly or level. The MI-773 also sits back a couple of inches compared to the MI-753, providing a bit more desk space and viewing distance.

The Dell UltraSharp U2415H was my go-to for this setup due to their price, thin bezels and 16:10 (1920x1200) aspect ratio. For work, I find the 16:10 ratio better than the more common 16:9 as it gives you a little extra screen height which I find useful for my work applications. They also support (5) USB 3.0 each, DisplayPort MST, and have a wide set of digital inputs.

To make the cabling a bit cleaner, I ran a single 3-port extension cord to the mount and used 1ft, 2ft, and 3ft power cords to power the monitors. This freed up space for the other cables that run through the mount and provided a simpler, cleaner setup. The monitors are setup in a DisplayPort MST daisy-chain for devices that support it (not macOS...) and also individually cabled for HDMI access (for macOS...). To take advantage of all the USB ports these monitors provide, I connected the USB uplinks on monitors 2 and 3 back to monitor 1, then monitor 1 to my computer. This provides 13 USB 3.0 ports over a single USB cable.


Power & Cable Management

With the goal of avoiding a rat's nest of wires, an APC Back-UPS 550 was installed on the underside of the desk to supply power to everything and provide some basic battery backup and surge protection. This was one of the few UPS's I could find/confirm that had mounting holes on the chassis that would allow for under desk mounting. A white 3-port extension cable provides power to the UPS and is a little less noticeable than the black power cord the APC uses.

An IKEA SIGNUM cable management tray keeps most of the wires up and out of the way. The SIGNUM was cheap and easy to install, a must-have in my opinion.

Nest Cam Outdoor PoE Setup

If you're looking to setup a Nest Cam, but don't have a power outlet nearby, a Power over Ethernet (PoE) install maybe another option. While not officially supported by Nest, many third parties sell PoE to USB adapters for powering all sorts of USB devices such as iPad/Android kiosks, cameras, etc. For this setup, I'm installing a Nest Cam Outdoor to replace my Nest Cam Indoor which I had previously setup to work over PoE in my entryway.

Parts:

• Nest Cam Outdoor
• Linksys LGS116P 16 Port PoE+ Switch 
• Wifi-Texas WT-AF-5V10W USB/PoE Adapter
• Ethernet Cable CAT5e/CAT6

Below is the basic PoE test setup I used before installing the camera in the entryway.

Back of PoE adapter. Adapter has a male power connector for different types on dongles along with a RJ45 passthrough.

After confirming that this setup would work, I replaced my indoor cam with the outdoor cam in the entryway.

Overall I'm impressed with the build quality and ease of use of the new Nest Cam Outdoor. My only gripe is the large size of the USB connector which requires a large hole to be drilled if you're running your cabling through a wall or ceiling.

Avocent AlterPath Cyclades ACS48 Setup

While looking for an inexpensive console switch for my lab, I ran across a few recommendations for the Cyclades line, so I purchased a pair of Cyclades ACS48's on eBay. They arrived after a few days and with a little troubleshooting I was able to get them up and working. Since these devices are over 10 years old, documentation and firmware files are a little hard to come by, so I've added them to the notes below.

Single user mode

In order to change the password or reset to factory defaults, you'll need to be connected to the console port of the ACS. During the boot process, type the word " single" after the Linux/PPC load: root=/dev/ram ramdisk=0x0001F000 including the space. This will enter single user mode which will allow you to reset the password or set the ACS to factory defaults. 

 Linux/PPC load: root=/dev/ram ramdisk=0x0001F000 single

 ...

 [root@(none) /]#


Password Reset

The default username and password are root and tslinux, but that may not be the case when buying used.

 [root@(none) /]# passwd

 New password: newpassword

 Re-enter new password: newpassword

 Password changed

 [root@(none) /]# saveconf

 Checking the configuration file list…

 Compressing configuration files into /tmp/saving_config.tar.gz …  done. 

 Saving configuration files to flash … done.

 [root@(none) /]# reboot

Reset to Factory Defaults

To restore the setting to factory default either type echo > /proc/flash/script (older firmware) or defconf (newer firmware) depending on the version of code your running.

 [root@(none) /]# echo > /proc/flash/script
 [root@(none) /]# reboot


Firmware Upgrades & Documentation

The latest firmware I was able to locate was from 2014 (3.3.0.16) and still on Avocent's FTP site. You can also locate user manuals and other files from this FTP site.

 Firmware: ftp://ftp.avocent.com/public/product-upgrades/$ds1800/ACS/ACS%20Classic%203.3.0-16/
 Documentation: ftp://ftp.avocent.com/public/product-upgrades/$ds1800/ACS/ACS%203.2.0/

A company by the name of Vertiv is the current owner of the Cyclades line, they also host firmware and some documentation on their site as well.

You can upgrade the firmware through the ACS's web interface under Administration > Upgrade Firmware. You'll need to upload the .bin file to an FTP site in order to transfer it to the ACS. Once the firmware have been uploaded, you'll need to manually reboot the ACS for the new firmware to be installed.

Cabling

In order to console into Cisco devices from the ACS you'll need to use rollover cables. Below is a cabling diagram if you need to make your own.

Remote Console Access

During the initial setup you can choose to set all ports to telnet, ssh, etc. To keep it simple, I setup my ACS ports for telnet access since it's just for lab use and not in a production environment. By default, all physical ports are configured with a corresponding TCP port of 7001-7048. If you need to make changes to the port setup, just go to Ports > Physical Ports > Modify Selected Ports. From there you can select the method of access and the port number used for access. Below I setup port 2 for telnet access over TCP port 7002.

To access the console ports remotely, open your favorite telnet application and enter the IP of the ACS and the TCP port of the corresponding console port, e.g. 192.168.1.1:7002 for console port 2.

Format and Upgrade Juniper EX4200

While repurposing some old Juniper switches I found the easiest way of upgrading them was just to format and install the new image.

What you need:

• USB drive formatted as FAT32
• JUNOS image, "jinstall-ex-4200-15.1R4.6-domestic-signed.tgz" is used in this example

Copy the JUNOS file to the USB drive and connect the USB drive to the EX switch. While connected to the console, reboot the switch and press the space bar when prompted to get to the loader> prompt.

    Hit [Enter] to boot immediately, or space bar for command prompt.

Enter the following command to start the format and upgrade:

   loader>install --format file:///jinstall-ex-4200-15.1R4.6-domestic-signed.tgz

Once the format and upgrade is complete (around 15 minutes) you'll see a login prompt which you can login as root with no password. From there you can initiate the ezsetup or enter the cli.

    mgd: ----------------------------------------------------------
    mgd: Please login as 'root'. No password is required.
    mgd: To start Initial Setup, type 'ezsetup' at the JUNOS prompt.
    mgd: To start JUNOS CLI, type 'cli' at the JUNOS prompt.
    mgd: ----------------------------------------------------------
    .
    .
    .
    Login: