The Grinney: Gateway Cluster project centres around a two node cluster in RU 18 of the 20U, 600x600mm, Twoaie: Network Rack. The gateway cluster is placed in a customised 19-inch 1U rack mount, that houses two Teltonika TRB501 Industrial 5G Gateways. It is made from PETG (PolyEthylene Terephthalate Glyco) by Dave at "HiveTechSolutions" based in Australia.
He has put a lot of thought into the design of this modular system that the two Teltonika TRB501 Units slot into. There is ample room at the rear of the mount to easily connect the four SMA (SubMiniature version A) Connectors from each "Poynting MIMO-4-4-V2 Antenna" in the Aerag: Antenna Array to the respective Teltonika TRB501 Unit.
On the front panel of the mount, Dave has incorporated two slots for keystones. One on the far left of the mount and the other on the far right. I have inserted two trueCABLE CAT6A Unshielded Keystones: Female-to-Female. I've used a 0.15m CAT6A UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair) patch cable from Boobay — which are ultra-thin, anti-kink, with extra-short RJ45 connectors for less cable volume, making them unobtrusive — to connect each keystone to their respective Teltonika TRB501 Unit. Each keystone is, in turn, connected to the network rack patch panel with a 1m patch cable, then from the patch panel to the Fendeil: Appliance Cluster with another 1m patch cable.
Like the WAN Port, the Power Port is also on the front of the Teltonika TRB501 Unit, but there is no provision for the power cable to be routed through the 1U Rack Mount to the rear of the rack to the PDU (Power Distribution Unit). Neither is there an available rack unit to add a Tecmojo 1U Rack Mount Cable Management Panel with Brush – and even if there was it would be a waste of 1U – nonetheless I have found a solution. Directly below the gateway cluser in RU 17-16 is the Fendeil: Appliance Cluster. This cluster has two Protectli Vault Pro VP6650 6 Port nodes. There is ample room at the top and either side of these nodes for me to run the light and thin power cables from each gateway to the PDU, and secure them to the rack post either side of the network rack with 4mm velcro cable ties. This is a neat and tidy solution.
As previously mentioned the gateways in the Grinney: Gateway Cluster are connected to the Fendeil: Appliance Cluster, which has two Protectli Vault Pro VP6650 6 Port nodes. This Appliance Cluster — running OPNsense — will be configured to function as both an Edge Router and a Perimeter Firewall. This dual functionality will allow (1) effective traffic management, (2) advanced security, (3) high availability and load balancing, (4) stateful inspection.
The Gateway Cluster will connect to the Appliance Cluster with the PPPoE (Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet) network protocol that encapsulates PPP frames within Ethernet frames. This will provide efficient management of network resources and direct access to the internet for multiple users, while ensuring a stable and secure connection.
Furthermore, the Gateway Cluster will be configured for load balancing for improved network performance by distributing traffic across multiple connections, to enhance overall bandwidth for multiple users, as well as providing redundancy; if one connection fails, the other can maintain network access, ensuring continuous service.