[rescue] Moving Sun servers?

[Mr Ian Primus]

--- On Fri, 4/29/11, vintagecoder at aol.com <vintagecoder at aol.com> wrote:

> I can't understand how the drives
> tolerate being
> anything but level but it's been years since I took a drive
> apart. Is there
> anything from Sun or conventional wisdom that says you
> *shouldn't* run them
> on their sides or is it just perfectly ok or somewhere in
> between? 

Hard drives don't care which direction they're mounted in. Many computers mount the drives vertical anyway. For example, the Sun A5000 disk array mounts all 14 drives vertically. Most cheap consumer Dell pee-cees mount the hard disk up on end behind the front panel of the computer. Hard drives generally don't like being moved while they're spinning, but they'll happily work in any orientation without damage.

> If I can
> it will help quite a bit instead of stacking them because
> I'll be able to
> cram them in a few spots. Otherwise I'll stack them as I
> can.

I'm currently using an IBM Xseries 2U rackmount server as a desktop. It's on it's side next to the desk, happily humming away. I've used SUN boxen like this too. All you have to do is ensure you don't push it so close to the wall that the air can't circulate.

> I'm not sure but I suspect the units are going to be
> unracked and piled up
> shortly if they haven't been already. I will ask for the
> rails as Lionel
> and you've suggested. I know I would love to have a nice
> sturdy rack or two
> but I haven't the place for anything more at the moment.

Always try to get the rack rails when you can. Racks come in all shapes and sizes - if you don't have room for a full rack, a half rack (about table height) can hold several machines and provide a nice flat surface on the top. Even if you don't have a rack, one day you may.

-Ian