Just left a big office in Austin and their server room setup is a disaster waiting to happen

Honestly, I was there to swap a dead drive in a RAID array and the whole place was a mess. The main server rack was right next to a big window with direct afternoon sun, and the room temp was reading 86 degrees. They had power strips daisy-chained three deep to run everything, and I counted at least six loose cables just hanging over the hot aisle. The IT manager said they've been 'fine for years' but that heat alone is going to cook those drives. Has anyone else had to walk into a situation this bad and actually get them to listen?

2 comments

2 Comments

bettys519h ago

Holly's right, it's always fine until it isn't. What finally got through to a client of mine was showing them the math. I pulled up the spec sheet for their server, found the max operating temp, and pointed at their room sensor. Told them running that hot was cutting the life of every part in half, easy. Sometimes you gotta put it in terms of money - ask them what a full day of downtime costs versus the price of some blinds and a decent surge protector.

holly_sanchez7511h ago

Fine for years" is what people always say until it breaks... I've seen setups like that and they're running on borrowed time. That heat is a killer for sure.