Thanks for the information!
Comment on Moving servers and rack equipment
thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 4 days ago
I’ve been in charge of relocating several data centres.
We tore everything down, servers out of racks etc.
All servers, fabric switches drive arrays etc were individually wrapped in bubble wrap then the heavy removalists cloth then into the large metal moving boxes (1500mmx1500mmx1500mm roughly) before being stacked so they couldn’t move around, followed by ratchet straps securing groups of kit together.
All this was done by professional removalists - no reason you can’t do it though.
Basically the principle is flexible padding (bubble wrap) to allow for movement close to the device without impacting it, heavy shock absorbing material (the felt), then put into a robust container (metal box) so limiting impact risk.
I’d strongly recommend NOT to leave them in the rack - a couple of screws vibrate loose and then that device drops onto the one below it, bounces up and down through the journey and wrecks them both.
If it’s a mile up the road, sure, you’ll probably be fine and get away with it, multiple hours on the road ? It’s not surviving it.
dogma11@lemmy.world 3 days ago
ramble81@lemm.ee 4 days ago
Funny thing is, I’ve relocated DCs too and we did the opposite. We had rolling racks and we wrapped the entire rack with everything still in it and did a padded wrap with anti-tip indicators.
The biggest thing to watch out for was we used a temperature controlled truck to ensure there wasn’t a swing in humidity or temps to cause condensation and then let the racks sit in the new locations for 24 hours before power on
Moving 85 racks with literally hundreds of disks and we only lost 4 disks over the next 6 months which was in line with our normal failure rate. No need to tear down and re-rack.
thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 4 days ago
Fair enough - racks in entirety/untouched dramatically reduces the risk of not being able to get stuff back up because of miscabling or missed cabling. I could see that approach being sensible if you’re moving across town.
I personally wouldnt if moving between cities, YMMV of course.
ramble81@lemm.ee 4 days ago
We did it 1,500 miles across multiple states. Also when we ordered new servers we ordered fully built and cabled racks, shipped from HP in Juarez to our doors in giant crates filled cabled. Unpack, plug in power and uplinks and the entire rack was ready to go. We were getting like 2-3 of those a week.
thanksforallthefish@literature.cafe 4 days ago
Nice, glad it worked for you