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It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

Any of you who have read my posts or seen my website will understand why I am so excited about this.
After having my eye out for a long time I finally rescued a cabinet from the skip at work. It is a 22U 600 deep. 800 would have been better because the back door will have to stay off to fit my UPS but still I like it.
I have a patch panel, some shelves and some cage nuts ordered. I will just put my servers on shelves and order some rack mount chassis for them at a later date.
It was a bit of effort disassembling and reassembling the cab to get it into its new home. I need to tidy up all the cables before putting everything in and then also put the door and the sides back on.
26 REPLIES 26
mal0z
Grafter
Posts: 3,486
Registered: ‎02-10-2008

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

Good news Sean - that will help tidy things up. Smiley
Good luck that the move goes well and everything works when moved into the rack
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

Got my eye on 2 of these: http://www.ebuyer.com/product/134806
They will do my servers nicely.
community
Grafter
Posts: 666
Registered: ‎31-07-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

Hope the attic is well insulated!
orbrey
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Plusnet Alumni (retired)
Posts: 10,540
Registered: ‎18-07-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

Insulated for sound, sure... I'd worry about heat levels if it's well insulated otherwise though, especially in summer (if your roofspace gets as hot as ours does when the sun hits it).
Lurker
Grafter
Posts: 1,867
Registered: ‎23-10-2008

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

If it were well insulated, it'd get less hot in the summer - although there is of course a ventilation caveat too.
We've had the conversation (a few years ago now I think) with Sean about this before - it seems to have been serving him OK for a while now though.
It would be one of my least favored places to put computer equipment, but it's obviously doing OK in his setup at the minute.
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

It gets hot as hell in Summer days and just about right in winter. I was concerned about the summer heat a while back but now I am not. It has been working fine for a good few years.
I have been in a few comms rooms, one in particular in the Royal Hospital in Belfast where the temperature is way above anything you might think could support delicate computer equipment.
Surprising how resilient this stuff if.
Yes the lifespan may be reduced but so far I have been upgrading due to the normal advances in technology before anything has had a chance to fail.
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

I decided to go ahead and order the rackmount cases from ebuyer. I ordered last night and they arrived today and I live in NI!
I am still waiting on some other bits and pieces to complete the rack but I got my Windows server rehoused and back up and running, will do my Linux machine tommorrow. The cases are really nice, will set off my cabinet nicely  Smiley
mal0z
Grafter
Posts: 3,486
Registered: ‎02-10-2008

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

Really interesting stuff Sean, keep us posted.
Can't you get some forced ventilation for the roof-space for the really hot days
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

I have an inexpensive idea for the heat problem. I am thinking of using a fairly high powered bathroom extractor fan with a ducting kit to draw air from the underside of the facia outside and blow it into the top of the cabinet.
Although there will be no back door on the cabinet it should still help lower the temperature in the general area. Idealy it would have some sort of thermostat on it to automatically switch on when the temperature gets above a fixed level.
I am not going to worry about it at the minute though. It is definitely not too hot up there at this time of year!
The second future project is to have automatic power cut off in the event of fire. For this I was thinking of using a commercial smoke or heat detector directly above the cabinet and a suitable relay to cut both input and output to my UPS in the event of smoke/heat. Something I have always had in the back of my mind.
On a second point, my rackmount PDU arrived from eBay today but still waiting on the cage nuts from comms express. Not sure why they have express in their name? That is holding up the whole project. Shame I couldn't have got those from eBuyer, they're quick.
mal0z
Grafter
Posts: 3,486
Registered: ‎02-10-2008

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

You should blow air in at the bottom Sean, as that aids the natural flow. racking systems can be designed to self ventilate with vents in bottom, and outlet at the top, it acts like a chimney, the fans just boost the natural air flow.
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

Yes, cabinets are designed like that as the warm air will naturally rise and the be drawn out the top by a fan tray if present. What I would be doing is different. The cold air I would be adding would naturally sink in a warm cabinet and would need to be added to the top just the same way your fridge or freezer will have the cooling pipes at the top.
mal0z
Grafter
Posts: 3,486
Registered: ‎02-10-2008

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

well as you please Sean - but I designed loads of cabinets full of equipment and we ALWAYS blowed cool air in at the bottom.
Lurker
Grafter
Posts: 1,867
Registered: ‎23-10-2008

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

For efficiency and to avoid hotspots, what Mal is saying is correct.
If you put cold air in at the top, and let hot air out of the top, you are trying to have two airflows in the same box. Its not impossible, but it is not as efficient as it could be if you just ducted the cool air inlet straight to the bottom.
Sean - cooling pipes are at the top in refrigerators since they need to absorb energy from the warm air - they are not "to put cool in" they are "to take warmth out".

In any case Sean, the hot air will always need to come out of the top of the cabinet.
You can also put cool air in, but it will interfere with the natural airflows to an extent.

Pipework is cheap Sean - duct the cool air in at the bottom if you are going to go ahead. Wink
seanbranagh
Grafter
Posts: 1,236
Registered: ‎02-08-2007

Re: It was Christmas Today, I got a cabinet!

I was thinking of adding the cool air at the top as there will be no back door so I am not sure how much natural upward flow there would be from the small amount of equiptment. I was just thinking of cooling the general area as the extreme heat is not from the cabinet but from the room itself. My concern would be that the heavier cold air added at the bottom would just flow out the open back door underneath the warm air and never reach the servers.
When the time comes I will try different options to see which has the best results.