So, i run my own personal web-server from a few servers in my bedroom. i won't SPAM the address, as those who know how to find it can do so anyway. though, it is offline now, temporarily, so it would be irrelevant...
but anyway, as summer gets here, the nights are warmer. anybody that knows rack servers, knows they make a lot of heat, and my little room air-conditioner can't keep up. so i am moving them down to my little electronics shop in the basement. and again, anybody that knows rack servers, knows they tend to be heavier than a regular PC.
i have so far unloaded the rack and moved that down to the basement. then as i was bringing the large APC battery backup down the first flight of stairs, i decided to stage the equipment on the first floor of the house, just to get them half-way down.
i have just 3 servers:
- Dell PowerEdge 1950 (website server)
- Dell PowerEdge R710 (NAS for backups)
- Dell PowerEdge T610 (FreePBX VoIP phone server)
plus the previously mentioned APC battery backup (3U rack mount), a KVM switch, and a network switch.
but overall weight is about 400 pounds, i think. a lot of weight to be carrying down stairs, trip after trip, after trip...
but the benefit of them not being in my room will outweigh the actual weight. my room will be easier to cool, and in the winter, the server heat should add to the house heat a little, rather than just baking my bedroom. i mean, in the dead of winter, i had to have a small fan going in my window.
but if my doc tells me i need to exercise more... i can tell her about this move.
so that's how my weekend is going. now that the snow is melted, i should be able to start working on my new shop for my CNC router table.
i do have concerns about my plans for that shop... perhaps someone here may have ideas how to improve the situation.
the platform is 20 feet by 13 feet, sized to fit a instant garage i have. it is an alpine-roof model for the snow-load here in Maine, USA. the platform is rugged enough, but the instant garage has some pin-holes of light shining through the "tarp" that is the roof and walls. i would rather not have leaks on my machine...
an idea i proposed to my father was to run some 10 foot wide poly construction sheathing over the roof "rafters". one pass on each end of the roof, and one over the middle to cover the gap. then run the original "tarp" up over the top of it all for sun protection over the poly. i have very little funding right now, so whatever i do needs to be cheap.
the end walls, i will board up a little with PT plywood, as the end flaps don't go all the way down. i will stud behind the end flaps so that i can eventually use some pine boards to wall up over the ends, right over the tarp flaps. i will frame out a double-wide door in the front flap, and build a door.
as for adding longevity to the roof and side walls, i have no idea how much weight the frame can hold. but my thoughts are, when i win the lottery
, i will run strapping up the side walls and board them up like the end walls. the roof i will run strapping horizontally, and get some inexpensive metal roofing to put on. i want the whole thing to shed snow off, and be as light-weight as i can do.
a look at Home-Depot showed a middle-grade corrugated galvanized-steel panel for $24.50 (8' X 25 3/4') so by my estimate, i could get that for about $540. perhaps my tax return this year will help me out...
but the tarp will stay right under the roofing and walls, for extra leak protection. and in the mean-time, i can throw a tarp over the CNC machine, in case the tarp roof drips.
that's my thoughts, if i am wrong on something, or you have a better idea, feel free to chime in. i understand that not using the instant garage frame, and studding up a structure would be ideal... but i just don't have that kind of money.
