So I had to take one of the servers out of the computer room today. It's been running one of our telephony apps ever since the company started up, and now it doesn't want to run any more. I've built a new server, and we have a techie coming in later today to swap the special cards across and configure the application, so I just needed to get the server out of the rack and put it somewhere where he'd be able to open it up.

First problem: Most of our servers are in racks, but most of our servers aren't rack-mounted. They're little Compaq mini-towers; we bought dozens of them cheap when the line was discontinued (we also use them as desktops). They're not particularly fast, but they're quite reliable. So we have shelves in the racks for the servers to sit on.

Now, some bright spark had positioned the shelf immediately above this server so that there was all of, oh, half a millimetre of clearance. Since the server itself was sitting on the floor, and the frame of the rack itself sticks up over an inch at the bottom, I had to first remove two other servers and the shelf before I could move the server I wanted. Fortunately, neither of the two servers on the shelf above were critical (our backup internet server and the remote-access server), so I just yanked them out, undid the screws, twisted the shelf sideways and up to get it around the cables, and it was free.

Second problem: I grabbed the server and tried to hoick it out of the rack. It didn't move. Was it caught on something? No... Can't see anything. Wiggle it a bit... Wiggle... Wiggle. Ah. Now lift. Grrrrgh.

The reason it wasn't moving is that it weighs about seventy pounds. It's the size of a standard mini-tower, though about six inches deeper, but it appears to be constructed entirely of cast iron.

They don't make them like that any more. Thank God.

This little cutie weighs all of 2.9 pounds, and it's faster, has more memory and more disk space than the cast iron cow now sitting on my desk. Admittedly it doesn't have expansion slots or hot-swap drive bays, but ooh, shiny.*

* Is it just me or is the CD in that picture upside down?

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 11:20 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)

1 I don't know about the CD being upside down (maybe it is a double sided DVD) but did you see the notes at the bottome of the iPod shuffle page

Quote:
"2. Do not eat iPod shuffle."

Posted by: Kean at January 12, 2005 01:16 PM (pP+22)

2 Yeah, I saw

Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 12, 2005 03:34 PM (dd1tv)

3 I know exactly the Compaq model you're talking about. They're not seventy pounds; they're 42. But still.

Posted by: Victor at January 12, 2005 11:49 PM (L3qPK)

4 I've actually rented and played a two-sided DVD -- no label side. Put the disc in one way, the movie plays. Take it out, flip it over, the movie plays.
It made me scratch my head, but it was a fun movie even upside down. [rimshot]
Seriously, though -- it really could just be a two-sider.

Posted by: McGehee at January 12, 2005 11:50 PM (S504z)

5 McGehee, those 2-sided DVDs usually have the widescreen version on one side and the fullscreen on the other. There is tiny red/white print around the hub of the disk to tell you which side is which.

Posted by: Ian at January 13, 2005 06:39 AM (tEu69)

6 Looks like an upside-down Azo-dye CD-R to me. The diffraction pattern from a DVD is different.
"Keyboard, iPod mini, dock, hands, AirPort, Bluetooth and PC sold separately."

Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 13, 2005 10:21 AM (uOsif)

7 "Keyboard, mouse, megaphone and display sold separately."

Posted by: Pixy Misa at January 13, 2005 10:24 AM (uOsif)

8 You need to watch more crap movies. A lot of my compilations (example: The Dead Walk - 10 zombie movies) come on 5 2-sided DVD's. One movie per side.

Posted by: Ted at January 13, 2005 09:00 PM (blNMI)

9 You can ID blank CD's by the color diffraction pattern? Pixy, you are a geek to the highest of geekstivity!

Posted by: Victor at January 14, 2005 04:03 AM (L3qPK)

10
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