[57north-discuss] Space rack/server

[Iain R. Learmonth]

Hi,

On 21/10/2019 14:43, Hibby wrote:
>> * how long will we have the space for this?
> No idea!

This is probably the biggest thing to sort out.

>> * do we have power for this?
> We should probably wait until we get our first power bill and find out how much a kWh is, and then we can plan accordingly
>> * do we have cooling for this?
> Aircon in the room. In terms of cabinet-mount cooling, some thermostaticaly controlled fans if we're doing it properly?

Are we going to run the aircon all the time? What happens when someone
switches it off?

>> * can we do something about the noise?
> 
> Noise can probably be managed by distance from us if we're spreading further wide, or asking nicely if we can put it in a cupboard and playing around in the comms room. We might want to look at consolodating all the noisy/dirty equipment in one corner.

We had a split in the old space of noisy/dirty and clean/social. Both
spaces ended up dirty.

If we're going to have a server rack we *need* to keep it clean. It
should not get lumped in with a dirty workshop.

I guess this probably wasn't what you meant but I want to be clear on this.

>> I think I would first want to see answers to the 4 questions above. If
>> you just wanted to get the rack and put your server in it, fine, but if
>> you want to also start building this out and see it more as a service
>> for hackerspace members, that is going to need more forward planning.
> 
> Definitely needs forward planning. I don't just want to buy, beg, borrow or steal stuff and end up with hardware we don't know what to do with in 6 months time. This is part of my idea about a 21U rack - it's a bit more convenient to move and live with in a smaller location than a full height rack, but it straps us for expansion... But then, are we beginning to get into the business of offering members COLO at that point?

I think this is not a terrible idea, and would be useful to members. I
would invest time in getting a decent network set up to support members
colo.

Thanks,
Iain.