[geeks] Server lift: rent, borrow, or buy?

[William Enestvedt]

(Forgive the drift from strict Rescue charter, but you all seem to be
esxactly the folks to answer tis qurestion.)

So I finally have a need for a server lift at work, and I don't know
whether we should try to buy, borrow, or rent one.

   We just got in three new Sun servers (an M4000 and two M5000): yay!
But they are very heavy (almost 300lbs.): boo! And they need to be lined
up juuuust right so as to attach the rack arms and engage all these tiny
pins: boo again! And we don't have a lift, only three strong guys:
thrice boo! And the racking instructions only indicate how to do ti with
a lift: a fourth boo!

   We tried to think of alternative (pallet jack, engine hoist, floor
jack, six-foot 2"x4"...) but nothing seems to do this job. Has anyone
ever come up with a clever alternative?

   So I am curious: can one rent a data center lift? If so, from whom?
(I'm in Providence, RI.) We don't anticipate having much more equipment
this big come in any time soon, so I don't see a $2000 purchase as very
practical. Do people with only infrequent need borrow one from, say,
another nearby school or something?

   Thank you for any advice.

- Will
--
Will Enestvedt
UIS Database Team Manager, Johnson & Wales University, Providence, RI