[rescue] Moving Sun servers?

[vintagecoder at aol.com]

Ian wrote:

>> Do they have to be carried level or can I just grab one at a time and
>> carry it without worrying? I don't have a rack and I am tight on space
>> so I plan to stack them 3 or 4 high on each other until I come up with a
>> better setup, will that be a problem? Anything else to look out for?

> Nope. Nothing to watch out for moving them. You can lay/carry them flat,
> up on end, on their sides, any way you please. I've operated Sun E420's
> on their sides next to the desk in lieu of proper rack mounting. There's
> nothing in them that's gravity sensitive. Just, after you move them,
> check that everything is firmly seated - really hard banging can cause
> the CPU to come unseated slightly. 

Thanks very much. I think because they're so deep but not very wide or high
they'll be best carried under the arm or just bear hugged if they turn out
wider than I'm imagining. It's counterintuitive to be able to run one on its
sides though, isn't it? I can't understand how the drives tolerate being
anything but level but it's been years since I took a drive apart. Is there
anything from Sun or conventional wisdom that says you *shouldn't* run them
on their sides or is it just perfectly ok or somewhere in between? If I can
it will help quite a bit instead of stacking them because I'll be able to
cram them in a few spots. Otherwise I'll stack them as I can.

> You can stack them pretty high, those cases are sturdy. Only thing I'd be
> careful of is the faceplate - they break easily. Many surplus Sun servers
> I've seen have completely broken faceplates because someone manhandled
> them. It's not that they're flimsy plastic - no, SGI claims that title.
> It's that the server is really heavy, and if you slam it into something,
> or slam it down on the front faceplate when setting it down, it's going
> to break it. 

Thanks, these should be in fairly good shape I believe they've lived their
lives in a rack and not been around much but I'll know better soon. As long
as I don't slip the faceplates and everything else should be in excellent
shape.

> The only other thing I'd watch out for, is if these are in a rack
> already, be sure to unbolt and take the rack rails with you - don't leave
> the one half in the rack, since after you work on these for a while,
> you'll really want to rack them up some day. 

I'm not sure but I suspect the units are going to be unracked and piled up
shortly if they haven't been already. I will ask for the rails as Lionel
and you've suggested. I know I would love to have a nice sturdy rack or two
but I haven't the place for anything more at the moment.

--
Yes, I was there, if a little late...
And the good old days really were!