#303212 - 19/10/2007 07:48
Dust?
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5683
Loc: London, UK
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So, for various reasons, it looks like I'll have to give up the exclusive use of my study, and move my server into the attic.
Question: it's likely to be dusty up there. Any tips?
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-- roger
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#303213 - 19/10/2007 08:35
Re: Dust?
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Heat is more likely to be the issue than dust. Unless all of your roof is in shade the attic will get very, very hot in the summer.
My servers live in the garage and they get all sorts of dust and crap through at them. I have never cleaned the insides of them in the 5 or so years they have been there and they are still going strong* (even though they also regularly see 80% humidity as well).
* ok, so the PSU fan on one makes a nasty noise and 2 of the 8 disks have failed/are failing, but they are still running
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#303214 - 19/10/2007 11:39
Re: Dust?
[Re: andy]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 24/12/2001
Posts: 5528
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Quote:
Heat is more likely to be the issue than dust. Unless all of your roof is in shade the attic will get very, very hot in the summer.
My servers live in the garage and they get all sorts of dust and crap through at them. I have never cleaned the insides of them in the 5 or so years they have been there and they are still going strong* (even though they also regularly see 80% humidity as well).
* ok, so the PSU fan on one makes a nasty noise and 2 of the 8 disks have failed/are failing, but they are still running
Odd idea of still going strong there Andy!
If you give it a good clean before you move everything in and then a regular clean then I don't see it being especially dusty.
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#303216 - 19/10/2007 12:45
Re: Dust?
[Re: Roger]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 25/12/2000
Posts: 16706
Loc: Raleigh, NC US
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Make sure your case fans blow inward. This way, all random holes in the case, from the ones intended to be there to random gaps will have air blowing out of them, which means that they can't suck in dust. That way, you know which holes are sucking in air -- the ones with fans on them -- and you can put filters on them. Of course, this also requires that you check the filters from time to time, and probably clean or replace them, too.
Alternately, if you have a case that's designed to have an in-fan and an out-fan, see if you can make the in-fan blow harder than the out-fan sucks. Basically, you want to make sure you have positive pressure inside the case.
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Bitt Faulk
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#303217 - 19/10/2007 18:50
Re: Dust?
[Re: wfaulk]
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addict
Registered: 11/01/2002
Posts: 612
Loc: Reading, UK
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Make a decent enclosure (or for £20 or so buy a kitchen cupboard carcass or similar). Get a cheap thermostat that can switch-to-cool and an extractor fan (get a 150mm/6", not a 100mm/4") Use some ducting to get to outside (maybe the soffets? - I hired a core drill and drilled through the wall). Orient the fan to suck air from outside and set a temperature. Voila - a dust-free, temperature controlled server facility in the attic  You could practically run a chip-fab facility in there....
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LittleBlueThing
Running twin 30's
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#303218 - 19/10/2007 19:33
Re: Dust?
[Re: LittleBlueThing]
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carpal tunnel
Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5916
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
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Half you actually monitored the temperature that you achieved during a decently hot summer ?
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#303219 - 20/10/2007 08:18
Re: Dust?
[Re: andy]
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addict
Registered: 11/01/2002
Posts: 612
Loc: Reading, UK
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No - my installation is about 2 weeks old And mine's not quite as described - I went for plan B and built it in the study into a cupboard unit. I also extract the air instead of intract(?)ing it! (I was too lazy - the air outside is almost always cooler than inside - especially in a rack - and that way the rack heat is kept in the house rather than being expelled. I'm going to turn my fan around....) I've had the cupboard shut and set it to 27degrees. There are 3 server PCs a UPS, a switch, a VCR and a Sky box in there. Plus other things. The fan was coming on for about 5 minutes an hour when the room was quite warm. Surprisingly effective.
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LittleBlueThing
Running twin 30's
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#303221 - 22/10/2007 08:09
Re: Dust?
[Re: Roger]
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old hand
Registered: 14/08/2001
Posts: 886
Loc: London, UK
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Most dust is bits of human skin and stuff. Isn't it likely to be less dusty up there? Unless you have Bart's evil twin brother living up there or something
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Rio Karma - now on ebay...
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#303222 - 22/10/2007 10:16
Re: Dust?
[Re: andy]
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addict
Registered: 11/01/2002
Posts: 612
Loc: Reading, UK
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Quote:
Ah, in that case I'll continue to rant on about lofts and their >45°C summer temperatures (before adding hundreds of watts of server generated heat) as being bad places to put servers 
Quite right - but when "needs must"... as Roger said.
So if you have no choice then:
* dust - use an enclosure and positive pressure.
* heat - use a thermostat and a source of coolish air
My servers run in an enclosed and insulated box and the extractor fan does a good job of swapping the hot air out - I think that's the main requirement. If we had month after month of 45degree heat then I'd be more worried. As it is I reckon the fan would only be running for a few days a year.
(And, to be clear, I agree that the loft is one of the *last* places I'd suggest for server location (probably better than the bathroom though))
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LittleBlueThing
Running twin 30's
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