Today's photo caption: Here's one for all you network fans.
Welcome back to Tech Service Today's IT Disaster of the Week series where we showcase the ugliest IT environment our technicians ran into this week.
This week we're looking at one of the unconventional cooling tactics some IT professionals employ to keep their IT equipment from overheating. While I applaud the effort made here, there are additional ways to increase airflow around sensitive equipment to prevent technology meltdowns.
The first is to store your equipment in an open network rack, or an enclosure - like a server cabinet equipped with cooling fans. But in small retail environments (like the one shown) where nearly every inch of real estate is allocated to merchandise, it's uncommon to find a space that is both secure and large enough to fit all the network, computer, security, and POS hardware found in today's high-tech stores.
With few areas meeting those criteria (except maybe the employee restroom, which we've seen used before), IT professionals often settle for the space beneath the checkout counters for their IT equipment. Since tight spaces like this aren't accommodating to most racks, equipment is typically set up directly on the shelves.
Obviously having a solid shelf beneath this equipment is not conducive to proper ventilation, which explains the mini-fan. So let's look at some creative ways to increase air-flow in these tight environments.
The great thing about network racks is they allow air circulation around all sides of each piece of equipment. But racks don't work well in tight, under-counter environments. And when you have only one shelf, every device is crammed in side-by-side. Well if you can't spread devices out horizontally, try going vertically instead.
Something as simple as a baking rack with fold-down legs (the thing you put home-made cookies on to cool after taking them out of the oven) can be placed beneath the DVR in this photo, thereby elevating it above the adjacent, heat-generating UPS/power strip, and allowing more air to flow beneath & around it. It may be a bit unconventional, but some may still call it a cookie-cutter solution.
With the DVR issue solved, we still need to address the tower PC/server situated to the right of the DVR. We found this computer jammed up against the back wall under the counter. If you know anything about IT, then you know most computers & servers are designed to draw cool air in through the front of their chassis and blow hot air out the back to prevent them from over-heating. By stuffing a computer up against a wall in an under-counter environment like this, you prevent the hot air from exhausting out the back, and basically turn your PC into an Easy-Bake oven (although such a mistake would give you another use for that cookie rack).
In summary, if you are a fan of keeping your IT equipment and networks up & running, then don't blow it by restricting air-flow around your sensitive, mission-critical equipment. Otherwise your network may appear as the featured photo in our next IT Disaster of the Week.
Check back every Friday for TST's latest IT Disaster of the Week photo
which represents one of the thousands of customer sites our technicians visit every year as they install and service IT, networking, and telecom equipment & cabling for our clients.
Click here to see last week's IT Disaster photo.
Do you already have an IT disaster that needs to be cleaned up?
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