[Beowulf] [EXTERNAL] server lift

Alex Chekholko alex at calicolabs.com
Wed Oct 20 19:02:28 UTC 2021


To provide my anecdote, I happen to have this one:
https://www.genielift.com/en-in/material-handling/material-lifts/load-lifter

Pros:
I didn't have to choose it, it was already there when I inherited this
server room
It is compact and easy to maneuver down the aisles, you can even turn it
around

Cons:
Does not go to top of rack
platform is fairly small so you have to position larger servers with some
care

Regards,
Alex


On Wed, Oct 20, 2021 at 4:21 AM John Hearns <hearnsj at gmail.com> wrote:

> The engine hoist is just superb! The right tool for the job.
> Thinking about this, old style factories had overhead cranes. At Glasgow
> University we had a cyclotron, and I am told one of the professors took a
> great joy in driving the crane.
> The Tate Modern art gallery has a huge overhead crane, kept to remind of
> the original purpose of the building (a power station).
>
> Thinking about server rooms we have electrical and communications services
> dropping down into  racks from the top.
> So a travelling crane would foul against the services - unless it was
> higher.
> How about positioning steel I-beams running along all cold aisles though?
> You could run an engine hoist along these with a cradle below it for the
> server.
> Sealed hot/cold aisles need not be a problem - often they have lift off
> panels in the roof.
>
> Probably easier to have a server lift but one can dream...
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, 20 Oct 2021 at 09:49, Tina Friedrich <tina.friedrich at it.ox.ac.uk>
> wrote:
>
>> +1 for the manual
>>
>> We had an electric scissor lift in the DC, and exactly that happened -
>> battery died. More expensive to replace than buying a new lift.
>>
>> So we got a manual one (making sure it can go to full rack height which
>> is very useful) - much less likely to go wrong.
>>
>> Tina
>>
>> On 19/10/2021 18:40, Robert Taylor wrote:
>> > I like the serverlift, having used one in our colo. If I got one, I
>> > would go with the crank one. Electric is nice, but when the battery is
>> > dead, you're stuck. Maybe it would have run off of wall power, but our
>> > colo space is all 208v so I couldn't be sure if I could plug it in
>> > there. Don't want to let out the blue smoke.... :-)
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > On Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 12:47 PM Michael Di Domenico
>> > <mdidomenico4 at gmail.com <mailto:mdidomenico4 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> >
>> >     i would love to go oil bath, it's just not in the cards for this
>> >     data center
>> >
>> >     On Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 2:34 AM Stu Midgley <sdm900 at gmail.com
>> >     <mailto:sdm900 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>> >
>> >         we use a gantry crane...
>> >
>> >          From our install in 2019 :)
>> >
>> >         image.png
>> >
>> >         On Tue, Oct 19, 2021 at 9:34 AM Lux, Jim (US 7140) via Beowulf
>> >         <beowulf at beowulf.org <mailto:beowulf at beowulf.org>> wrote:
>> >
>> >             Do you want one with a scissor lift type arrangement, or
>> >             with a "prongs" arrangement (more like a forklift)
>> >
>> >             For instance, the scissor types have a nice flat surface
>> >             that remains level, so you can slide stuff off a table onto
>> >             the lift, or from the lift onto a table. But you don't have
>> >             access "under" the platform.
>> >
>> >
>> >             On 10/18/21, 7:33 AM, "Beowulf on behalf of Michael Di
>> >             Domenico" <beowulf-bounces at beowulf.org
>> >             <mailto:beowulf-bounces at beowulf.org> on behalf of
>> >             mdidomenico4 at gmail.com <mailto:mdidomenico4 at gmail.com>>
>> wrote:
>> >
>> >                  we're using an older genie lift as a server lift
>> >             currently.  which as
>> >                  you can guess isn't designed for servers.  the most
>> >             recent set of
>> >                  compute nodes we purchased are pretty much impossible
>> >             to lift by man
>> >                  (even if that was a good idea) and the genie lift is
>> >             getting awkward
>> >                  in our cramped data center given it's design and server
>> >             weight.
>> >
>> >                  i can certainly google for one, but they all look great
>> >             in the
>> >                  glossies.  does anyone want to provide some real world
>> >             info?
>> >                  _______________________________________________
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>> >
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>> >             <
>> https://urldefense.us/v3/__https://beowulf.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/beowulf__;!!PvBDto6Hs4WbVuu7!YJuZvpOsx3S9-WpmbnljrU2N33GRjVe386v7Qt2vtX5ZP7MjYvhNsEgTlTu2j7XsL0xiP5c$
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >             _______________________________________________
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>> >             <mailto:Beowulf at beowulf.org> sponsored by Penguin Computing
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>> >
>> >
>> >         --
>> >         Dr Stuart Midgley
>> >         sdm900 at gmail.com <mailto:sdm900 at gmail.com>
>> >
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>> >     Beowulf mailing list, Beowulf at beowulf.org
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>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
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>> Computing
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>>
>> --
>> Tina Friedrich, Advanced Research Computing Snr HPC Systems Administrator
>>
>> Research Computing and Support Services
>> IT Services, University of Oxford
>> http://www.arc.ox.ac.uk http://www.it.ox.ac.uk
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