We had just recieved a new server and my coworker and I discussed which server room to put it in; the as yet incomplete one where we were plugging servers into regular wall outlets, or the original server room which we would be moving out of within the month but had multiple circuits dropped above each rack.
The matter of not having proper power in the new server room was
discussed, but our desire to not move the server later that month caused us to
decide to put the system into the new server room. Shelves were quickly
installed, and the server was racked. Power and ether were hooked up and the
power button was hit. Nothing blew up, so I left the room for my coworker to
finish getting the OS install under way.
Not 15 steps out of the room and I hear a sudden decrease in the noise from the room. And while it was mildly cool to hear 15 loud machines be powered off at once; I present a firmly learned lesson;
Sysadmin Law 92: Always double check that you aren't about to overload a
circuit before plugging in a new server.
Along with our nice new air conditioner, we had a new thermostat installed in our server room. The entire display is a giant touch screen.
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If you click on the image above, you will be able to see a little button in the bottom middle labeled "SCREEN". (Pay no attention to the water dripping off the lower right corner). Being the curious individual I am (and having faith that no option on thermostat could be that bad), I pushed that spot.
As I watched it count down from 30 with the message "OK TO CLEAN SCREEN" shown as it counted, I had a very good laugh. After the 30 seconds, it reverts to the normal display. (Pay no attention to the carefully placed plastic over the thermostat).
We are nearly through with building out a new server room; new racks, power, and HVAC. One of the last things completed was installation of a big red button.
That button will kill all of the outlets above the racks and will send a signal to the UPSes (Remote UPS Power Off Device) to have them turn off immediately. Soon it will be set-up such that the circuit will be trigged if the sprinkler system in the room goes off. The theory here being that it's better to deal with wet improperly turned off systems than wet, likely shorted out improperly turned off systems. Oh, and perhaps it makes an electrical fire less likely.
The button of course screams out to be pushed. I was lucky enough to be given the opportunity to push it before we had all of our servers using the power it controls (very anticlimatic just turning off a fan and radio though) . Unfortunately, it was not installed in the best of locations. Well, at least it's in a plastic case and in a limited access room.
update 2007-08-15: a reader sent a link to STI as a source for all sorts of big buttons and such.
