Computers in Basements

[jack at coats.org (Jack Coats)]

Unless the humidity is oppressive (over 85% relative humidity or so on a
continuing basis), or non-condensing should not be a problem.  Actually,
the humidity will carry heat better than dry air, because it has a
higher specific heat.  

Could I suggest put a relative humidity recorder in the basement, also,
record the temperature both entering and leaving your cabinet.  The
temperature sensors can be fairly cheap, and the RH sensor tends to cost
more.  But if yo want to record it manually, you can get a good RH and
thermometer for $25 buck or less many places.

You could have problems if you turn the systems on and off, thus
generating excessive spot heat buildup when you turn a system off,
especially if you do not use a delay relay to keep your exhaust fans on
for quite a while after you turn them off.

-----Original Message-----
From: discuss-admin at blu.org [mailto:discuss-admin at blu.org] On Behalf Of
Timothy M. Lyons
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 3:30 PM
To: Ben Jackson; discuss at blu.org
Subject: Re: Computers in Basements


Ben,

I have had anywhere from 6-10 servers racked in the basement for the
past 5 years with no major issues.  Dust accumulation  is something to
watch for. Not a big deal if you clean the system out every 6-mos or so
with a can of air.  I will say that it probably does decrease the MTBF
of the various internal components by exposing them to an environment of
ever-changing conditions.

However, I can't be sure as the relatively-few component failures I've
experienced, were "getting up-there" in age anyhow...

HTH,
--Tim

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ben Jackson" <bbj at innismir.net>
To: <discuss at blu.org>
Sent: Friday, June 25, 2004 15:32
Subject: Computers in Basements


> So, I've recently returned from college back to my parents house and 
> as an extension of that, I've returned to the land of no central AC. 
> This has not been an issue over the winter, where I've run my systems 
> without worry, however the past couple of 80+ days, my room has 
> invariably has become an oven. This is not acceptible.
>
> Now, my house has an unfinished basement which always stays nice and 
> cool. However, the problem that like most unfinished basement, it is a

> bit humid down there. My current plan is to invest in a dehumidifier 
> fore the basement and move my servers (3) down there. I've google a 
> bit on this and have found no resources on such a venture.
>
> So, I pose some questions to the list to see if anyone has done this
before:
>
> A. /Has/ anyone on list done something similar to this?
>
> B. Should I be worried about anything else basement related (there are

> no furry creatures crawling down there, we have a cat) that I should 
> be worried about?
>
> C. If I do this, should I worry about winter temperatures? (I think it

> can get down to 40-50 down there winter time)
>
> TIA.
>
> ~Ben
>
> --
> /"\  Ben Jackson
> \ /  bbj <at> innismir.net - http://www.innismir.net/
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