Re: Location of Hardware

[Mark Braden <mbraden@xxxxxxxxxx>]

I'll add some thoughts to this discussion.  In short, I consider it important
for this server to receive the same attention and care, as any other major
server in your organization.

At Occidental, we've _always_ had an air-conditioned room.  Sometimes, the
air conditioning has malfunctioned.  It's become VERY warm--well, HOT--in
the room.  Computers just aren't designed for _extended_ hours of exposure
to such an environment.

Now, someone might say, "I've run our server for years, it's been sitting
on the rooftop, getting 90-degree sun each day, and never had a
problem".

If it survived such treatment, I consider it a testament to the
technology.  But while a computer may be resilient, I consider it
simply _inappropriate_ to subject this device to anything less than
the best environment.

Why do I feel this so stridently?  Because it's the major server for the
Library.  It contains inventory/transaction/fiscal information.  The Library
department no longer can operate without it.

Now, these facts are the reasons why most organizations place their major
fileservers, webservers, fiscal management servers in protected environments.

Why not the Library's server?

So, Pat, if decision-makers want to put Innopac somewhere else, ask them to
state clearly, that they are willing to expose this server to a higher risk
of damage/failure, than other servers in the organization.

That's a strong thing to ask, but I consider this an important point for
decision-makers to view honestly.

Alongside temperature, there's the risk of dust.  The strangest little particle
can send a disk drive crashing into oblivion.

I'll stop.  Good luck.

--Mark

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Mark E. Braden			Internet: mbraden@xxxxxxxxxx
Catalog/Systems Librarian	Facsimile: 323.341.4991
Occidental College Library	Voice: 323.259.2668
1600 Campus Road		
Los Angeles, California 90041	Interdum stultus bene loquitur
These are my own views.
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