bjarvis: (men at work)
bjarvis ([personal profile] bjarvis) wrote2009-05-09 11:05 am
  • Add Memory
  • Share This Entry
Entry tags:

A Workplace First For Me

In the many years I've been employed as a geek, I've never had to use a crowbar on a server before. Yesterday, I did.

A while ago, California HQ shipped me two Dell servers to install in our data center in Sterling, VA. One was in relatively good shape but the other clearly had a very, very hard life: the thick metal faceplate was bent & twisted in ways no server should have ever experienced.

Thursday, the California folks asked me to swap the hard drives between the two servers. Removing the disks from one server was no problem, but the other server's twisted faceplate made removal of the disk trays utterly impossible. Yesterday, I had to use a crowbar to gently bend the faceplate sufficiently that the disks could be removed. Oy!

I'd really like to know what happened to this server in its former life... pity there's nothing like Carfax for servers.
Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[identity profile] moofedct.livejournal.com 2009-05-09 04:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I think it's just a shame that you had to work on a Dell. Worst servers I've ever worked with.

[identity profile] bjarvis.livejournal.com 2009-05-09 07:24 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah, very fragile and delicate. They're tough to get started and keep running.

[identity profile] rootbear.livejournal.com 2009-05-09 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
If they tell you how the server got that way, they'll have to kill you.
urbear: (Default)

[personal profile] urbear 2009-05-09 05:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Sounds like the server was previously subjected to percussive maintenance.

[identity profile] bjarvis.livejournal.com 2009-05-09 07:27 pm (UTC)(link)
In this instance, it appears the "maintenance" was conducted under the tracks of a bulldozer.

[identity profile] billeyler.livejournal.com 2009-05-10 03:16 am (UTC)(link)
Did you ever find the hand crank for it?

[identity profile] trawnapanda.livejournal.com 2009-05-10 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
that wikipedia entry is actually quite amusing to read.
The origins and practice of the term are unknown, although some suggest the act became commonplace with the introduction of vacuum tube electronics, or perhaps with the invention of the wheel.
I dunno about the origin of the term, but I'm sure the origin of the act of percussive maintenance is closer to the invention of the wheel than the vacuum tube, human nature being what it is

[identity profile] markgarciachris.livejournal.com 2009-05-10 01:35 am (UTC)(link)
Perhaps it lived through an earthquake?
Flat | Top-Level Comments Only