23 May
1999
23 May
'99
1:22 p.m.
I have my (fairly small - mostly standard desktops)
collection housed in my
basement. I have a fairly large drafting table (workbench), with cement
blocks near the back (on top). I have 3/4" plywood shelves, 3 levels high.
The first and second shelves are computers, and all the monitors are on top.
They've been like that for tow or three years, now, with no problems.
The only downside is that the cement blocks get to be pretty heavy. They're
not bad for a garage, though, if you don't plan to be moving them. They're
easy to find at demolition sites, too. I got mine for $1 a block.
I like to use something called a Gorilla Rack. You can buy them at
SAM'S Club stores (membership discount store) under the name Gorilla
Rack. Basically, they're big steel and wood shelving units strong
enough you can park a car on them. And they only cost $60. I use
one at work to house 12 servers, KVM switches, a UPS, a monitor,
keyboard and mouse with room to spare. I have a smaller version at
home that I dislike. The real ones are 4' wide, about 6' tall and
about 20 inches deep. Perfect for stacking machines.
Also,
I have two 6' tables with machines on them that I use regularly.
But the deskspace fills up quickly. So I mounted to shelving brackets
behind them on the wall about 2' off the desktop and then mounted a
piece of 3/4" fiberboard, 4' by 2' on those. Then the front of the
board is supported by 3 vertical 2x4's that rest on the table top.
It almost doubles the amount of equipment that can be stored in that
space.
I'm going to do the same thing above the table that I keep my iMac on.
I'm also big on 19" racks. I have a serious fetish for them. I get
them from decommissioned paging systems at $10-20 each. I have a nice
blue one in the server room in my basement that houses a 36 port hub,
a terminal server, a small router, some modems and some other equipment.
Anthony Clifton