"Jason Arthurs" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:50:11 +0100, "Doctor Drivel"
wrote:


"Jason Arthurs" wrote in message
.. .
I'm current investigating building a small office at the bottom of the
garden, one option I would like to investigate is that of having an
underfloor void to store my servers. Not a full-on basement but an
area large enough to give crawl space access to hardware running 'down
below'.

I live in Worcestershire and the soil is a very heavy clay, which in
the winter becomes stodgy enough to almost throw pots with and in the
summer is baked hard. We have a dried up stream bed (now culverted)
beyond the edge of the property so just beyond our garden the level
drops around 4ft into an 8ft wide 'ditch'. This occasionally gets a
couple of inches of water in it after very heavy rainfall.

My key interest is that if I could give my servers a subterranean home
then the size of the office above could be reduced significantly and
essentially become me and my laptop above and my servers running below
the floor. Ventilation needn't be too much of an issue, my key concern
would be keeping it all cool and dry.

Anyone have any issues they can see regarding the viability of this?

How about putting the servers in the roof space.

One issue with the loft space was that I wasn't planning on having one
:-) the initial idea was for a pitched roof with a couple of decent
Velux windows to maximise the level of natural light.

The servers are currently in the loft and have not as *yet* had a
problem with the high summer temperatures but I was aiming to give
them a slightly cooler environment. I've recently factored a couple of
UPS' into the equation and apparently high temperatures can
significantly reduce battery lifespan.

Extend comms cables from the shed to the loft. Access the servers via a
LAN. Have a fan using outside air to blow across the kit using a thermostat
located just over the kit.