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?

Regards,
Jason.
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On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 13:02:03 +0100, Jason Arthurs
wrote:

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?

Regards,
Jason.
---
Replace nntp with my name to reply.
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You will need to tank it, and do a good job, else it will be damp. The
tanking materials for a small room are gonna be a grand list price.

Flooding however remote would be an expensive problem.

I'd look at putting them into the loft space.

Rick

Couldn't you make use of the 4 ft drop and have a split level -
basement above floor level but still 4 ft below garden ground level?
Loft would be easier though.

wrote:
Couldn't you make use of the 4 ft drop and have a split level -
basement above floor level but still 4 ft below garden ground level?
Loft would be easier though.

Loft would not be good for servers that get rather toasty!

--
Alex Meaden
Technical Support Officer
Computing Service
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"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.

What are these servers - a couple of PC midi towers or a something like
an IBM mainframe?

Is it really worth the expense - what space savings are to be made and
at what cost?

An external projection to the building may be more cost effective.

dg

On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 16:08:44 +0100, Alex
wrote:

wrote:
Couldn't you make use of the 4 ft drop and have a split level -
basement above floor level but still 4 ft below garden ground level?
Loft would be easier though.

Loft would not be good for servers that get rather toasty!

That would rather depend how you insulate the loft :-)

Rick

Rick wrote:
Loft would not be good for servers that get rather toasty!


That would rather depend how you insulate the loft :-)

Hmm, my parents loft is insulated between it and the floor below and
gets over 40C in the summer :/



--
Alex Meaden
Technical Support Officer
Computing Service
remove "+nospam" from address to email

Rick wrote:

Flooding however remote would be an expensive problem.

false floor & sump, automatic pump/alarm?

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.

My main interest was that I recently visited a clients house and they
live in a very steep valley so the tail end of their new kitchen
extension is actually *in* the hill. I figured an underfloor space
would cut down on the area of the office required as well as offering
an opportunity to put significant audio insulation in place to prevent
noise being an issue (my Proliant servers are not noted for their
whisper quiet operation).

Regards,
Jason.

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


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.

How about adding a velux window to your loft?

snip

Regards,
Jason.

---
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Alex wrote:
Rick wrote:
Loft would not be good for servers that get rather toasty!
That would rather depend how you insulate the loft :-)
Hmm, my parents loft is insulated between it and the floor below and
gets over 40C in the summer :/

Yes, you have to insulate between the loft and the roof above.

Owain

"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.