A DAY in the LIFE of the DATA CENTRE | RACKING SERVERS with ASH & JAMES!

The next installment in our "A DAY in the LIFE" series follows our two Service Delivery Manager's, Ash & James, as they show us how to rack servers and switches into one of our data centre racks - correctly!
We want to continue taking you inside the data centre, showing you what goes on and what our clients expect in our Tier 4 facility in Kent, which to this date has had no power outages.
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[@DroneCentralUK]

the slipped up we now know the pin code to enter that room is a smiley face

[@GiorgioBonfiglio]

Cisco 2960, Cisco 6500 with GBIC line cards and G5 servers - feels like you had to timetravel to 2008 to shoot this.

[@Error-403]

You and I both have this feeling! I presume this was just for filming purposes

[@war357.]

@@Error-403me too

[@tomlewis3658]

I am retired now but when I was working, we used HP ProLiant servers, and I thought that back plane looked very familiar. Yes, those 2U G5's are kind of heavy. I often worked in very crowded server racks, so this one was refreshingly empty.

[@kkpdk]

Yup. I have a couple 380G5's in what I call the 'museum rack'. It has not been powered in years. Maybe I should plug in power and see if they still work.

[@markarca6360]

The servers are HP ProLiant DL380 G5 (that was before HPE (5 years ago, now it is Gen10).

[@Fishbait075]

Network tour would be great. Explaining where your feeds come in from the outside world, and how they get given out to the racks. And is your carrier neutral, how customers can pick and have the carrier of their choice delivered to their rack.

[@BradMottram]

Fishbait075 Yup I’d like to see the same!

[@Custodiandc-DataCentres]

Network tour will be live early September!

[@sinogarcon]

Immediately typing network tour in the KZbin search.

[@joshuagardner2030]

"I'll take the Red pill" We're all such nerds here, and I love it!

[@gregy8698]

I am new to the latest data centers, so I enjoyed this video very much. You gave just enough bonus info to keep it moving, but at the same time it was extra informative! Thank you and I look forward to more!

[@meynoush535]

I loved how cutely James was trying not to look at the camera. =))

[@sageosaka]

Just found my new favorite KZbin channel

[@harrycodlife]

I did a cable schedule once in a small data centre. Had to trace every Lan cable from end to end from 12 rack cabinets, label each end of the cables and record it all onto a spreadsheet. Took me about six weeks.

[@stingray65b]

Thank you for taking the time to post this series of videos. Cage nuts were a great improvement over the old style racks with pre-threaded holes, which could get stripped (occasionally happened). Plus, the option to choose between different rack screw and thread sizes.

[@billycroan2336]

Try using a cage nut puller. There's a proper tool for putting in cage nuts and it's not your fingers. You can get it in a molded screwdriver handle style or a thin piece of sheet metal tool that often comes with racks. Alternatively, just use a zip tie. You can seat the first half of the cage nut with a finger and then stick a zip tie between the other side of the nut and the hole. Push it tight with one hand and pull the zip tie with the other to drag the other half of the cage nut through the hole. For extra style points use a second zip tie as a handle for the first

[@stingray65b]

@@billycroan2336 Thanks. I think there’s a miscommunication. I’m aware of the tool. I have one. It resembles a nail clipper, though wide and flat. Used it often. I wasn’t referring to a stripped cage nut. I’m talking about older racks that have a pre-threaded hole in the rail itself. If the threads strip, though rare, I’ve typically had to put a nut behind the tail. I ran into this scenario once or twice when I bought a used rack on the cheap that was manufactured before the advent of cage nuts. Obviously, if a cage nut gets messed up on a rack that uses them you just pop it out and squeeze in a replacement, as I believe you were conveying. While data racks employ cage nuts now. I believe many smaller audio-oriented racks still employ pre-threaded rack rails. Cheers!

[@alextassot]

Great job on the video guys. I'm sure it would greatly help some inexperienced tech. However, worth to note that before tidying-up your cabling with velcro, one must be sure there is enough slack to be able to pull the server and do maintenance. As an exemple, the server in U21 would lose power feed A were you to pull it out! That's a major no-no. Again, nice video nonetheless, thanks for sharing it

[@lordchive8944]

Racking servers and putting in cage nuts and drawing blood is like a sacrificial offering to the networking gods :)

[@CreachterZ]

You guys are awesome! Thank for the insight.

[@simonfoxell6590]

Nice explanation. Just one extra procedure we carry out, The Pull Test. Once we have racked the server we pull it back out to it;s locking point (if it has one) while supporting the bottom just to make sure it is racked securely.

[@tactical_hen]

Love this series! Keep up the good work guys!

[@h4xor1701]

love to se G5s in use in 2019. I still have a DL380 G5 in my home Datacenter, which is my first server i bought..

[@michael7324]

Some old HPE G5 servers. Nice to re-provision the old stuff sometimes. No warranty on those old dogs. Fun to watch. Thanks

[@markarca6360]

Power bars - PDU (power distribution unit)

[@diegonayalazo]

I had great fun and learned a lot from you guys. Nice teamwork too!

[@accesser]

Thanks for posting I like these videos, my work has gone from a very large on prem DC to everything in a hosted solution & cloud now the DC is a storeroom.

[@brunoceleste970]

Toni kross and steve rogers are great ! Excellent video guys!

[@RollerCoasterLineProductions]

Thx for posting, found this very very interesting!

[@steveurbach3093]

I have a couple of 1/4" steel rods I place thu the top hole of the U below, to form an 'X'. That makes it easy to rack Ears Only devices with a single person (and hold up those extra heavy 2U switches without tiring).

[@billycroan2336]

Try doing just one side first, loosely and letting the damn thing dangle diagonally for a second. Then pivot the other side up and put it screw in loosely. Then tighten both screws while supporting the back so it's flush. The process looks goofy as hell but it works.

[@tarakrama]

Awesome presentation!! Thank you so much!!

[@trollmanrs]

A lot easier with 2 people, I used to install our Broadcast Encoder servers single handed. Tough times. Good job.

[@techstuff7414]

I managed to install an IBM Bladecenter H by myself. It was very difficult and probably also dangerous. Not recommended.

[@husher5142]

The first time I put in a cage nut with the tool - never laughed so hard in my life as the cage nut went flying across the datacenter. They have it right .. just use your hands

[@mathiasensimon]

I love how their explain everything to each other like they dont know

[@Cr41677]

gen 5's in 2019, is this just for the video? It is also worth noting that you can order fans for most switches that change the direction of the airflow so they can be mounted at the back of the rack

[@linuxguy1199]

Nest video, its cool to see what other companies are doing

[@Ca_Ba]

Great video! Thanks for sharing

[@gwgux]

He's right, those rack nuts hurt like hell when they get you. I never used gloves when racking servers and switches, but it's not a bad idea.

[@husher5142]

From like 2005-2010 we used zip ties .. ive been lacerated by so many zipties always wear gloves. I mean unless youre a carpenter in your spare time and have man paws of steel.

[@devtalk9967]

amazing video love it keep making this kind of video

[@prussian7]

Weird, I worked with a guy in IT (different department) who looked like James, also his name was James. Slightly darker hair, and US (Midwestern) accent.

[@jonlaban4272]

Thanks for this explainer video showing the racking of traditional enterprise servers and switches. On an OCP rack installation of vanity free servers is 250 times faster than the traditional proprietary enterprise servers shown above.

[@dionrowney]

you need to demonstrate the APC cage nut installation tool that makes cage nuts a snap and so easy.

[@TheGrimeh]

Look at those wasted PDU sockets due to the server rails! To do this properly firstly use 1200mm deep and 800mm wide racks when mounting servers, mount both PDUs on the right next to the server PSU's and so the sockets are facing the back of the rack (tucked down the side) and add decent cable management for all the data cabling on the left side and add cable gutters to support the cables running from the front to the back. Also keep all cable lengths to a minimum to avoid excess cable just hanging or getting in the way. Great to see the earth pin locking IEC sockets though! Some advice from one data center manager to another :)

[@nbaantonio5762]

i thank you for your immense teaching

[@SynySterG888]

Do you take it in turns going round the back?

[@scottscott232]

You guys are super knowledgeable, and super cool. "Ash... thumbs up". This looks like a great company to work in. Everything is so neat, tidy, structured. I love the fact that the company is customer needs focused.

[@TerrisFineArt-nd3dc]

very nice, thank you!

[@evelbsstudio]

It wasn't that much different in 1990 but the wages where better and there wasn't many people in IT so you had to be 1st, 2nd, 3rd line support, software support and telecoms installers and support (the telecoms wasnt as easy as it is these days), then they started pushing school leavers in to the industry and the wages plummeted, now the job is more defined in to specialist in one field or another and the market is saturated. There wasn't all the different qualifications, university was just IT degree where they taught software programming and the only other qualifications where Microsoft certification and Novel networking and you had to have both certifications to work in the field. Every site was different with a mix of bnc and rj45 networks. I used to enjoy my job but left the industry to become an electrician and plumber when the wages dropped £25k-35k a year. (Dependand on the contracts you where assigned and locations). £40k was a bloody good wage them days when you could buy a house for £16k and lower.

[@pwhv]

these guys enjoy the life

[@joshthecapguy7832]

Used to install the battery arrays powering these things. Fun times

[@rty1955]

Haha. Battery array, how cute. Real data centers have a TRUE UPS room (not a standby UPS) with a generator backup. The machines just get good clean power all the time

[@joshthecapguy7832]

@@rty1955 nobody cares

[@rty1955]

@@joshthecapguy7832 amazing how you tolerate inexperience

[@joshthecapguy7832]

@@rty1955 okay

[@serpent77]

Lucky... Two people makes this much easier, just had to rack another server at home on my own. Similar size as the ones you're racking (Looks like DL380 G5s?). I just racked a DL380 G7 in my home rack for a new Emby server. Also, gloves are a really great idea... don't ask me, or the giant smash on my pointer finger, how I know. LOL. 😂🤣

[@brianaragon1641]

Great. Very informative. 🖒

[@andyhill242]

Do you draw straws for who works in the hot aisle? I hate working in hot isles!

[@prussian7]

I usually have had to do that myself at most jobs. No fun when it's bigger than a 1U or one of the rails wants to move in.

[@TD_JR]

Your definition of SDM is different than my experience with IBM - SDM was customer facing, on the phone quite often, dealing with the customer needs along with an architect and other executive staff. They rarely did hands on rack and stack - much less monitoring and ticket handling. On this side of the pond, you're more of a Data Center Tech/Analyst.

[@ronnoc1123]

The blue fans on the switch would suggest it should actually be hot aisle facing and actually sucks cold air through the rear (fans) so ports should have been facing rear (not front as you’ve installed).

[@EdjMrSanMan]

I like you two guys. I’m subscribing!

[@mitchg9017]

G5s in 2019 I wonder how they run with no power supplies 🤔

[@gryg666]

I just realized that in my home lab I've mounted all cage nuts 180 degrees rotated :D Thanks!

[@Bigevilfishy]

Should be fine. Some rails our clients don’t even request cage nuts unless it’s a heavier 2u

[@muchosa1]

20yrs ago I had to rack a Compaq Proliant 5500 by myself, Luckily it was at the bottom half of the rack.

[@mrrobertwolfiii1079]

Thanks half backed the movie for us two as well please thanks.

[@pacificxmedia]

strong vibes from these two.. around the back..flying out.. etc

[@0FFICERPROBLEM]

bloody ell

[@junsnow4002]

2960 is like the third hokage, old but lit!!

[@gandalf1783]

PaniniStealer Same 😂

[@martynjones973]

Your thoughts on power stack cables ? Thanks

[@_JC_Denton_]

Great vidéo !

[@GazbertUK]

I keep expecting to see David Brent pop up.

[@korey9498]

What kind of blanking panels are those you installed at the end

[@ITServerTech01]

Your surely not putting G5 servers back into production :P

[@e10kpro]

ITServerTech I was going to say, a G5 DL380 is just a tiny bit dated in 2019...

[@viscountalpha]

Fun fact about airflow. Air can be up to 90 degrees F and with proper airflow components will survive. Now that same component with air at 32f with zero air flow, those same components will not survive. Airflow is critical to component survival and longevity.

[@AranoxxDI]

Hmmm.... it looks like some HP Proliant DL380 G5 servers you install... isent that a rather old server to use today?

[@uilsonRJ]

never occurred to me to use that type plastic as blanking plates... thanks for the idea, have a couple of them here in blue, will get up to cut them one of this days

[@genjimccorkle5518]

Wow nice video!

[@arminmohammadi1]

so good i love it

[@coreykenner6434]

what software do you use to cluster servers i have a home lab

[@markarca6360]

12:25 - I think he is talking about PUE (power usage efficiency).

[@InformationTechnology-er2wj]

Good job.

[@tsukogg]

now i'm binge watching your videos, kinda envy you guys heheheh

[@orreymodo5860]

Must be nice to be able to use EOL/EOS switches lol. We would be down checked by inspectors and be on the red board

[@m0zah]

A tour of the network would be cool!

[@Custodiandc-DataCentres]

Hey Jimbo. Good news, a tour of our network has been confirmed. Will be live in around two weeks!

[@Ca_Ba]

Quick Qn is there any sort of jack to help install heavy routers, network devices in rack? I remember seen this, but I cannot find what are they called. Thank you

[@human151]

You’re thinking of a server dolly.

[@martynjones973]

Again thanks 👍👍

[@marco2carriloo436]

because are using these olders g5 servers?

[@Pfsensepluss]

What is SDM definition? I really enjoy your videos and learning from you guys even though this will likely never be an option for me.

[@nagcvlogs]

Service Delivery Manager

[@MichelfrancisBustillos]

Running power and data parallel instead of having them on opposite sides of the rack? Interesting

[@Rudabaugh]

I would imagine they're both sufficiently shielded cables.

[@iampyron22]

No real need for this these days we have never had issues

[@vince7179]

no need to separate them but it is more practical when finding cables

[@stevecrisler4972]

Are the switches just held in place by the four screws in the front? No rails or anything supporting the weight in the back? Seems like a lot of torque on the face of the switch so was curious.

[@jshauns]

Steve, Yep - just the four screws in the front. Dont worry - they are plenty sturdy.

[@chumpmu1]

It’s really the bottom screws doing all of the work. The top ones are for redundancy…

[@billycroan2336]

@@chumpmu1 the top ones don't do shit. Other than only getting place if you bump into the bottom of it from behind. But that's really not much of a problem. The top ones are honestly a waste of time. When the torque finally does start to deform the ears, if anything I put screws on the top two BEFORE putting the switch in and then back threading those top screws TO PUSH the top of the ear out while I tighten the bottom ones to push the bottom of the ear in. It's the nail in the coffin of some already chinced up ears (or sometimes it's the rack itself that's bent) but it gets the job done

[@alejandroberistain4831]

Thank you for creating these videos, they are entertaining and informative.

[@sux2bu37]

Are there any entry level positions in a data center? I'm interested in becoming a tech, the NOC engineer video made it look right up my alley.

[@Bigevilfishy]

I see lots of entry level positions in my area, granted though I’m in Silicon Valley. You could look for temp positions for rack integration for a bit until you build your resume up.

[@Natedaskate]

I hate when people mount their switches at the front of a rack …. The I/O on servers and storage are at the back

[@TmanaokLine]

Good lord this was very over-thought, but good for a very beginner video. Also what's with the ancient HP Proliant G5??? I've retired those from my cheapo home-labs lmao, what on earth would you be using them from in production?

[@franciscogago8156]

Thanks a million

[@myob2k]

Thank you for this informative demonstration. I have a short question. Should I get Server + certification or Server 2016? Or both

[@iampyron22]

Depends what you want to do. No need for any certs if you just start as a shit kicker and work your way up to sys admin. originally i just did a cert 3 in information technology at tafe. Easiest way to get into the industry is to go work somewhere for free for a while and then weasel your way into a job. Ive been a sys network admin for 10 years now.

[@myob2k]

@@iampyron22Thanks for the advice. I was thinking the same. I have two years of experience but have a break in work history. Ill go volunteer for internship and get in.

[@iampyron22]

@@myob2k No worries, Good luck!

[@k1mgy]

Never used these rails. Cool. But I should think it might say "rear left", at least for the installer handling that end of the business. Nonetheless, looks like they are so angled as to be specific to each side of the rack?

[@someguy4915]

They are, you have the left and right rail and you cannot swap those, nor can you install them upside down, the G6/G7 rails (same parts) can be installed either left or right (but again not upside down) and I think the G8/G9 (same parts) can be installed in any way as long as you have the rear of the rail facing to the back of the rack. Those G5 rails are fairly easy to install but damn near impossible to remove again, especially when there's equipment on top and below the G5 rails so you cannot get your fingers in there... G6/G7 have two tabs you push to release it, works fairly well, G8/G9 have one tab you just push and it drops the rail right out, works perfectly. Most G5's I have had to remove required a wrench to push that damn clip back in to release the rails...

[@hugemad]

you can see the small dude holding back when he says "then slowly push in" lmfao

[@billycroan2336]

The sexual attention between these two is overwhelming

[@hoffmanbr]

Não sabia que o vocalista do Queens Stone Age trabalhava em Data center nas horas vagas '-'

[@rio197]

I wish I had gloves when installing them rails.

[@jjjacer]

that G5 is not fun to rail up by yourself on the top of a 36u rack, puts you in an awkward position and its heavy as heck for a single person, still wondering why i put one in my personal home rack.

[@someguy4915]

Fair question, why would you still have G5 servers? It would be cheaper to buy a second hand G7 (~150 euro), depending on how often you power up the server it will make back it's money within three months for 24/7 use...

[@TheSkunkyMonk]

Was more curious about why you mounted the switch so high above the clients systems, space for future expansion or some other reason?

[@DroneCentralUK]

i think the client specifies where they want everything putting

[@TheSkunkyMonk]

@@DroneCentralUK that would make sense, but still why would you want it all the way up their

[@DroneCentralUK]

@@TheSkunkyMonk probably just for future expansion and the make the rack easier to cable everything in

[@ramax3095]

Regards from IBM Cloud DC:)

[@catmantech]

Why don't you have an automatic transfer switch per cabinet for those single PSU devices to ensure they have redundant power in effect? If you lose feed A currently, that's one of your switches or servers going down.

[@rikivip]

Will they continue to operate without any waiting time?

[@catmantech]

They will typically switch between main feeds in under 20 milliseconds. Just had a look online and one will switch between main feeds in less than 8 milliseconds.

[@catmantech]

2ms any good for you.... www.kvmchoice.com/detail_switch.asp?id=12858

[@rikivip]

@@catmantech thank you

[@rty1955]

Wont help if the PSU fails

[@IAmNumber4000]

God I wish I could afford to build a server room in my house Not quite sure what I would do with them but still

[@zubairzonbarkar3358]

Can you please make video of software to copy NTFS format pendrive data to Ubantu with read write and copy permission

[@rachola1]

Try Chatsworth Product's Clik-Nut cage nuts! Tool-less cafe nuts

[@bellator86]

The switch is blowing air from side-to-side, it doesnt look like you have a cold air supply for the switches?

[@catmantech]

Out of interest, how would you do that?

[@bellator86]

@@catmantech I ordered custom fan-ducts that channel the air from the front to one side. Works perfectly.

[@hubzcaps]

my people. testing slot of district. funky hardware

[@octanoszeus]

I want to do this it, it fascinates me, what job title is this ?

[@substrde]

Where do you get those blankings from? Do they stick to the rails by magnetism?

[@lamesauce65]

I'm wondering the same thing

[@shawnphenderson]

PlenaFill® Blanking Panel Sheets Part Number: 49-PF-27U-10

[@blazed-space]

Some day, I’m gonna open my own data center. Currently have a lot of EOL enterprise equipment I am experimenting with at my own lab, but if all goes as plan I hope to expand it to a real data center.

[@evelbsstudio]

With the increase in cost of living I have cancelled all my dps servers and moved them to home network on EOL servers, now my dev lab is my production environment, saved alot of money, now have 2 uplinks to the Internet (looking at a 3rd) and my server are highly available with several local backup sources. I have set my solar panel array and batteries to be backup power then switch to generator when the batteries run out (2 days). It's been an interesting adventure thus far only pita was finding some ip addresses to lease as I Do not need a full block.

[@theA731N]

Good luck and hope all is well.

[@crazybomerman]

How many TB storage in the server?