Meldrew Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 Hi, A school in our MAT which is moving into a new school on Monday is having the final touches for the IT systems put in place by the IT contractor. I've just been informed that the contractor has been switching off the aircon in the server room and leaving it switched off. They've done this 3 times now this week (they've been told by the builders not to on each occasion). Yesterday (the 3rd incident) the builders took a photo of the aircon panel showing the server room at 39C. The temperature may have been higher before they took the photo I guess. Interestingly the contractor told me (before I'd been notified of the aircon issue) that they've been having difficulties with the server that happen 'overnight' and they're not really sure the cause. Having heard about the aircon issue I've now pointed out that their 'mystery issue' might well be the server performing an emergency shutdown due to thermal overload. In the server room is a brand new server, Cisco switchgear, Cisco PBX, Cisco wireless controller & CCTV DVR, all supplied by the contractor. My worry is - will the equipment warranty now be void due to extreme temperatures? I've asked them the question and I'm awaiting an answer, but does anyone know? Many thanks in advance, Meldrew.
christhetech Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 Have you documented the occasions when the Aircon has been left switched off by the contractor? If the manufacturer refuses any warranty claim due to extreme temperatures, you may have a case against the contractor who has switched the Aircon off to replace the equipment, as they have been negligent. You expect the contractor who is installing the equipment to be well aware of the operating temperature of the equipment that they are supplying and it's a rather amateur mistake to leave the aircon switched off in a server room, so I would say that they have proven their incompetence by doing the same thing 3 times in a week. They shouldn't need a builder to tell them that Server rooms get extremely hot. This is their bread and butter and they should know that anyway. I'd be tearing a strip off them the first time that they did it. The second time, I'd have sent them packing, so there wouldn't have been a third time!
Meldrew Posted August 30, 2018 Author Posted August 30, 2018 This is the first I've heard of it, so all I know is that its happened 3 times at this stage. On the first two occasions the builders didn't notify me. I haven't technically got access to the building until Monday, but when I can get access, I'll check out the server mainboard's diags to see what it thinks has been happening. I'm also hoping that the building management system will also have a record of the temperature (its incredibly sophisticated - I got involved in the initial training).
christhetech Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 This is the first I've heard of it, so all I know is that its happened 3 times at this stage. On the first two occasions the builders didn't notify me. I haven't technically got access to the building until Monday, but when I can get access, I'll check out the server mainboard's diags to see what it thinks has been happening. I'm also hoping that the building management system will also have a record of the temperature (its incredibly sophisticated - I got involved in the initial training). In that case, I'd be over there right now, tearing into them and telling them how "f***ing incompetent" they are. Once is a mistake, twice is extremely sloppy, three times is just damned incompetence. I'd be telling them to expect a rather large invoice for complete replacement of all the nice shiny new equipment that they have just installed, because if they've broken it, they own it!
blu4 Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 Honestly if I were you I'd barge in there without asking for any permission. The level of incomptence they have shown is off the chart. You are talking about important equipment here. Your involvment in all of this is justified. Don't be afraid to take charge here. 1
Domino Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 The level of incomptence they have shown is off the chart. Yeah, I was shocked they'd bought Cisco too... 3
christhetech Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 Yeah, I was shocked they'd bought Cisco too... Ouch! Back in the day when there was some cash floating around in education, I used to install nothing but Cisco in schools. It's fantastic kit, but extremely expensive.
Katy Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 (edited) Guessing they turned it off because "it's too cold to work in" then forgot to turn it back on? Can't think of any other reason for it to be off (e.g. turning it off on the way home). Even so the rule is "wear a fleece" rather than "turn the AC off". Hopefully the kit won't have got too hot - most kit tends to have quite a decent temperature range these days - but good luck getting it sorted out. This sort of thing is why we do kit installs ourselves - where we've had people in to do it they've configured things in a less than helpful way (software but also how they've cabled things etc). We have the expertise in house so why waste money paying someone else? Edited August 30, 2018 by Katy
nicholab Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 I always run the AC at 21 since Google said you could run data centres at 25. It does not need to be 18 degrees that like people that run the heating too hot wasting money.
Katy Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 I always run the AC at 21 since Google said you could run data centres at 25. It does not need to be 18 degrees that like people that run the heating too hot wasting money. I've got my AC set at 18, so it's freezing stood next to it, but that keeps the temperature in the racks to 21-25C. Any higher and the rack temp creeps up.
southhamster Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 Not excusing their rubbish behaviour but I was once forced to work in a noisy cold server room all day. Ended up with my coat on and hood up!
mavhc Posted August 30, 2018 Posted August 30, 2018 This sort of thing is why we do kit installs ourselves - where we've had people in to do it they've configured things in a less than helpful way (software but also how they've cabled things etc). We have the expertise in house so why waste money paying someone else? Or as I like to put it: Why give money away when you can train yourself and get more skills? Main reasons are time (not enough people, or not enough work to hire another full time person), need expensive stuff (fiber install), or you don't like doing it (installing network cables). But I'd rather learn SIP/VoIP/FreePBX than outsource it to some company that just white labelled another product to resell, more interesting for me, and more valuable
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