fiza Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 In our primary school the Server, core switch, router and firewall are in the IT Suite along with 25 computers. Although the room does have AC this is hardly ever switched on and definitely not during holidays. Yesterday the temperature was 27C here and when we went to visit the school the fans in the equipment were going crazy. We can switch on the AC (when it's working and doesn't need a service!!) whilst we are there but when the school is closed as it will be for the rest of this week the AC is off but all the equipment stays on. I assume a lot of other primary schools have equipment in the IT Suites, due to lack of space, so how do you ensure everything continues to work in this heat?
paulkerton Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 When I worked in one primary, I got there at 23 years old and asked for air conditioning in the IT Suite, I left at 37 and the previous summer I was having to beg steal and borrow desk fans, open the cabinet and point them into it. I get the feeling that this is probably common in primaries.
synaesthesia Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Get an off-the-shelf price for SLT for replacement of all the hardware and the labour/time involved in it. 2
fiza Posted June 2, 2021 Author Posted June 2, 2021 Thing is there is AC in the room but no one switches it on during school times as the IT Suite is only used occasionally. Mostly they now use Chromebooks. The AC stays off during holidays and it is at these times around June, July that it gets really hot.
paulkerton Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Thing is there is AC in the room but no one switches it on during school times as the IT Suite is only used occasionally. Mostly they now use Chromebooks. The AC stays off during holidays and it is at these times around June, July that it gets really hot. It should be switched on and left on. Or do you have one of those site managers who wants to turn off the servers during the summer? 1
mikeprice Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Last school I was in had AC in the IT suite - and the server room wasa room/cupboard inn one corner of that room So in hot weather I had the AC on and the server room door open. Kids couldn't get in without supervision as the IT suite door was locked. In the summer holidays this was clearly a problem as the AC would be off. If the weather got too hot I would go in and shut the sever down! This was OK as I lived around the corner and it was very unusual for teachers to go in over the summer - admin didn't use the server so they could work if they needed to. In any case I often needed to have the server shutdown over the summer as there was always some electrical work that needed doing - hence possible unexpected power loss! I was planning to get a temperature monitor set up so I could check it from home - but never got that sorted before I left. 1
Koldov Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 (edited) When I started at this school, it was my first job and so I didn't really know any different. The school had just undergone the BSF upgrade (so all CISCO switches, APs and Cat 6 throughout) and the previous 3rd party support engineer had family ties with the site agent (who was also the day to day ICT technician). We might just be lucky, but there was obviously a lot of input into the way the IT equipment was managed. We had a server room (ok a glorified cupboard, but more than enough room) and a core switch room (ok it was the main electricty distribution board room, but still...). Both were fitted with AC and lockable doors, which is not too bad for a small Junior school by the sounds of it. We also supported a Nursery and that was an entirely different matter. The server was sitting in an actual cupboard with no AC obviously, on top of what I think was a laptop trolley, in the middle of a huge amount of toys and resources all over the floor and shelves filled all around and spare chairs and tables etc. You literally had to empty half the cupboard everytime you wanted to access the server (as long as there wasn't some sort of mother and baby meeting or workshop or whatever they did in that room) and the Wi-Fi was basically consumer units dotted around (that was the school that had a mop bucket labelled 'for bodily fluid only' and if you were working in a classroom had little toddlers with snotty noses trying to hug you), luckily I didn't carry on supporting them for very long. However, yesterday I completed the move of the servers into the main Core switch room (the AC was put in by the LEA and is much better and the servers have already dropped 5 degrees) I can now also plug them directly into the Core switch, so teamed Gigabit connections (that makes me happy) and the school have another cupboard to fill with junk, plus we can turn off one AC unit which is better for the planet! Don't really know why I didn't think of it years ago... Is there any chance of you moving the servers? Anyway, so I was thinking (and this might benefit the OP, regardless of one or two of the tongue in cheek comments above), that during the holidays does anyone just actually switch the servers off in such a small school...? Edited June 2, 2021 by Koldov
mavhc Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Ask the money people if they want the server on or off, and then tell them what to pay to get that to happen. Surely it's easy to program the AC to keep the temp below 30C
paulkerton Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Anyway, so I was thinking (and this might benefit the OP, regardless of one or two of the tongue in cheek comments above), that during the holidays does anyone just actually switch the servers off in such a small school...? I had to have a long and detailed conversation with a site manager about why we keep the servers on at all times, and why I didn't want his site staff turning off computers at the wall every evening.
malware Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Before working in IT, I was a HVAC Engineer. I would advise your POs to leave any unit in the server room on 24/7 at around 21C set point on cooling. Servicing should be done every 6 months and the downtime will only be around 20-30 minutes per unit, this way you will get less pump failures, strip downs required. Can't say I went to many offices/schools (even during half terms, summer holidays) where the units were not on and blowing cold. Definitely raise the issue. 1
hardtailstar Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 When I worked in a primary school the server etc was all in the IT suite along with AC. The IT Coordinator who did all the IT lessons kept turning it off and leaving it off. After about 6 months I hid the remote for AC and kept the AC on. 1
witch Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 My primary school server was in the Deputy Head's office - until one hot summer when the server fans were going ballistic, resulting in a quick shut down and a gallop down the corridor to the IT suite where there was AC. It seemed to be OK after that but even though I am not there any more I do wonder if they are remembering that it needs the AC on
free780 Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Are seperate Server rooms not factored in when primary schools are constructed? I had to deal with a loss of Internet and connections to remote sites as the comms rooms was next to the caretakers rest room. They'd plugged in some dodgy microwave and due to budget cuts no UPS. Given how mission critical IT is now an isolated room is a necessity.
Katy Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 Are seperate Server rooms not factored in when primary schools are constructed? I had to deal with a loss of Internet and connections to remote sites as the comms rooms was next to the caretakers rest room. They'd plugged in some dodgy microwave and due to budget cuts no UPS. Given how mission critical IT is now an isolated room is a necessity. I guess it depends how old the school is. Our 2014 build primary has a decent sized server room (fits 1 rack and 1 desk), the primary at one of the schools pre-merger was reasonable but fit 1 rack and not much else - that was I'd guess a 60s build but with a 2004(?) extension where the server room was. But our 1994 build Infant school had nothing as it pre-dated anything other than a single PC in a classroom.
mikeprice Posted June 2, 2021 Posted June 2, 2021 I had to have a long and detailed conversation with a site manager about why we keep the servers on at all times, and why I didn't want his site staff turning off computers at the wall every evening. I had to have that conversation witha teacher (foreign languages) who had been sent on an energy saving course why exactly they decided to send a MFL teacher on a course to save electricity is a question I have not yet found an answer to however - the conversation was 'difficult' at least site staff have a reasonable idea of what electricity is
mavhc Posted June 5, 2021 Posted June 5, 2021 After we had a new school designed about 10 years ago I had to ask them where the server/network was going to be, they'd not thought about that 1
mikeprice Posted June 6, 2021 Posted June 6, 2021 After we had a new school designed about 10 years ago I had to ask them where the server/network was going to be, they'd not thought about that At least you had a chance to see the plans and ask!!
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