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Getting Power to a Rack Enclosure?
JazzyJ asks: "I need some ideas on some fire/electrical code compliant ways to get power into some bare bones rack mount enclosures I have. The racks are essentially in the center of a room with 3 ft around all sides. There's a 4 outlet box on each wall. Other than getting building maintenance to drop me a circuit along the floor or out of the ceiling, what options for getting power into these monsters do I have? Extension cords are right out, that is against fire/electrical code. Help!?"
Greater Elbonia has virtually no safety laws, being mostly mud flats with little natural resources and almost no government. Therefor, if extension cords are out (which surprises me, but perhaps they short out in the mud) and you can't get drops properly placed by building maintenance (and I can imagine how hard that is in Greater Elbonia), I would suggest beaming microwaves from the wall to the rack.
This has several advantages: *
* Advantages may be outweighed by frying every circuit in your computers.
Sig under construction since 1998.
You have something that needs power that isnt close to an outlet. You dont want to use extension cords. You dont want to get new outlets installed. So far as I understand how electricity, only the subject is left.
- Pick up local yellow pages.
- Look up number for an electrician.
- Call the number, and ask whoever answers the same question.
depending on the local code, the extension cords might only be restricted from running across the floor because that could be a tripping hazard. It might (again, might) be ok to string the cord up the wall, along the ceiling, and dropping down to the rack. Another option may be getting one of those long (several feet long) rubber covers that go over the cord and provide a small hump to walk over for people in the room. (like these - first hit on google)
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
Dear Slashdot Readers,
Will you please do my job for me, as I am too fat/lazy to pick up the phone and call an electrician. Besides, my special dialing wand hasn't arrived yet and, technically, I shouldn't be using the phone at all for medical reasons. Tell you what! To make it extra fun, I won't tell you where I am or any local laws that might apply to my situation. Let the endless speculation begin!
Oh, and please hurry! I'm trying to leave early today and my boss wants an answer first thing in the morning.
... aside from doing it the safe/correct way, how can I save a few bucks and reduce the risk of buring down my office?
Well, if it's anything like the university I went to, it's easy!
1) Put in a request to the building&grounds people that you need a new junction box placed within easy access of the racks.
2) They promise you a quick response.
3) After six weeks, realize you need power _now_ and run a few power strips through the floor panels.
4) Union rep appears 1 hour later, removes strips , fines your department for using non-union labor.
5) Wait 2 more months, still no response from union electrician. Run an extension cord from your office, across the hall, into the room, thus not violating Union reqs (no floor panels touched!)
6) Fire marshall appears, fines department for fire hazard.
7) Dean of department calls you in, explains they are firing you due to the trouble you've caused in fines and Union difficulties. Voila! Problem solved, you no longer need to worry about power to the racks!
(And oddly enough, I support unions in general!)
A.
I'd suggest using copper wires to get the power to the rack. I was in Home Depot yesterday, and it seemed that they had some very reasonable prices for short lengths of wires. It shouldn't be too much trouble to get approval for the purchase. Glad to help.
This is America, damnit. Speak Spanish!
very funny!
True story: a customer had one of our systems in a rack, and it worked great when all closed up. But as soon as they opened the cover to see the pretty lights that blinked while we recorded the data generated by their radar system, the system stopped working. We had debugged it in the lab with the covers off (albiet with simulated data), so it should work best in this configuration.
Problem: humongus radar sitting on the roof of the building was glitching our circuit... that was the radar we were recording data off of, and the whole purpose of our system. Closing the front cover shielded us. We had concentrated on recording the binary data that their A/D's were giving us, and had forgotten the implications of the source of this data.
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Easy to get a chessy metal pole for your ceiling drop. We use several in our office (open floor plan, no desks near a wall) that have both power and ethernet jacks. Takes all of about 20 minutes to install, plus time to run cabling to the desired location. Ours are even UL listed.
HUBBELL
Multi-oulet assembly
HBLPP10A
Issue No: 3084
Found here.
You didn't really say why asking building maintenance was an untenable option. This is a relevant point, as, if they're competent, they'd do what a typical electrician would do anyway. Why not drop from the ceiling/floor?
meh.
That's one option. Another (and possibly better) is just to put wires in conduit (run it 7 feet off the floor to avoid trip and head-banging hazards). You'll have to check your building codes to see if you can put a fat 3-wire cable inside conduit for the run through the air and down the wall to an outlet, or if you are required to run separate wires (better heat dissipation) and wire things directly into a junction box. That latter will certainly require intervention from building maintenance.
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First, extension cords are limited to 6' by the National Electrical Code and UL. If the cord is longer than 6', it is supposed to have larger wire than what is normally provided (#14 for 15A vs. #16/18 typical extension cord). Outlet strips are generally considered "temporary" wiring, and is a code violation. YMMV
Running cables along the floor is a bad idea both because of the tripping hazard, and the potential to short out the wires.
Get an electrician out there and have him move the circuits to the racks. I would recommend having a about 3' of slack (LFMC conduit), and attach the outlet box to the rack via "temporary" means.
(If you are in CA, you don't want to make a permanant connection to the racks, as supplemental seismic bracing may be required.)
Technically, this doesn't meet code in most jurisdictions. You can end up needing to put in an EPO system (big red button that makes the room quiet) if you go that route.
Get as many Submarine StandBy Batteries as needed to run this for the expected period of time. (months, years...)
Now you have the Rack powered with no external wiring!
I like microcars
But without using wings or tools or jumping from anything. Basically I want to start at the bottom of a canyon, and rise up to the top.
How can this best be accomplished without using wires/cords, or any sort of attachemnt/tractor beam?
/* oops I accidentally made a comment, sorry */
The fire code in MY jursitiction says nothing about extension cords. It also says nothing about alarm systems, halon, or the purchasing power of ferrets. Although you don't say where you are, I guarentee you that my fire code dosne't apply there - and as such, my advice will have zero value.
You're obviously a competent guy - you thought to see weather what you wanted to do was legal, as opposed to many who would just have done it. So why not take the extra step, and hire someone who's job it is to know the particularities of your local regulations? There may be a wealth of experience here, but that dosen't make up for being a licensed electrician located nearby who can come and inspect the place and tell you what you need.
Normally, I support doing it yourself. But if you're going as far as thinking of fire codes, you may as well get the right answer (and I suspect your insurance premiums may thank you too).
Cue The Sun...
Sometimes it helps to read an RFC when you have a question like this.
Well, Since you've ruled out running cables through the three known spatial dimensions, I suggest you try using a wormhole. Simply generate a wormhole (in the usual way), and, using a pair of exotic matter gloves, place one end of the wormhole inside the rack. Then place the other end near an outlet; this outlet can be near the wall, or some outer region of the universe... basically, wherever you can get the cheapest electricity. Next, simply plug in the cord, and feed it into the hole. I would advise that you perform this step from outside the cosmos, especially if the wormhole hasn't been thoroughly tested to comply with local building codes. If the universe as we know it hasn't been completely obliterated at this point, then you're done!
Note: You may also want to run your ethernet cables through there as well, to function as a very convenient, low-cost hyper-dimensional gigabit wireless network.
Oh, come on, people. We shouldn't give up just because we've been given an impossible situation without enough information. This is Slashdot! B'sides, these specs are more detailed than anything you'll ever see in the real world. Some ideas:
-Plug a Van de Graaf generator into the outlet. Put wires on top of the rack (e.g. a lightning rod). Attach to a capacitor and a DC-AC converter, and you're golden.
-Set up a bunch of rechargeable batteries and an army of Lego Mindstorms robots to shuttle the batteries back and forth from the outlet to the rack.
-Put in really bright overhead lights and solar panels on top of each rack.
-If you have a good AC system, thermal couplings between the AC and the machines might generate enough power. The laws of thermodynamics were made to be broken!
-Hamsters, water bottles full of Jolt cola, and hamster wheels hooked to generators.
-Finally, Steampunk is not just a frings Sci-Fi/RPG genre. A few cans of Sterno and a boiler can provide you with enough steam to run whatever computational engines you might have.
Forward, retransmit, or republish anything I say here. Just don't misquote me.
Just run a big fat hose from the nearest water tap and pipe it into a small hydroelectric turbine near the computer rack.
Advantages:
Shielded from spikes on the grid
Use the water to cool the servers
UPS functionality - as long as you have water, you have power
The whine from the turbine will drown out the whine from your manager
No cords!
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