How Have You Equipped a Tiny Server Closet?

BenEnglishAtHome asks: "One of our remote offices will soon be gutted/rebuilt and our local IT staff managed to fumble the political ball. Our server closet is being reduced to 45 square feet and there will be no more unused desk space that can be occupied by visiting techs. Result? That 45 square feet must house 3 desktop-size servers; 3 UPSs; a fully-adjustable user workstation that includes separate adjustments for work surface height, keyboard height, and keyboard angle as well as a big ergo chair; an area suitable for workstation diagnostics; a good KVM switch; 2 monitors, keyboards, mice, and laptop docking stations that must be simultaneously available; and some amount of small item storage, while still having enough room for a door to swing into the roughly square room. The only bright side is that I can have all the A/C, power, and LAN drops I want. Has anyone managed to find and deploy a freestanding server rack/workstation/furniture system (probably something L-shaped) that can perform this many tasks in such a small space?"

Comments

Another recommendation

[LiquidCoooled]

I would store the servers outside the closet and convert the closet into a fully stocked bar.
By piping the A/C through, you can keep your beverages at a perfect temperature.

If you have any remaining space, you could install a dockable sweet trolley to take your refreshments mobile.

If your boss asks, just tell him your servers were claustrophobic.

Shelve 'em

[ErikTheRed]

Well, since your first problem is that your servers aren't rack-mountable (or, if you can get conversion kits, rack-mount them and forget the rest of this), your next best bet is some good shelving. I've purchased some heavy-duty 4' x 18" stainless steel shelves from Costco for about $75 a set. Each shelf can hold 500 lbs if necessary. Find a way to attach the shelves to the wall (several half-inch-thick zip-ties screwed into the wall studs works well), and use cargo straps (the kind with built-in ratchets to tighten them) to attach the servers to the shelves. Very space-efficient and sturdy.