4 ms·
A couple years ago, I had to move bare metal servers to my home to continue my job working at a VR technology startup, who had just decided to forgo their offic
by AndrewUnmuted 6y ago
A couple years ago, I had to move bare metal servers to my home to continue my job working at a VR technology startup, who had just decided to forgo their offices.
I took on an extra $150-$200 in power expenses per month, and it was absolutely treacherous trying to get reimbursed for this. The company never considered the costs they were funneling into the employees - apparently - until people started to complain.
I fear most people were put into similar situations - perhaps not fiscally, but in a procedural sense - during this most recent mass WFH migration.
- WrtCdEvrydy 6y ago> I took on an extra $150-$200 in power expenses per month, and it was absolutely treacherous trying to get reimbursed for this Well, fuck that... if it's company hardware and there's no reimbursement, power gets cut to that rack at 5PM local time.
- ethbr0 6y agoJust wire it into a light switch. If the switch gets flipped... shame. "I don't know what to do. I guess if you wanted to send an electrician out to install a new circuit with its own meter, things might be more reliable."
- VLM 6y ago> send an electrician I think OP needed an electrician onsite anyway, as $200/month would be somewhat over 2500 watts continuous 24x7 which would require in the US at minimum two dedicated 15 amp circuits. That's a serious enough amount of heat to require the attentions of a HVAC guy also. I ran some small clusters at home for learning purposes and maybe $400 per year was pretty minimal compared to the cost of tuition, cost of the hardware, etc.
- AndrewUnmuted 6y agoI was beginning to suspect this, as well. But I of course was nowhere near prepared to handle this responsibility on my own. I live in a 2BR 4th-floor walk-up apartment in Brooklyn, NY, constructed 1913. The rack consisted of a dual-processor Xeon 1U with a Tesla GPU, two 4U hard drive racks, and a UPS unit.
- Dylan16807 6y agoIf your electricity is 10 cents per kWh it would be that much. Since they said NYC we can bump that to 21 cents and then $150-$200 becomes 980-1300 watts, or 8-11 amps. That's something most people could plug in to their bedroom or living room circuit without a sweat.
- AndrewUnmuted 6y agoIs there a resource online one can use to figure out what the cost per kWh will be for their power usage in a particular area? I am fascinated by how people know these figures seemingly off the top of their heads. :)
- sokoloff 6y agoIn MA ($0.195/kWh), that’s only about 1400W, or 12A which is supportable on a single 15A circuit.
- ghaff 6y agoThat would double my power expenses per month. Who knows if my circuits would even handle it. ADDED: My internet would also not be reliable enough for servers that other people were depending on. That's a big difference from my laptop being plugged in at home for 8 hours a day rather than in an office.
- DoofusOfDeath 6y agoIn a warm climate/season it could cost you even more. Not only are you paying for the servers' electricity, but you're also going to want extra air conditioning to remove the waste heat.
- AniseAbyss 6y agoYeah I live in a country that literally worships efficiency and cost cutting. Fancy offices have been extinct for a long time. Thanks to technology people can work anywhere and they're expected to.