4 ms·

I have seen production servers run for ten years upstairs a dirty bus repair shop. The room is never cleaned so there's a few millimeters of black dust on every

I have seen production servers run for ten years upstairs a dirty bus repair shop. The room is never cleaned so there's a few millimeters of black dust on everything. In fact you know the age of a server depending on the amount of dust on it. There's a defective A/C unit that sometimes throw some water all around. There's power cut 2 or 3 times a year, the batteries are old so the servers get their hard reboot. As far as reliability is concerned, sometimes a disk fail, but that's about it. Now if you think I'm describing something from the third world, you're wrong. It's in France and I'm not exaggerating about it. So what I'm saying is that for a homelab, don't fret over cleanliness or optimal conditions.

themadturk 5y ago
Yes, I've run an enterprise server stack on an old closet, with a home air conditioner venting into the warehouse. Even when the A/C unit died for three days one summer (we had to keep the door open and run several fans), the servers, ranging from 3-7 years old, kept running. Far from optimal, but the systems stay up and the company stays in business.
Lhiw 5y ago
I spent some time with a computer refurber back in the day. He used to buy old computers from mining operations these things were literally filled to the brim with dust and weird shit. Computers are amazingly resilient if you don't need them for much more than office work.
- treesknees 5y ago
  This sparked a memory of an internship I had where I was given an air compressor and had to go blow out machines in various school computer labs for a few weeks. In hindsight I should have worn an N95, they were nasty. They all worked, though.
2Gkashmiri 5y ago
yeah. i know people who keep their pcs caked with dust and the stuff just chugs along. i have to clean my office setup every often and i use a blower to remove the dust. dust bunnies and all. still, everything works. you are right, people often talk about hygiene for computers but they are more resilient than we are made to believe.

themadturk 5y ago

Yes, I've run an enterprise server stack on an old closet, with a home air conditioner venting into the warehouse. Even when the A/C unit died for three days one summer (we had to keep the door open and run several fans), the servers, ranging from 3-7 years old, kept running. Far from optimal, but the systems stay up and the company stays in business.

Lhiw 5y ago

I spent some time with a computer refurber back in the day. He used to buy old computers from mining operations these things were literally filled to the brim with dust and weird shit. Computers are amazingly resilient if you don't need them for much more than office work.

treesknees 5y ago
This sparked a memory of an internship I had where I was given an air compressor and had to go blow out machines in various school computer labs for a few weeks. In hindsight I should have worn an N95, they were nasty. They all worked, though.

2Gkashmiri 5y ago

yeah. i know people who keep their pcs caked with dust and the stuff just chugs along. i have to clean my office setup every often and i use a blower to remove the dust. dust bunnies and all. still, everything works. you are right, people often talk about hygiene for computers but they are more resilient than we are made to believe.