By Chris Angelini		  
 
SPEAKING as a technical guy at heart there's nothing quite so rewarding as successfully architecting and deploying a small business network. Taking an oilfield company from peer-to-peer Windows ME machines to a centrally controlled domain or getting an architectural firm online with Exchange Server can really be fun. And each job is different, no matter how many times you've stepped through the motions.

That can be both good and bad, though. On one hand, spending time in the field and performing value-added services is the surest path to plenty of experience and, hopefully, satisfied customers. The flip side is that it's all too easy to get stumped between restoring an SQL Server database and routing Internet traffic to an application server. But that's why we're solution providers, right? Even when answers are elusive, myriad resources help us to address complex problems.

The best way to prepare for battle in the trenches is to train at home, though. That means running Small Business Server 2003 and Windows Server 2003 machines. Exchange Server 2003, ISA Server 2004, SQL Server 2005, Citrix, Client Security, Retrospect—install everything you can get your hands on, beginning with the software in Microsoft's Action Pack. Explore hardware just as as exhaustively if possible. Build servers. Experiment with networking. And when something goes wrong, take the opportunity to hone your troubleshooting skills. My customers see real value in a service provider with the know-how to guide their purchasing decisions and the experience to realize maximum ROI. So when one of them approached me about the potential benefits of moving from a desk full of pedestal servers to a small rack, I got right to work on an answer. In the process of building my own research-driven ecosystem, I discovered a lot about the infrastructure side of small business that I wouldn't have wanted to learn out in the field on someone else's dime.

Pay Attention to Details

For example, be mindful of specifications as you begin canvassing rack enclosures. Capacity isn't the only bullet point to note, though it is certainly important. After looking high and low for reasonably priced cabinets, my search for server storage led me to Belkin's fairly new datacenter lineup.

"That's interesting," I thought. "The 24U Premium Enclosure is priced exactly the same as the 13U Mini Enclosure. I'll spring for the 24U box, if only out of principle."

Of course, I completely failed to look at the other vitals. Most significantly, the Premium rack is 42" deep, while the Mini is 32." Those 10" meant the difference between installing in a wiring closet versus a locked garage. Fortunately, I hadn't run cable yet, so the oversight didn't cost me anything other than the effort needed to keep another room as dust-free as possible (a garage, no less).

It turns out that the whole sizing mistake worked to my favor, though. The rush to provide my customer with answers also saw me fail to take noise into consideration. Gorgeous as Belkin's 24U Premium Enclosure is, both the front and back doors are covered in a black mesh. In essence, there is no protection against the howl of 15,000 RPM fans circulating air from higher-performance 1U servers. A small business with plans to deploy rackmount equipment in an office or even a closet with hollow-core doors will not be happy with the acoustic output of any open four-post rack. To put the racket in perspective, my setup is distinctly audible through drywall and solid wood doors.

After poking around a little more, I found GizMac Accessories and its XRackPro2 cabinet. The company claims an up to 75% reduction in noise by virtue of foam-lined panels, sealed doors, and padded wire grommets. It's only available in a 12U configuration, but for my needs and those of most small businesses, that's plenty of space for expansion. The only real caveat is price. As with anything else, buying premium hardware costs extra. GizMac's XRackPro2 retails for $1,799—almost twice what Belkin asks for its Premium Enclosure with twice as much capacity.

Accessibility wasn't a big concern for me given the fact I was working in a garage, but it very well could have been if the enclosure had fit in my intended closet. In that regard, Belkin actually does a fantastic job with its 24U box. The front door is lockable, the rear door is split into two halves (seems that Belkin knew space might be an issue back there), and both sides panels are removable.

Not All Barebones are Created Equally

After getting the enclosure situated, it was time to install my two 1U servers, which, until then, had been running on their sides, leaned up against an improvised shelf. Don't snicker—I know they looked goofy.

Both barebones boxes came with their own rail kits and instruction manuals in various stages of English translation. The smaller server mounted right up to the enclosure's posts, slid in, and sits today securely locked down. But the other one didn't come with enough screws. It didn't quite reach the back of the chassis, either. Consequently, one of my servers is rigged with bolts and washers just to keep it from dropping to the concrete below.

In retrospect, it's hard to say whether my fitment issues could have been prevented. Even with the proper dimensions, there was no way of knowing that the second rail kit wouldn't be enough for stability in a four-post enclosure. (if would have worked just fine in a two-post networking rack.) Maybe that's just one of those nuggets of knowledge you glean through working with each vendor's barebones packages. Just keep in mind that while most server kits look similar and feature very common specs, small touches such as complete rail kits separate the winners from losers.

Scotty, We Need More Power

A number of the design decisions that Belkin made with its Premium Enclosure reflect a real mind for usability. For example, the enclosure has several covered holes on its top, which work well for running cables. After snaking a few power cords out to plug into the wall (by this point I had two 1U servers and a 1U Exabyte autoloader), it become apparent that this was not, in fact, the most efficient way to run wires.

It turned out that I had a CyberPower CSW8RU on hand. Although the CyberSwitch is designed as a sophisticated remotely-accessible power control center, it also works as a basic PDU. With both servers, the autoloader, and a 17" LCD plugged in, I was able to run just a single cable from Belkin's enclosure, keeping all other wiring internal.

But then I ran into another potential issue. With only three 1U devices in a 24U rack, I was already seeing plenty of wire clutter. Mouse and keyboard cables sagged in big loops. Hard-to-trace networking wires draped haphazardly. There's not a doubt in my mind that a cabinet filled to capacity and organized thusly would not only be a mess, but probably suffer heat-related complications. Fortunately, options abound for getting cables in order, from dedicated management racks to inexpensive zip ties.

Had there been one or two more 1U servers on hand, I would have connected them as well in an attempt to overload my office's 15A circuit breaker. Each business is wired differently, but it's helpful to know how much headroom is left in the electrical circuit feeding mission critical equipment. Determining infrastructure robustness early on can save you plenty of headaches further into a project. For instance, I already know that many of the rooms where I work are wired together. The right combination of appliances quickly brings the place down. Thus I should have totally been able to foresee the next complication…

What Happened to my Power Bill?

Fast forward one month. I had already reported back to my customer and determined that he might want to consider taking the rackmount route if he expanded beyond four or five servers. Given the cost of acquiring equipment and replacing his existing pedestals, only a serious space crunch could have justified the complete infrastructure transition. I continued experimenting with the hardware, though, happy to be using a proper rack instead of my patent pending "pile on the floor."

Of course, because the machines were out of sight and apparently out of mind, they ran 24x7, facilitating remote access to my network through Small Business Server 2003. That configuration wasn't previously possible since the noise from even one system turned my office into an official server room, louder than the incessant droning of a washing machine. All-day operation made the network available around the clock, though, and it saved my rear more than once during on-site service calls.

Then the power bill showed up, albeit a couple of days late. Maybe it had been weighed down by an extra digit I wasn't used to seeing. Surely there had to have been some sort of mistake for my bill to be twice what I was expecting. But there was no mistake. Leaving those servers on all day every day really sucked up the juice. So much so, in fact, that I paid the bill and pulled the plug.

A couple of days later I decided to revisit the rack and get to the bottom of my extraneous power consumption issue. After all, aren't those dual-core Xeon chips supposed to be equipped with Demand Based Switching to throttle down the drainage? What about low power states and dynamic fan speeds? Five minutes in the BIOS of one system told me that those features hadn't been enabled. Checking the other one failed to even turn up support for power management. Can you feel another lesson in the making here?

After thirty minutes of fighting BIOS updates (flashing a server board isn't as simple as a desktop white box), I had two 1U boxes with a host of power-saving features turned on. There was an immediate reduction in noise as the first server's 15,000 RPM blowers eased off. In defiance of my fiddling, the second box blue-screened as Windows Server 2003 tried to boot. The necessary BIOS support for Intel's DBS simply didn't seem to be there yet.

Cool It, Please

Populating three 1.75" spaces in a 24U enclosure is hardly what anyone would call efficient. Yet both servers running in concert still managed to keep a fairly large garage surprisingly toasty during the last month of cold desert evenings. Imagine if 20 of those bays had been filled.

In a recent chat I had with Sammy Wong of Universal Systems, Inc., a server builder, he divulged to me that power-saving technologies play a big role in enabling maximum use of the enclosures he sells. Without Intel's DBS and AMD's Cool'n'Quiet, only half of the space in a cabinet can be populated. Switching those features on paves the way for higher density and less draw from the wall.

Of course, when you're talking 15 or 20 1U servers, vacating heat is still plenty important. While it wasn't an issue I needed to address, browsing Belkin's Web site turned up several options designed to work with my 24U box. One route would be a top-panel fan mount with either one or two 10" fans. Alternatively, a Delphi blower could pull cool air from the enclosure's bottom, which is open, and blow it up the front where server air intakes are located. Both options are pricey. However, $700 is a small price to pay should your customer's rack start filling up.

Learning Lessons

I never was able to get that second 1U server to run right with Demand Based Switching turned on. Even after reformatting its hard drive, unwittingly eradicating my domain and rendering three client workstations unusable, the system would crash at the same place during re-installation. Having learned several valuable lessons and not wanting to pay inflated power bills month after month, both servers were pulled off 24x7 duties.

This was supposed to be about giving customers good information, though—jumping on proverbial grenades in the name of providing a value-added service. Is it easy to jump right into rackmount installations? No. You might even need to subcontract help from an electrician or cabling installer. But with a little more information on what to look for in a rack with proper warning of a few real-world potential pitfalls inherent in barebones server setup, you should be much better equipped to help guide customers looking to make that major step from simple pedestal boxes to a more space-efficient rack. 		 
         
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