How do you keep clusters running....

[alvin at Maggie.Linux-Consulting.com]

hi ya

buy better quality fans...

we use $15.oo fans ( 40x40x10mm ) stuff used in 1U chassis

( you can get fans as cheap as $4.oo but is a dead $1,000 server
( worth the cost differences of cheap fans ??? 
	 ( not the place to save $$$ )
	- similarly ..get better quality (cooler running) powersupply too


fans should NOT die... at least not more than once a year ...

c ya
alvin
http:/www.linux-1U.net ... 11" deep 1U chassis w/ amd 1700+


On Wed, 3 Apr 2002, Cris Rhea wrote:

> 
> What are folks doing about keeping hardware running on large clusters?
> 
> Right now, I'm running 10 Racksaver RS-1200's (for a total of 20 nodes)...
> 
> Sure seems like every week or two, I notice dead fans (each RS-1200
> has 6 case fans in addition to the 2 CPU fans and 2 power supply fans).
> 
> My last fan failure was a CPU fan that toasted the CPU and motherboard.
> 
> How are folks with significantly more nodes than mine dealing with constant
> maintenance on their nodes?  Do you have whole spare nodes sitting around-
> ready to be installed if something fails, or do you have a pile of
> spare parts?  Did you get the vendor (if you purchased prebuilt systems)
> to supply a stockpile of warranty parts?
> 
> One of the problems I'm facing is that every time something croaks, 
> Racksaver is very good about replacing it under warranty, but getting
> the new parts delivered usually takes several days.
> 
> For some things like fans, they sent extras for me to keep on-hand.
> 
> For my last fan/CPU/motherboard failure, the node pair will be 
> down ~5 days waiting for parts.
> 
> Comments? Thoughts? Ideas?
>