[Beowulf] removing tiles around heavy racks?

[Mark Hahn]

> I've not studied the physics of it, but I can't see where the 
> surrounding tiles would have an effect.  You obviously don't want to 

sorry!  I should have explicitly said I'm worried about stability,
not pure downward load-bearing-ness.  I mean, the floor is level,
but not microscopically, and if someone leans on a rack, I'd like 
not to have the whole machineroom suddenly shear ;)

> remove the tiles the rack is sitting on.  And those tiles should be 
> supported by a metal grid.  As far as I know, the metal grid and the 

presumably the grid (stringers) do most of the lateral stabilization,
but they're not all that hefty themselves.  obviously with all/most
tiles in place, the mesh is MUCH stiffer.

but I guess that's the real point: it's a question of how much lateral
thrust might possibly be encountered, and how well, say, a tile-less 
mesh of stringers+feet would handle it.

thanks, mark hahn.