[Beowulf] another crazy idea

[Mark Hahn]

in the spirit of Friday, here's another, even less realistic idea:
let's slide 1U nodes into a rack on their sides, and forget the 
silly, fussy, vendor-specific, not-that-cheap rail mechanism entirely.

how often do you actually pull out nodes, and of those few times,
how often do you really need the node suspended in space by the rails?

if I'm going to pull a node, I usually take it to a bench or cart
where it's more convenient/pleasant to work on.  I wouldn't mind if 
the nodes were stacked side-by-side, supported by a couple stout bars.
being able to shove nodes around within a stack wouldn't be bad.
if the metal-on-metal slide sounds aversive to you, lube it up,
or stick some teflon pads in there.

heck, it would be harder to charge $1000 for an empty rack, too.

nodes could still be bolted in place.  there might even be some minor
advantages in avoiding unintended air circulation/mixing.

regards, mark.