Safest way to physically move server

[toastyboy]

Hi,
I need to transport my company's F80 server to a new building. Using a dolly, would rolling it across a paved parking lot and over a tiled floor be too stressfull on the drives? Or are we better off just carrying it? Thanks.

 

[maultier]

Since even going across the street can result in unexpected events, my thought would be to label and remove the drives. Package them in bubble wrap and transport them to the new building. I would think that it is less an issue of head damage and more the possibility that a drive or two won't spin back up after they cool off. I'm sure it goes without saying... get a couple of good backups just before you shut down. Having a spare drive available might be a good idea as well. You should also make sure you have a good disaster recovery plan in case the worst happens. Everything you need to recover a system meltdown should be ready to go in the event the system goes up in flames or whatever. Hopefully, nothing terrible will happen and you'll just plug and go at the new location. But, if something does happen, you'll be prepared for this event and any future events as long as the Disaster Plan is kept current.

 

[itsp1965]

Be careful, you may need to check with IBM on this. I know that when I had HP9000 server that needed moving, HP would void the warranty on the server if they found out that we didn't use HP to do the moving (don't ask).

 

[maultier]

Label everything.
Take pictures.
Make sure you know what disk came out of which slot and which cable goes to which connector.
Good preparation = Good results.

 

[toastyboy]

Here's some more info. I have two drives in raid1 for the OS, which I'll backup and verify. And I have 8 more drives in raid5 for our data. I'll backup and verify that right before I shut her down also. (ports and cables are alrady labeled) I'm still debating on whether I should remove the drives or not. Thanks you all for the advice.

 

[p5wizard]

We've moved a lot of servers around using their frame's caster wheels, dollies, trucks, cranes, ... with all the disks in place - when powered off, the disk-heads are firmly parked out of harm's way. I don't think there's really a need to remove/bubblewrap all the individual disks. IBM doesn't do that as a rule on delivery of your servers (not in EMEA). Only reason I can think of is weight/height reduction on the big servers or SAN boxes (batteries and diskpacks delivered separately, tophat remove/replace).

Only problem (as stated earlier) is that some disks may fail to spin up after power off, but that can happen even without physically moving a server... So a backup is your best bet.

It is a good idea though to alter IBM of your planned relocation. They may have other ideas and may want to run a healthcheck on the machine before you move it.


HTH,

p5wizard

 

[bwtc]

The AS/400 / iSeries / Systemi / FlavorOfTheWeek servers are indestructible... we had two that survived a fire 6 years ago, one of which is still up & ticking...

In all seriousness, no matter how you decide to move it, be sure to do a FULL system backup, just in case... and, it wouldn't hurt to call your IBM CE, just to let them know what is going on (if you're under maintenance, perhaps they'll send the CE there, "just in case").

 

[TheLad]

When you get the server to it's destination, it would probably be wise just to make sure that the components are properly seated (processor, memory, disks, etc...) before you power the server up.

I usually do this because it saves the hassle of a component possibly shorting out if it is not seated properly. This is a 2 minute check so should not cause you much hassle.

And I also add my vote to a FULL and SUCCESSFUL backup prior to moving the server.

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