Difference between revisions of "Malone G29 Server Room"

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== Other Notes ==
 
== Other Notes ==
  
Do not prop the door to the server room open.  We are notified any time the door stays open for too long.  If you expect to need to door to remain open for some period of time, please {{mailto|support|email us}} ahead of time to let us know.
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'''Do ''not'' prop the door to the server room open.''' We are notified any time the door stays open for too long.  If you expect to need to door to remain open for some period of time, please {{mailto|support|email us}} ahead of time to let us know.
  
 
The server room is fairly loud.  If you want to use ear protection while you're working there, you can use one of the headsets that are hanging on the wall all the way to the right after you enter the room.  Please return the headsets to their hangers when you're done with them.
 
The server room is fairly loud.  If you want to use ear protection while you're working there, you can use one of the headsets that are hanging on the wall all the way to the right after you enter the room.  Please return the headsets to their hangers when you're done with them.

Revision as of 19:37, 15 July 2025

The Computer Science Department has a server room in Malone Hall Room G29. This page is for CS faculty/researchers who have already been allocated space in that room or want to request space in the room. It also describes how to make the best use of your space allocation.

Please read the below sections first. Then, if you would like your server hosted in our server room or have questions that are not answered here or need to make arrangements with us if you've been allocated space in the server room, please email us at support@cs.jhu.edu.

Services Provided (and Not Provided) by CS IT Staff

Things We Will Do for You

CS IT will:

  • Provide space on a rack for your equipment, possibly on a rack shared with other CS faculty
  • Provide network access for your equipment (see Networking below)
  • Provide power access for your equipment (see Power below)
  • Provide you and your designees J-Card access to the room
  • Add you to a Malone server room mailing list for server room-related announcements, etc.
    • (However, you should continue to check the CS IT Support Wiki Notices page if you experience issues such as network, etc. that could be affecting your systems in the server room.)

Things You Will Need to Do Yourself

CS IT will not:

  • Install your systems on the rack
  • Make network or power connections between your systems and our equipment on the rack
  • Administer your systems

NOTE: CS IT Support does not administer research systems. Please see our Scope Of Services and Research Computing pages for more details.

Physical Space

Each rack is labeled with a letter and number. Within each rack, space is divided vertically into numbered "rack units". We will provide you the rack letter/number combo and the range of RUs available to you.

Airflow/Cooling

The server room is set up in a "hot aisle/cold aisle" configuration. The front of each rack, which is the end with the single, wider door, faces a "cold aisle". The cold aisles are also marked by perforations in the floor tiles. Cold air from the air conditioning units enters the aisles through these perforations. The back of each rack faces a "hot aisle", which does not have perforated floor tiles.

When installing equipment in your rack, you should orient the equipment so that the fans pull air in from the cold aisle and exhaust air out to the hot aisle. This ensures good cooling efficiency for the entire room. Equipment installed backwards may overheat and may cause adjacent equipment to also overheat.

Networking

Each rack has a switch with ports labeled for the CS public grad net and the CS private grad net. (See our networking overview for more information on those networks.) If you need another network, please ask; we may be able to accommodate the request.

You will need to follow our procedure for requesting static IP addresses for your equipment, in addition to connecting the equipment to the correct ports on the switch.

Our network connections are 1 Gigabit Ethernet using RJ-45 connectors. If you need other accommodations, please contact us and we'll see what arrangements we can make.

Please do not use any of the switch ports labeled "Reserved", nor any of the unlabeled ports.

Power

Each rack has several power distribution units (PDUs). Most racks have:

  • Two 120V PDUs with NEMA 15/20 amp outlets. (The 15A outlets are the standard household receptacle.)
  • One 208V PDU with a few C19 outlets and several more C13 outlets.

Some racks have fewer PDUs because of space limitations, but every rack should have at least one 120V and one 208V PDU.

Each PDU has a display showing the amount of current it is currently supplying, in amps. The limits for the PDUs are:

  • The 120V PDUs may only exceed 16 amps for short periods of time (no more than an hour per day, in total)
  • The 120V PDUs may never exceed 20 amps, for any period of time
  • The 208V PDUs have two banks of outlets:
    • Each bank may only exceed 16 amps for short periods of time (no more than an hour per day, in total)
    • Each bank may never exceed 20 amps, for any period of time
    • The entire PDU may only exceed 24 amps for short periods of time (no more than an hour per day, in total)
    • The entire PDU may never exceed 30 amps, for any period of time

The 208V PDU on rack B4 only has one outlet bank, and has limits corresponding to a single 208V PDU bank: no more than 16 amps in continuous usage, and no more than 20 amps at all.

The two-bank PDUs have LEDs showing which bank's current is being displayed at the moment. If both LEDs are lit, it's showing the PDU's total power usage. Press the "Select" button to cycle the display between the banks and the PDU.

Note that we do not plan to designate which PDU your racked equipment will use. You can choose that. However, you do not have exclusive use to the PDU you choose. You might need to coordinate power usage with other faculty members using the same PDU.

Access to the Server Room

Server room access is controlled by J-Card. In order to grant someone access, the faculty owner of the rack space should email us and request it. The request needs to contain the name and JHED ID of the person who should be granted access, as well as an estimate of how long you expect the person to be using the room.

Other Notes

Do not prop the door to the server room open. We are notified any time the door stays open for too long. If you expect to need to door to remain open for some period of time, please email us ahead of time to let us know.

The server room is fairly loud. If you want to use ear protection while you're working there, you can use one of the headsets that are hanging on the wall all the way to the right after you enter the room. Please return the headsets to their hangers when you're done with them.

There is a "crash cart" at the back of the room with a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on it. You can use it to connect a display to your servers on a temporary basis. Please return it to its storage area when you're done.

Please turn the server room lights off when you're done in the room.