31
A server room in Boise taught me an expensive lesson about zip ties
Last spring I got called into this small office's server room over in Boise. Some intern had used metal zip ties to bundle all the cables because he thought they looked cleaner. Well after about six months the vibration from the fans had worn through the insulation on two power cables. One of them arced against the rack frame and took out their main switch and a backup drive. The repair cost them over $1,200 plus a day of downtime. Now every job I do I always check what kind of ties or straps people used before me. Has anyone else seen damage from metal ties in a rack or am I just finding the worst case scenarios?
3 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In3 Comments
henrycooper20d ago
Metal zip ties in a server room sound like a disaster waiting to happen, and your story proves it. Did the guy who used them realize what he did wrong after you fixed it, or did he double down and claim it was still a good idea? I've seen people get defensive about bad cable management before, and it's always wild. Also, how long did it take you to undo all those metal ties and swap them out for velcro or plastic ones? That must have been a nightmare with the power already fried.
2
riley_taylor20d ago
Did they even account for how metal ties mess with airflow and create weird hot spots in the rack, @henrycooper?
6
the_laura13d ago
Wait, did they really not think about what happens when metal rubs against cables for months in a rack with fans? I feel for you, @henrycooper, because that sounds like a nightmare to deal with after the fact. I've definitely seen people get super defensive about their cable management choices too, like it's a personal attack or something. That whole situation with the intern probably just thought metal ties looked neat without realizing the long term damage they cause. It's wild how such a small thing can cause that much downtime and cost.
-1