Hi all,
Again I am super psyched that we are tackling where to rack servers and very grateful to all who are putting energy and effort into this.
Whether it be for servers or any other ideas about how to use others' space and shared space, I feel the only real missing piece in the discussion here, and actually to various degrees within pretty much every member collective actually, is not keeping in mind any other group's plans or ideas for a given space in the building - especially for their very own space which they have already been promised are technically in possession of.
For sure, by all means, lets brainstorm about every possible place things like servers could go. If we are imagining the rack should not go into sudo/ccl's room (why not?), but rather elsewhere in the building, I think that's a conversation that should include others in the building too, not just sudoers, because it affects others' planning and use of space.
The same I feel is true for anyone else's plans to do any build-out, and all buildout really should be discussed within the OOC as a whole. This doesn't have to be a nightmare of endless meetings - its simply a way to try to act in a coordinated and thoughtful manner in concert with other groups in the space.
For example, in the hypothetical of Sudo putting a server rack into what is presently another group's dedicated space (Backspace), that particular conversation should be had with that group from the get-go. For sure, hash out pros & cons on sudo-discuss, walk the building with other sudoers - yes! - but that discussion should not take place only on sudo-discuss (or sudo-mesh), or only with other sudoers (me and Andrew). Also, the Backspace area presently needs a lot of work - apparently, many people can only envision as a place for garbage, or to get to utility panels.
Just because the Backspace area has not been fixed up yet, does not mean it won't soon be. Backspace area is at a real disadvantage here compared to nearly every other group, and I feel we all must be understanding of this, as Backspace clearly needs more work (and time to do that) than pretty much anywhere else in the building. I mean, Backspace has far more intense permitting and structural issues to address - we're getting architectural drawings (I had the architect over yesterday partly for this reason), and planning it out thoughtfully - this is not going to happen in one week or even one month. Also, Backspacers are a much smaller, newer group than Sudo, in which almost everyone has day jobs and simply can't be there alla the time - they are not on sudo-discuss, nor necessarily should they be, at least any more than all of sudo should be on backspace's list.
For those that don't know - Backspace Wellness Collective is a regularly-meeting group presently comprised of four healers / bodyworkers, in addition to Andrew and myself: Samantha, Margaretha, Athena, and Sarah. So, the notion of building Sudo stuff into Backspace needs to be discussed extensively with Backspace as a group. I see this model as applying to any group wanting to build out in another group's space.
As you can imagine Backspace is having their own internal discussions about how articulate their model, including how best to build out, refinish, and make use of that physical area. Consider that if you blow away part of Backspace's area or an entire room for a different use, you are also potentially actually talking about removing an individual from Backspace, who would have used that room for their practice. I think it might be best to think about the pro's of putting servers into backspace in that way: Do you really feel that strongly about having servers there that you are willing to do ask that of another group? So you see what I mean here.
Anyhow, to a less intensive extent that conversation should also be had with the Omni Oakland Commons as a whole (in the omnilogistics list), especially if you see the servers as serving the entire building, not just sudo (which would need to be explained to everyone else too - easily enough done, but the common use of these servers should be clarified.)
Regarding server racks specifically and knowing sudo frankly I am somewhat doubtful that racks would be simply be left alone in a set-and-forget mode as much as has been inferred. Rather, I imagine sudo will actually need not-infrequent physical access.. to hack on things, install and upgrade new donated equipment, etc. Therefore they should be in a space where physical access is not an issue, and probably for permitting issues alone not infringe on the area for electrical panels. The electrical panel area should be closeted off no matter what and really never entered unless a breaker is flipped which, with 200A (or is it 240A?) of power and solid distribution throughout the building, and thoughtful planning re: circuit load, I see as being rare. Yes, a number of the circuits are powered off presently throughout the space - we will address that, and then the electrical closet should be rarely entered, if only for safety's sake if nothing else. My 2c.
Best,
David