What is your server room storage for patch cables und stuf?

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WWGHIAFTC@reddit

I buy acro bins. But i dont store anything in the server room.

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We have bins on bakers racks, but they're not in the server room. I'm not sure of the reasons, but our data center group had to move all storage out of the data center and took over another space nearby to use for storage. I'm not sure what the mandate was, whether it was cyber insurance or regulations related to some of our security requirements. I didn't ask a lot of questions at the time, but something prompted this.

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DestinyForNone@reddit

Insurance companies don't want clutter in the server room. Increases risk of fire or accident.

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crankysysadmin@reddit

I just know we're extremely cheap with real estate, so moving all those shelves out of the data center into another space that used to belong to another non-IT group definitely would not have happened without good reason.

Nobody should be storing stuff in the data center though. Too many companies keep spare parts in there and have random desktop support techs going in and out. We took away access to the data center even from the sysadmins. They have to be escorted by data center staff now.

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Lukage@reddit

The bottom drawer of my desk. No, really.

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slugshead@reddit

Plywood screwed to the wall. Load of hooks. Cables draped.

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notarealaccount223@reddit

We use retail grid wall with hooks for loose cables.

Fiber cables and DAC cables are in a portable file cabinet type box, with a folder for each size/type.

Bulk cables are stored in IT, not the server room. More gridwall and hooks with bags or retail package for low volume stuff. Dump bins for high volume stuff. Network cables organized in the bins by size.

Rack parts and tools are in a large part organizer.

Very easy to see if we need more of something before we run out

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DestinyForNone@reddit

Have a few large cabinets on one side of the room.

Contains... Spare switches for the IDF's, spare core stack, 6 boxes of 1000ft spools of cat6 cables. All the cables and replacement screws for the switches...

Next cabinet has our patch cables, organized in bins by length and type (cat6 or fibre.). Alongside our tools and misc items like connectors, signal toners, etc...

Basically, only stuff needed for the infrastructure, not for end-users.

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someguy7710@reddit

A giant ball of random cables stuff in a Tupperware bin

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TxDuctTape@reddit (OP)

The Christmas lights solution

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jfernandezr76@reddit

Just label each cable end with the length, that solves 90% of the problems.

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TxDuctTape@reddit (OP)

Ain't nobody got time for that!

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fieroloki@reddit

Peg board

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xplorerex@reddit

Keep the different cables together, wound together and taped up with velcro.

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BananaSacks@reddit

Ideally, NOT in the server room. Some rypes of audits may even fail you. And never cardboard. Since you can have a fireproof safe, in most circumstances, you could probably get away with a lockable fireproof cabinet.

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FarToe1@reddit

I made it my job to tidy up the server room's storage when I first started. Got a wall cage, storage bins and so on. Spent hours happily sorting things away thinking that I was contributing to the company.

Didn't last of course. Every time I go in there now somebody's dumped stuff in the wrong bin, or left a pile of wrappings or screws on the floor, and the patch leads are all mixed together and tangled.

Now I just try not to see the mess...

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GhostNode@reddit

Pegboard with 6” long hooks. One column of power cables. Each row different lengths. Next column is video. VGA, 3’ 6’ 8’. HDMI 1,3,6,8,10 feet. Column aftet is DP, 2”3,6,8 feet. So on.

The real thing to realize here, is, at least in the US, you don’t NEED that much shit, and there is a “cost” (space, frustration, effort, etc) to storage. Standardize your cables, order appropriate amounts of specific things for projects, and get rid of extra junk.

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Trickshot1322@reddit

Buy $5 plastic crate from the local hardware store.

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St0nywall@reddit

One of the places I worked at had bought some shelving and display racks from a Best Buy. Was the easiest way I found to see what we had and order what was almost out. Cheap too.

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prxy-com@reddit

Depending on the storage space you have available, I have stackable storage bins convenient. You can get shelves specifically sized to hold them.

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ZGTSLLC@reddit

Ugh, I loved those at first, but the tops break far too easily, and they are so brittle -- bought ours at Costco and have regretted it ever since, because now we have bins but no lids...we just went with clear Sterilite / Rubbermaid totes recently, and that has made life so much simpler...

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SwiftSloth1892@reddit

Peg board. Hange them loose fifteens at the top shorter ones as you go down. Longer varieties coiled. Also store power cables this way

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BlackV@reddit

In my current place plastic bins with labels

In my old data center, hundreds of plastic bins with 1m,2m,3m,5m utp. 1m, 2m, 5m, 10m, 15m fibre, and so on

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jackalsclaw@reddit

Don't have a ton of stuff in there, It's just a cardboard box and Ziplock bags for any lose cables to stop them from tangling

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GlassPerformance8754@reddit

I love this upgrade idea. I'm adding ziplock bags to my cardboard boxes!

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_bx2_@reddit

Some insurance companies don't want cardboard in server rooms.

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GlassPerformance8754@reddit

We have a "don't ask, don't tell" arrangement right now....

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slashrjl@reddit

This. It’s a game changer for the box of spare parts every sysadmin has at home as well. The power supply for that v.56 modem you know you will need sometime is all kept together.

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TooOldForThis81@reddit

Fireproof filing cabinet.

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dartdoug@reddit

We separate by type of cable (cat6, cat6a, power, USB, etc) and by length but we don't separate by color since that's pretty evident.

We have each type of cable (and lots of other supplies) in bins like this: https://www.globalindustrial.com/p/premium-stacking-bin-8-1-4-x-13-5-8-x-6-blue?referer=L2Mvc3RvcmFnZS9iaW5zX3RvdGVzX2NvbnRhaW5lcnMvYmlucy9oYW5nX3N0YWNrX2JpbnM%3D#customUrl:::prindex=6&pgkey=36458

The bins go onto a shelving unit. I think there are 5 shelves and each shelf holds about 10 bins across so 50 or so bins per unit. We have 3 units so 150 separate bins.

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TxDuctTape@reddit (OP)

I've seen the shelves at Harbor Freight. Could work.

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overkillsd@reddit

I do it similarly in my personal sorting, but in a much larger corporate environment I account for color blindness so things are also labeled for that.

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halodude423@reddit

We have a closet with a metal shelf. Shelf just has cheap see through boxes with a label. Small things have trays. Just do whatever people will actually keep doing though. We don't really have tools but console cables are on a coatrack.

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DarthJarJar242@reddit

"Great, now you want me to keep the tables organized before I even put them in the racks?"

My network guy when I bought him rack drawers and told him to put his patch cables in there.

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amgeiger@reddit

Depends on cage size. I’ve seen everywhere from plastic totes to modular part storage units.

Cardboard is generally a bad idea, and colo’s often ban.

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djinone@reddit

We already have a buckhorn bin system for our other operations (library) so we use those to store cables, connectors, and supplies. They get stacked on archival shelving in the server room.

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ttkciar@reddit

I like to shank mine and hang them from long pegs on the wall. Same type cables go on same peg(s). Keeps them visible and easy to grab, but still compact.