On 12/01/2010 12:47 PM, Jameel Akari wrote:
Or, you could do what our co-loc does, have a large coffee can with screws, nuts, etc and a few shared screwdrivers in another. On your way in, grab the nuts/screws and a screwdriver, on your way out put unused and extras back in the can.
I like this idea better - which is what one of our DCs does for snacks and food. Box of Pop-Tarts, with an honor system can for payment. Partially for the staff, but they put it out in the customer area along with free coffee. Coke machine costs $0.50. There is at least one operator on duty 24/7; if I really needed to I could go knock on the door and have them scrounge up tools and screws. There is a Home Depot a half mile away failing that.
Unfortunately rack nuts (really the clips) aren't at HD, and they miss the thread pitch for several rack screw types. They do have cat5 and cat6 jumpers and bulk cable, tho.
This all sounds a little silly compared to the normal datacenter facility issues like power, security, telecomm... but indeed these touches go a long way towards customer satisfaction when you're there for an entire weekend for some big install. Next time we look for new facilities, I know I'll have these in mind.
There was always Tribeca Ace Hardware... I see it burned out last May, so no longer... Where else could you get retail fiber jumpers on Sunday? -- Pete