Maybe we have some new design improvements for Netapp then!
Sounds like we need more edge connectors so that the board slips in and out with the cables etc plugging into an external bus or something?
And for the motherboard reduce the number of screws and what about some sort of easy release system? I'm thinking bicycle wheels here but I'm sure the same applies for motherboard screws!
2 Questions on a slightly different thread tho; what is the life expectancy of a drive, what is the life expectancy of a motherboard?
Steve
-- Stephen J. Wilcox Internet Manager, Opal Telecom http://www.opaltelecom.co.uk/ Tel: 0161 222 2000 Fax: 0161 222 2008
On Fri, 14 Jul 2000, Todd C. Merrill wrote:
On Fri, 14 Jul 2000, Mark Simmons wrote:
time. Calm, unflapped, neatly executed work by one or two guys may take a hair longer than a biff-bang-bosh job slapped together by three or four adrenaline addicts but I know which I'd rather have serving my data afterward.
Indeed. Though posted in jest, I did not rush the whole affair. I wanted to do this once, and I wanted it to be clean so that our local NetApp engineer wouldn't notice anything sloppy if he were the next person to open the filer.
As hinted at, I unscrewed what I could beforehand, broke the torque or loosened other screws/nuts, had the new motherboard lined up on a table, had static bags lined up for the PCI cards, etc. After halting, it was a matter of just unplugging all the wires, finger unscrewing the hex bolts, etc. The longest segment of time indeed came from the motherboard screws. Installation was the reverse of removal--slide case closed, finger tight all hex bolts, connect all wires, and power up. Final tightening happened during and after boot. Not kosher with the hardware field guide, I'm sure!
Call it cheating or what you will, but being "prepared" does shave off a valuable 5-10 minutes. And, due to lots of swaps in the recent future, practice helps. (Previous times were something like 32 and 25 minutes.) I would not suggest someone try this if they haven't done it a few times before.
Until next time...
The Mathworks, Inc. 508-647-7000 x7792 3 Apple Hill Drive, Natick, MA 01760-2098 508-647-7001 FAX tmerrill@mathworks.com http://www.mathworks.com