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We have a location near a railroad line and when trains go by the vibration seems substantial enough to possibly cause (or explain) harddrive damage.

I wonder if suspending a machine or hanging it in some fashion might alleviate the problem, because we need something inexpensive. However, that might not actually do enough to dampen the vibration. Has anyone tried anything similar? I was thinking short rubber strapping attached under a desk or shelf.

Might this work? Or is there something inexpensive to consider instead?

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    This is a site for IT professionals - so inexpensive and reliable tend not to go hand-in-hand. Consider investing in an anti-vibration rack, there are several out there.
    – Ben Lessani
    Jun 29, 2012 at 17:11
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    Make the servers float over water or over a giant electromagnet :)
    – petrus
    Jun 29, 2012 at 17:15
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    @sonassi I figured IT professionals might have dealt with workstations and servers in unfriendly environments, and considered alternatives to expensive solutions.
    – datatoo
    Jun 29, 2012 at 17:23
  • Is this a server or a workstation? For servers, like rnxrx says, you're basically going to have to get a specialized rack for that, and rack vendors would know. For workstations, there are some cheapish options of varying effectiveness, but I'd be tempted to just go with SSDs where ever possible.
    – HopelessN00b
    Jun 29, 2012 at 18:25

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You're going to run into some fairly serious safety issues hanging any kind of enterprise-grade server on rubber straps, not to mention issues with serviceability and such. Look to some of the seismic and sensitive equipment gear to provide some kind of mechanical isolation for an entire equipment rack rather than an individual component.

A cursory search turned up a few decent options something like this - http://www.starcase.com/isolation_mounts.htm - seemed like a relatively inexpensive way to approach the problem, assuming the specs agree with your requirement. You'll need to be very careful about loading characteristics and if the rack in question is also secured on top then you'll likely require isolation on these connections as well.

Ultimately, however, the right (read: not cheap) answer would be to consult with someone who deals with these kinds of issues (harsh environment / seismic ratings) professionally. I would start with the major rack vendors (Chatsworth, Panduit, APC, etc..) as they've likely dealt with this kind of situation before.

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  • Thank you for the point regarding the right(not cheap) your links show solutions that are affordable. I had forgotten serviceability, but was not thinking of dangling servers on long bungy cords either.
    – datatoo
    Jun 29, 2012 at 19:15

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