Hi selfhosted community,

I’m in the process of moving across the country and need some advice on the best way to transport my server equipment safely. I have a 15U server rack, a 2U server, a 1U server, a 2U UPS, a 1U PDU, a 1U network switch, a 1U network router, and a 1U patch panel. I’m planning to pack everything into a 4×8 U-Haul trailer along with the rest of my bedroom, desk, and computer equipment.

I ran a few queries into a couple LLMs and they basically say to pack everything in the rack and secure it down. I just couldn’t see that working out at all. Figured I might get some human input.

Here are a few questions I have:

  • Packing: What’s the best way to pack these items to ensure they don’t get damaged during transport? Should I use bubble wrap, foam, or just some moving blankets?
  • Securing: I’ve got plenty of ratchet straps but is there any other - options I should be aware of?
  • Anything else I’m not thinking of atm?

Additional Tips: Any other advice for transporting sensitive electronic equipment would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance for your help! Looking forward to your suggestions.

  • Retro_unlimited@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 days ago

    I just moved across states.

    I took everything apart, packed the equipment in boxes using tons of padding. Any extra space in the boxes was filled with extra cables and more padding. Rack mounts that I have come completely apart.

    My main servers have hard drives, so I used a lot of foam all around the server and added trackers (air tags) to the servers and my camera stuff.

    I’m now off grid so not really in a hurry to setup all this stuff, but happy it seems to have made it here in great condition. Eventually I will setup the rack mounts just to hold the equipment and maybe I will power on things here and there as I feel like playing with them again.