I don't think I could do this...

I don't think I could do this... 07/14/2004 11:53 PM

... to a brand new G5!

At work we're looking at installing a new archive server that will run on a shiny new Mac G5 (woohoo!) Since the server closet is getting a little crowded I was thinking that it would work nicely to put the thing in a rack. We could go with an xServe, but that costs a bit more than a standard G5 tower.

So I checked out the premier outfit for rackmounting Macs, Marathon Computer. Sure enough, they had a rack kit for the G5 — the G5 Horizontal Rackmount — but get this; you have to cut the G5's handles off with a hacksaw!

Complete do-it-yourself instructions and tips are included in the G5 Horizontal Rackmount package, so you can tackle the job with confidence and end up with a great-looking rackmounted G5. (Take a preview of the installa tion instructions to find out what's involved. It's a 468K PDF download.)

The reason for this radical surgery is that the G5 with its handles is too wide to fit into a standard 19" rack, and since the handles and sides are one piece of aluminum they've got to be cut off. The installation instructions describe how to get the handles off with either a hand hacksaw or a power saw. As shocking as the line drawings of the deed being done are, the instructions aren't without humor.

The ultimate power tool for cutting off your G5 handles would be a table saw equipped with a rip fence and a metal-cutting rotary blade. In which case, you need no advice from us.
(Well, of course, the ULTIMATE, ultimate tool would be a chainsaw. If you go this route, please take pictures to share!)

Very little clean-up should be needed, and you will be rewarded for your patience with a G5 that looks like it came from the factory without handles, ready for rackmounting.

If God meant for us to have G5's without handles, they would come from the factory that way.

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