r/foundsatan • u/dosadiexperiment • 2d ago

Datacenter satan

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In case you don't know, the angle of this ziptie cut will probably slice open the arm of the next person to reach in past it.

559 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

255

u/envybelmont 2d ago

The number of zip ties used in securing network cables is insane. Having to reach into a bundle of tied off cables is always a crapshoot because there’s always a few zip ties that aren’t properly flush cut, leaving a nice sharp edge. At one point early in my career I had people worried I was self harming from all the zip tie scratches and cuts on my forearms.

57

u/antithero 2d ago

I have cut myself on zip ties cut like this so many times.

I can see why someone might have thought you were cutting your self. I tend to rotate the zip ties so the cut end isn't pointing out like that.

4

u/badgerj 1d ago

Good engineer! 🤣❤️

0

u/bosssok 1d ago edited 1d ago

there's a specific tool that you can buy that'll tighten the ziptie to a certain point and cut it flush. I've forgotten almost every detail about it besides you gotta look at a place for data related things, and it'll look like a glue gun with the trigger being as long as the handle

added tip bc I'm high and miss talking about this: imo the easiest way to snip zipties with minimal risk to the things being tied is to cut along the part that goes thru the box, so then if you mess up it'll hit the plastic instead of rubber (hopefully)

1

u/antithero 15h ago

I have used one of those tools in the past. It's unfortunate that people don't cut them off flush.

14

u/paulwillyjean 1d ago

That’s why I now do my cable management with Velcro strips

2

u/envybelmont 1d ago

That’s how I always did it. My career started with cleaning up disaster scenario IDF/MDF rooms where everyone there before me had zero stake in the game. The horrors I’ve seen still haunt me some days.

6

u/Bearspoole 2d ago

The scars on my hands and wrists say it all

5

u/TomaszA3 2d ago

I usually only hear that from cat owners.

3

u/StrangeBrewd 1d ago

The Lord of Scars, Survivor of Hathsin

68

u/Altruistic-Dingo-757 2d ago

Leaving edges to cut the next guy

12

u/ThanxForTheGold 2d ago

Do you want to cut yourself or double it and pass it to the next guy?

62

u/tanafras 2d ago

I disallow the use of zip ties in my data centers and require folks to use velcro straps at all times. It's more expensive but it saves the cables and no more nucks and cuts on everyone's hands. I like slant 45 and 2u of cable management for each 24 rj45 also. proper cable lengths are paramount as well. No jenkiness. A nice labeled hjack number also that is updated on my platform too. Simple. Clean. Orderly. It makes for a happy day.

27

u/notcomplainingmuch 2d ago

You can also reuse velcro ties almost unlimited times, unlike a cut zip tie.

11

u/tanafras 2d ago

I have reused a zip time 2 times in 30 years. I have only seen 1 person 1 time ever in my career reuse a zip tie. When I did reuse it the guy next to me remarked he didn't know that they could be unlocked and reused.

10

u/notcomplainingmuch 2d ago

Not when it's cut flush, you don't.

2

u/tanafras 2d ago

Nope. Not then. ;)

5

u/1CrustyMoose 2d ago edited 2d ago

You are doing God’s work

I usually work on smaller comms racks and often they were installed by electricians. Those guys love cinching the zip ties down as tight as they can, which of course is not good for data cables. So I spend way too much time cutting off zip ties and replacing them with Velcro

My other pet hate is people who concertina long patch cables back and forth so they can stuff them inside the cable management rails instead of getting proper cable lengths or at the very least hanging the excess cable down the inside of the rack rails and tie it off with Velcro

5

u/tanafras 2d ago

concertina

I found a tech doing that and I ripped it out and made him put the proper cable lengths back in. The sheer lazy alone is just enraging. Wasteful. Especially as the setups I do are l0 l1 switching. oeo, robotic type stuff. There is no excuse at all for running a 15' er when a 3' is needed.

The largest switch I put in was a 4096 port l1 ... think of beauty. The largest optical robotic was a 16k strand fabric - All software defined. Smf mmf. 4096 fully unblocked oeo and the smf and mmf was 2/3rd mmf and 1/3rd smf aand I set it up in a hybrid torus clos benes fabric. I also looked into doing blocon with chips and other stuff. But, yeah, robots. In the datacwnter, moving strands of fiber. Good times. Damn I'm old.

2

u/1CrustyMoose 2d ago

I don’t understand why people do such a scrappy job of it when doing it right is so damn satisfying

3

u/tanafras 2d ago

I had a boss who refused to buy patch management then got pissed when the cutover looked like spaghetti. Hypocracy runs from the top down. I used what I had and it came out looking like garbage. I told him from the beginning it was going to look like crap.

2

u/That_Car3506 2d ago

This is the way.

23

u/1CrustyMoose 2d ago

The real Satan was the motherfucking Neanderthal who zip tied the cables in the first place

Velcro for data cables, always and forever

16

u/Material-Job-1928 2d ago

I bought a special set of pliers used to tag lobsters. Now I can cut zip tie ends to have two points. /s

15

u/timelasher 2d ago

There's a special hell for people who clip zip ties like this.

3

u/Lobster_porn 2d ago

diagonal cutters will never make a clean cut you need flush cutters

3

u/Icy_Amoeba9644 2d ago

Noob. Every electrician knows that you need to hide those in de middle of a bundle that needs to be adjusted daily...

7

u/DawnyBrat 2d ago

Brilliance meets evil. Perfect for data centers. 🏆

2

u/tanafras 2d ago

Yeah, that's messed up.

2

u/b0wie88 2d ago

Sharp as a fuckin razor

2

u/agent_sphalerite 2d ago

I began using Velcro zip ties because of Satans like this

2

u/lovesredheads_ 2d ago

The real Satan is missaligning HE. Why use zip ties if you have cable management elements? But in the end its a homeland anyways: big rack, nothing in it and a tp link switch

2

u/Alternative-Roll-112 2d ago

Gotta give them a natural defense against untrained hands.

2

u/DeliberateDendrite 2d ago

Chris Boden is preparing the appropriate rant and befitting punishment for this I'm sure

1

u/BoredRedhead24 2d ago

As an electrical technician, we have found satan.

1

u/Sea_Ganache620 2d ago

I have scars.

1

u/Canadian-and-Proud 2d ago

Now dab some ricin on the end

1

u/THr33_AM_TheGod 2d ago

Somebody’s hands bout ta get sliced tf up!!!

1

u/paulwillyjean 1d ago

I initially thought “thank you” because there’s no need to keep such a long tab. I had to see the angle of the cut to understand. So evil!

1

u/silentredditmass 1d ago

Cut my life into zip ties, leaving angles sharp and short!

1

u/Swimming-Finance6942 1d ago

My finger nail is bleeding already. 

1

u/Ok_Egg332 1d ago

Oooohhh edgy..

1

u/bebop1065 1d ago

Sharp.