2015.02.28
Cats and Computers
Those of you who have cats will know that a cat is a very good heat-seeking system and they will often be found curled up in some spot that is warm and cosy.
For those of us with computers and computer equipment this usually means on one of the pieces of hardware, usually the warmest and the size and shape doesn’t matter.
One of my cats has taken to trying to curl up on my Apple Time Capsule which I keep on one of the shelves in my home office. Unfortunately there are two things wrong with this. Firstly the cat is bigger that the unit and secondly, when the cat sprawls over the unit, the Mac Mini and Hub that are either side of it, she can and does lie on the network cables. Occasionally she manages to move one of these cables enough to disrupt the connection. Most of the time this isn’t a problem but if she does this when a back up is taking place, the back up fails. There is also the case when she stretches. The three bits of hardware on the shelf get pushed further and further towards the edge of the shelf and I have to keep pushing them back on before one of them falls off.
I’m not sure what the temperature of the units does when a cat lies on them either. It doesn’t go down, that’s for sure, but will the items overheat? I don’t know and I don’t want to find out.
So, I’ve put in a mezzanine shelf to prevent the cat from being able to get on to the equipment. It’s proving to be a bit awkward when I want to add another cable to the hub but at least they are now protected from sleeping cats.
So far she’s a bit put out that she can’t get to her warm spot. Time will tell if the equipment underneath the shelf will warm the shelf enough for her to curl up there or whether she will find somewhere else to sleep.
2015.03.08
Cats and Computers - Addendum
The new shelf appears to be acceptable as you can see from the photo at the bottom of the page!
2015.07.25
Cats and Computers - Addendum 2
I had to extend the shelf as the two cats were pushing each other off when trying to get comfortable. Photo at the bottom of the page.
Cats and Computers
Those of you who have cats will know that a cat is a very good heat-seeking system and they will often be found curled up in some spot that is warm and cosy.
For those of us with computers and computer equipment this usually means on one of the pieces of hardware, usually the warmest and the size and shape doesn’t matter.
One of my cats has taken to trying to curl up on my Apple Time Capsule which I keep on one of the shelves in my home office. Unfortunately there are two things wrong with this. Firstly the cat is bigger that the unit and secondly, when the cat sprawls over the unit, the Mac Mini and Hub that are either side of it, she can and does lie on the network cables. Occasionally she manages to move one of these cables enough to disrupt the connection. Most of the time this isn’t a problem but if she does this when a back up is taking place, the back up fails. There is also the case when she stretches. The three bits of hardware on the shelf get pushed further and further towards the edge of the shelf and I have to keep pushing them back on before one of them falls off.
I’m not sure what the temperature of the units does when a cat lies on them either. It doesn’t go down, that’s for sure, but will the items overheat? I don’t know and I don’t want to find out.
So, I’ve put in a mezzanine shelf to prevent the cat from being able to get on to the equipment. It’s proving to be a bit awkward when I want to add another cable to the hub but at least they are now protected from sleeping cats.
So far she’s a bit put out that she can’t get to her warm spot. Time will tell if the equipment underneath the shelf will warm the shelf enough for her to curl up there or whether she will find somewhere else to sleep.
2015.03.08
Cats and Computers - Addendum
The new shelf appears to be acceptable as you can see from the photo at the bottom of the page!
2015.07.25
Cats and Computers - Addendum 2
I had to extend the shelf as the two cats were pushing each other off when trying to get comfortable. Photo at the bottom of the page.
