Bolting the Macs to the desk - Work Environment

infernox · 23 Jan 2013 at 13:32

Anyone done this?

We have 160 2011 Imacs.

Come up of the idea to stop the students from moving them about mucking up our records and damaging ports was that we could put 2 bolts in the stand to secure them.

I know its physically possible, but higher powers wanted me to ask wether someone else has done it as he was concerned about vibrations from the drill.

Nikumba · 23 Jan 2013 at 13:50

I would not drill through the stand, but rather drill through the desk and place a padded bar over the stand and bolt the bar through the desk, this way you do not effect any potential resale value.

Or http://www.kensington.com/kensington/en/gb/s/2842/locks-for-imac.aspx not that cheap but maybe if buying 160 can get a deal.

Kimbie

Phate · 23 Jan 2013 at 13:57

The vibration itself won't cause any long term damage, providing you use the correct drill piece and a proper drill it'll be a few seconds per hole (oo er)

However, I think Nikumba has a better answer

sp217147 · 23 Jan 2013 at 14:30

I used to work somewhere where they had macs stuck to desks with a very strong double sided tape. I don't know what it was called, but it was very effective. You could remove it if needed, but it took a lot of effort to remove.

GW1970 · 23 Jan 2013 at 20:26

The tape you are thinking of is by 3M - it's used in the aircraft industry so pretty strong.

PardonTheWait · 23 Jan 2013 at 22:29

3M VHB tape. It's strong.

magicroundabout · 24 Jan 2013 at 07:15

Personally if you've spent the money on 160 iMacs then i'd also spend the money on securing them with Nikumba's idea of mac locks.

infernox · 24 Jan 2013 at 10:18

Its the money for these solutions thats the problem.

Far to much for them to spend.

Annoying I know.

Michael.

infernox · 24 Jan 2013 at 10:29

PardonTheWait said:
3M VHB tape. It's strong.

The problem with that is, I would have to remove the tape to fix the mac, as kids can't be trusted with it imaging or what ever in the environment its in.

If it was a adult work place it wouldn't be too bad.

And it looks ridiculous to remove also.

dillingerdan · 24 Jan 2013 at 11:13

What do you mean by "mucking up our records"? Anyhow the kensington lock can be had for almost half price shopping around and again if you contact the supplier, youll probably get more off, plus its unlikely most places will have 160 to hand anyway, and it keeps the resale value higher on the Macs. And eliminates anyone walking off with one at some point too. A couple of bolts are easily undone.

But if you dont want damaged ports put a USB port on the table so they dont need to reach the back of the mac too. Or some rubber covers if they dont need use of the ports. Again, more expense but then in the long run youll probably have less damaged/stolen macs to worry about.

Gangster · 24 Jan 2013 at 11:21

infernox said:
Anyone done this?

We have 160 2011 Imacs.

Come up of the idea to stop the students from moving them about mucking up our records and damaging ports was that we could put 2 bolts in the stand to secure them.

I know its physically possible, but higher powers wanted me to ask wether someone else has done it as he was concerned about vibrations from the drill.

Could always get a metal plate going across the bottom of the iMac stand - then drill 2 holes either side of the plate and bolt it down to the desk. Dont think it'd look very nice though! Would do the job... Or you could just build an enclosure for them with just the keyboard and mouse out on the desk.

Nismo · 24 Jan 2013 at 11:52

dillingerdan said:
What do you mean by "mucking up our records"?

Probably means something like an asset inventory of exactly what piece of kit is in which location.

If you're a school/college get your Fab and Weld guys (if you teach that?) to knock up a bar that spans the length of the desk (or individual bar for each Mac) and bolt them down that way as has been described above. They might even be able to make them out of brushed alu to match the Mac base

I work in an FE college and we don't secure our Macs, although personally I'd go for the smack round the head method of dissuading them.

Deleted member 77746 · 24 Jan 2013 at 11:53

We have a lot where I work and we havn't secured them. If someone wants one they are going to do it IMO.

infernox · 24 Jan 2013 at 11:55

dillingerdan said:
What do you mean by "mucking up our records"? Anyhow the kensington lock can be had for almost half price shopping around and again if you contact the supplier, youll probably get more off, plus its unlikely most places will have 160 to hand anyway, and it keeps the resale value higher on the Macs. And eliminates anyone walking off with one at some point too. A couple of bolts are easily undone.

But if you dont want damaged ports put a USB port on the table so they dont need to reach the back of the mac too. Or some rubber covers if they dont need use of the ports. Again, more expense but then in the long run youll probably have less damaged/stolen macs to worry about.

We have already bought both ideas to the table. Shrugged of because they didn't have the £2000 odd quid is was to get them in.

Also, we could have got a massive discount on prey. £200 for the year for all the Macs. That was denied as too much money and 3 weeks we got broken into and 6 Macs stolen.

This place is ridiculous so need the cheapest possible way to secure them.

There not my Macs, I couldn't care less about the resale value or anything like that, I just want them working properly for a price that we can afford.

If we had any control what so ever on the budget things would be done entirely differently.

Michael.

infernox · 24 Jan 2013 at 11:59

mrbell1984 said:
We have a lot where I work and we havn't secured them. If someone wants one they are going to do it IMO.

Its not about security so much as when a student goes to put a memory stick in they twist the mac round to do it, causing the network cables to tighten and snap, and in other cases the mac.

Also it looks a mess with all of them at different angles and everything.

They would then be bolted down at all the same angle, look good and avoid future annoyances.

BEcause either the staff or the students would also physically move the macs, causing our Impero system to get mucked up as the mac would then rename it self as its in a different port (Blame Capita and Jigsaw)

Fixing them would be a lot easier as the naming would be working, AD would check out and then our Crashplan system would work too.

There is a lot of deciding factors here, not just because we are scared someone would nick them, thats what we have insurance for.

infernox · 24 Jan 2013 at 12:04

Was thinking of these Countersunk screws

http://www.accuscrews.co.uk/security-countersunk-screws/10265-SHSK-M4-40-A2.html

With some nylon nuts, not many students will walk around with a ratchet.

Kevin Clark · 24 Jan 2013 at 12:09

What about bike anti-theft cables (or even linked cable ties) and loop them through the power cable hole in the stand and then around the leg of the desk and padlock it.

Mr-White · 24 Jan 2013 at 12:11

At the private college I used to work for they tied them to the desks using Kensington locks and then losts the keys. They're surprisingly easy to cut through with bolt cutters.

MW

infernox · 24 Jan 2013 at 12:11

Kevin Clark said:
What about bike anti-theft cables (or even linked cable ties) and loop them through the power cable hole in the stand and then around the leg of the desk and padlock it.

They can still damage the cables by moving the macs though.

Dewotter · 24 Jan 2013 at 12:50

I think physically bolting them to a desk because of occasional cable damage is a little bit much. There really should be more than enough cable for a student to rotate the unit in order to insert a USB drive.

I'm glad ours weren't bolted to the desk in university as I would need to move them as far back as possible just to be comfortable. A 21inch + screen right in your face isn't comfortable for any length of time.

There was a hole in the desk of our iMac labs with a bicycle style lock going through it and through the cable hole in the stand of the Mac.