In September, I asked TechRepublic members to submit their photos of messy, chaotic, or just plain scary server rooms for the first TR Dojo Server Room Nightmare Challenge.

The response was amazing! Over 30 members sent in shots of wild wiring, hanging hardware, and server rooms filled to the rafters with everything BUT networking equipment. Our editors had a tough time picking the top three, but we did our best.

So without further ado, here are the winners of our Server Room Nightmare Challenge 2010. As promised, these three members have earned a little TR swag for their effort. And for having to support these IT catastrophes, they deserve it.

Be sure to check out the other entries in our gallery of Real-world server room nightmares.

1st Place

TR member Luca claims the glory with this lovely scene.

2nd Place

It was a photo-finish with this horrendous hanging garden of cables and equipment from TR member Handyman.

3rd Place

This landscape from TR member Tony B. won third for sheer weight and amount of spaghetti cabling!

2011 Server room nightmare challenge

Thanks to everyone who sent in a photo. Be sure to check out our gallery of  We’ll definitely run this challenge again next year, so save those pics!

Mobile devices have been around in one form or another for decades, but with the recent proliferation of smartphones and tablets, they are now a significant IT support issue. These devices bring several unique challenge and potential pitfalls. During this week’s TR Dojo episode, I share five mistakes that IT departments should avoid when supporting mobile devices.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

For those who prefer text to video, you can click the Transcript link that appears below the video player window or check out Brien Posey’s article, “10 things you should know about supporting mobile devices.”

For more mobile device support advice, check out the following resources:

• An approach for managing smartphone support requests
• Can smartphones replace your clients’ laptops and netbooks?
• Sanity check: Should IT support user-owned smartphones?
• Review: LogMeIn Ignition for Android smartphones
• Mobile workers prefer smartphones over notebooks, iPhones over BlackBerry
• Podcast: Is it time for IT to let users bring their own laptops and smartphones?
• Smartphone device loyalty will trump standardization in the enterprise
• Unsecured mobile devices could open a new back door into your network

You can also sign up to receive the latest TR Dojo lessons through one or more of the following methods:

• Follow Bill Detwiler on Twitter
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