Turning A Basement Into A Big Linux Server Room

With the ceiling and interior walls there was no insulation, but for this job I went with Roxul stone wool insulation. Stone wool insulation in the US does cost significantly more than traditional fiberglass insulation, but is water repellent, fire resistant, and sound absorbent. For these properties is why I went with the Roxul R15 insulation, which is pricier than fiberglass insulation but is worth it, especially for a basement. The stone wool insulation used is non-combustible and withstands up to 1177 C / 2150 F of heat.

The Roxul stone wool insulation was one of the priciest construction items for the basement, but is worth it from the safety standpoint and it's already very evident with the sound absorption compared to before when there was no insulation in the ceiling, etc. With all of the systems running, the new server room generates a fair amount of noise.

While having the ceiling opened up, it was great to take care of some other electrical items and upgrades.

Before was the drop-down ceiling that easily covered up various electrical lines and a cold air return duct, but with drywalling the ceiling, first it was a matter of building down the ceiling with 2x4s and furring strips.

In the end, once drywalled, the ceiling ended up being about 1~2 inches higher than the drop ceiling was -- thanks to moving around some electrical junction boxes and then selectively dropping the ceiling a bit more in the projector area to deal with the low cold air return duct.