I mostly get by with just a screwdriver. Powered screwdrivers annoy the hell out of me in almost all cases. Admitted, that's just for the occasional racking and removing of servers, repairs, adding disks etc.
Greetings,
Jeroen
Handie-talkies on unregulated 30MHz or whatever (i.e., the ones you can buy at Radio Shack) are certainly useful, as are phones - good catch!
>
> But really: a power screwdriver, a bag of #2 bits, and a 12" extender
> are 85% of it.I mostly get by with just a screwdriver. Powered screwdrivers annoy the
hell out of me in almost all cases.
[WEG] The rule of thumb for most places I've worked has been that power screwdrivers are only acceptable for *removing* screws, at least where the electronic contents of a datacenter are concerned. Using a power screwdriver to install/tighten machine screws carries a nasty risk of cross-threading, or stripping, or snapping the heads off of the screws on something important, leading to unrecoverable problems with expensive modules that you can no longer easily remove to replace when the need arises. And Mr. Murphy says that the one with the damaged screw will be the first to fail.
But then, most decent power screwdrivers have a torque clutch with settings to prevent such things, and everyone always uses them properly, right? 
Wes George
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Given that you are stocking exactly one toolchest in a 3rd world
country, and you only get one shot at it...
Depending on your budget and how many people will have access to these
tools, you might consider getting 2 or 3 of everything, and keeping
the second and possibly third set under lock and key, and not telling
anyone about its existence. Then, if something does go walkabout, and
you have to get the 2nd set of something out, you have time to order a
replacement for the first, and will still have a backup if the 2nd set
goes walkabout before it arrives.
This is not because people are dishonest. It is because people are forgetful.
She says, having worked in 3rd world countries like...Texas and New
Zealand. 
Oh, and one of those BIG lighted magnifying glasses that
are bolted to your bench are very useful for reading the codes on
boards and chips when it comes time to repair things, or check parts
coming in the door. A soldering set. A nice Fluke
voltmeter/ammeter.
Maybe it is just me, but a lot of the time when I hear people say
"power screwdriver", they mean "cordless 18V drill in screwdriver
mode" (often in the hands of someone not old enough to drink alcohol),
which is a recipe for screw tightening disaster, and I certainly
understand the resulting reluctance.
We have a bunch of Milwaukee 6547-22's around here, they're a 2.4V
two speed screwdriver with a torque clutch that's designed to be
an assembly line worker's or electrician's screwdriver. While it
is possible to generate damaging forces with this unit, generally
the torque on high speed is fairly low, and it takes just a little
training to show someone how to use a medium clutch setting and
high speed (and a flick of the wrist at the end for just a little
extra tightness if needed) as a way to handle most data center
screw tasks.
Once you replace all the drives in a 24-drive chassis (96 screws)
you come to appreciate the perfect screw job every time. Once you
multiply that times 9 servers per rack times however many racks,
you'll never want to do it any other way.
We combine the Milwaukee with a Senco Phillips #2 bit. The 9 inch
long bit seems awkward until you've used it a few hours, when you
suddenly figure out that you can actually SEE what you're working
on and/or reach into ridiculously tight spots. Lightly magnetizing
the tip creates an even more useful tool.
... JG
I can see the need for speed & efficiency when actually building a data
centre of the scope Google builds with thousands of servers, racks
everywhere etc. During the assembly stage, you probably want expensive
power screwdrivers to not only save time, but also achieve the right
torque/tightness. And you would need many of them since you'd have many
people assembling racks and mounting equipment on them.
However, in a day-to-day operation at an established data centre, do you
really need a power screwdriver ? You need to worry about mounting it on
a wall near a plug so it is always available/charged.
However, having a powered drill somwehere in the building is, of course,
a good thing.
I have a power screwdriver I use for both in and out. Otoh for screwing things in I always have it on the lowest torque-clutch setting. If that won't get it how I like it I use the manual screwdriver.