Server Room & Data Centre Environmental Monitoring

Viruses, Spyware and Network threats generally receive most of the attention when it comes to server protection but environmental conditions within a server room or data centre can also cause significant damage. This is where data centre environmental monitoring comes into play. In order to maximise equipment lifespan and stability there are four key environmental parameters to optimise:

1. Temperature

Avoid overheating by utilising a server room temperature monitoring system. The optimum range for equipment reliability is normally between 21 to 23°C. Not only are these temperatures comfortable, they also allow time to fix any necessary repairs or install a temporary cooling situation in case of air conditioning or cooling failures.

The temperature inside rack-mounted hardware can reach up to 20°C higher than the surrounding area. Therefore it is best to get measure temperatures at various points around the server room. Temperature alerts will enable you to identify hot spots which assist in eliminating the risk of fires.

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2. Humidity

High humidity causes condensation within hardware leading to rust and short circuits and low-humidity could result in static electricity forming. By ensuring humidity levels are maintained between 45% and 60% RH safe operation can be achieved.

3. Water

We all know water and electrical components do not mix but within server rooms, flooding is sometimes possible. Leaks from pipes, possibly heavy rain ingress, as well as air conditioning trays, are all issues that need to be considered.

Water ingress can simply and cost-effectively be added to your environmental monitoring system providing real-time alerts of potential damage.

4. Airflow

Calculating the airflow requirements for a server room can be complicated. Your heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment needs to be a high capacity for the amount of heat you expect to generate, but you also need to take into account the possibility of hot spots and the layout of equipment. Most devices draw cold air in at the front and let out hot air at the back, so airflow needs to be sufficient to prevent warmed air being drawn in to the next equipment rack.

So in conclusion, environmental monitoring and control is crucial in a server room. It provides managers with real-time information with alerts to help prevent loss of equipment, eliminate specific hot spot areas, reduce costs and in an extreme case prevent any costly room fires.

All of the above can provide total server room environmental monitoring and control and is easily achieved using Hanwell | Ellab equipment. Contact us today for more information about a server room or data centre environmental monitoring and how our products can help!