A data center facility is a complex and dynamic environment that’s far more sensitive than it may appear. Maintaining the right indoor temperature of your data center is critical to supporting the most optimal performance of your systems. As with other electronics, data servers and network devices generate quite a lot of heat, especially when they’re stored together. It’s important to stay within certain temperature and humidity ranges because not doing so can result in hardware failures. Such temperature fluctuations can lead to downtime, expensive replacements, and even lost data. Unfortunately, unlike with smaller tech devices, a simple fan won’t make much difference. So, here are some of the best ways to maintain temperature control for your data center:
Hot and Cold Aisle Containment
In the past, airflow was given less thought. Instead, the entire computer room would be made cold. This strategy was okay when tech environments were relatively small. But once your data center is densely packed, this approach can fail to keep your equipment cool enough, and it also wastes vast amounts of electricity.
To improve cooling efficiency, data centers can have separate hot and cold aisles. Essentially, computer air intakes point to the cold aisle while exhausting the heat into the hot aisles. This prevents hot exhaust air from a row of servers to vent into the cold air intake of the adjacent row of servers.
Sliding Doors for Enclosure
Sliding doors can also reduce data operating costs by improving thermal efficiency and lowering IT equipment intake temperatures. In the end, this method can help increase the lifespan of your equipment as well as its reliability.
Blanking Panels
Using a rack without blanking panels results in improper cooling. Unused vertical space in open frame racks and rack enclosures creates an unrestricted recycling of hot air. This can cause your equipment to heat up unnecessarily. Blanking panels can help reduce this issue.
Adjust the Temperature
The ideal temperature of a server room remains a debated topic. Data centers typically operate between 68 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Although, many manufacturers state that their servers can run at 80 degrees Fahrenheit or warmer. Even Google runs their facility at 80F and uses outside air for cooling. Increasing the temperature a bit can help you save on your monthly energy bill. This may not be the ideal solution for everyone, but it is worth looking into if it’s good enough for Google.
Perform Regular Server Maintenance
Server maintenance is crucial to keeping a server updated and running at its best. Regular maintenance can boost server productivity, but it should be carried out on a consistent basis to ensure long-term server health and functionality.
Temperature Control Troubleshooting
Heat is the enemy of server performance. Luckily, you can avoid server outages due to overheating with the correct precautions, starting with installing the right cooling units and ending with proper maintenance.
If you have questions about installing access floors or sliding door closers, please contact us at Colo-Resources. We can help you find the best solutions for your data center needs. Reach out today by clicking this link. We’re just an email away.
