Minimum requirements for effective data centre environment monitoring

A stable environment is an absolute must for any data centre to perform reliably and without problems. Conditions such as temperature, humidity, wetness and smoke need to monitored regularly to as fluctuations can lead to intermittent equipment breakdown or even worse, complete failure. Having a remote monitoring system that checks these conditions allows staff to be notified promptly when issues occur. This gives the staff time to rectify the situation before equipment fails, saving the company money on lost production time and replaced equipment.  
 

Most companies are aware that there is an optimum range of temperatures suitable for the equipment in IT rooms and data centres.   Equipment lifespan is reduced in data centres where the temperature is too high and staff working in data centres can find temperatures that are too low to be uncomfortable. Air conditioning is often used to maintain the temperature in the optimum range. 
 

A data centre environment monitoring system should be used to ensure that this temperature is stable throughout the room, avoiding hotspots forming behind or between equipment and to alert staff of any air conditioning fault or failure.
 

Humidity is the measure of how much moisture is in the air. If humidity is too low it can create problems with static electricity. Static builds up in dry conditions and does not drain away. This is a major issue around IT equipment that needs stable power without spikes or dips. Too much humidity means there is excessive moisture in the air which can lead to unreliable performance of IT equipment. There is a danger that the moisture will convert to condensation which can cause corrosion of computer equipment or electrical failure.
 

Flooding gets a common mention on news programmes these days, however, flooding inside a data centre or server room happens very rarely. Having said that, air conditioning units which are needed to keep temperatures stable can fail or become faulty and water leaks may be the result.

Water leak detectors should be an integral part of any data centre environment monitoring system so as to alert staff to any dripping water or damp before equipment damage occurs.

Smoke anywhere is usually a sign of serious overheating in wiring or equipment and left undetected will usually lead to fire and the inevitable consequences of that. Although most companies have insurance to protect them from the cost of fire damage the real costs are usually much greater in terms of lost production time and lost information.
 

As businesses rely more heavily on their IT equipment the protection of their data rooms, servers and network equipment becomes ever more critical. Equipment failure and network downtime are incredibly expensive for companies in terms of money and lost production time so remote monitoring of temperature, humidity, water leak and smoke through the use of a fully featured, integrated data centre environmental monitoring system is vital.

For more information or to discuss your requirements please contact info@jacarta.co.uk