When it comes to server rooms, the issues it can face are not restricted to viruses and hacker attacks. Companies are required to look beyond the virtual factors and insulate their data centers against physical problems as well. Here, we are highlighting 4 important physical problems that your data center might have to overcome.
High temperature
Improper temperature management in server rooms can damage servers beyond repair. For optimal performance, your servers need to be maintained at 20°- 24°C. While large organizations understand the importance of temperature management and keep in place a temperature measurement device to constantly monitor the temperature, SMBs often tend to overlook its importance.
For efficient temperature management, you could use perforated server racks with a minimum of 65% perforation to help with the temperature dissipation. You could also separate hot and cold aisles in order to improve the airflow dynamics of the server room.
Excessively high or low humidity
The relative humidity (RH) level in data centers should ideally be around 45-50%. Any breach of that level can lead to water condensation which, in turn, will cause corrosion and short-circuiting within the servers.
On the other hand, extremely dry conditions inside the server room can cause electrostatic discharge, which can result in the servers malfunctioning.
In order to keep the humidity levels at 45-50%, humidifiers and dehumifiers can be used in tandem. The excess water collected by the dehumidifiers can be drained with a separate outlet.
Excessive vibration
If walls of your data center are thin and your servers are decked against the said walls, heavy footfalls and machinery operating outside the data center can cause vibrations on the wall, which has a high probability of being transmitted on to the servers. With fast-spinning hard drives operating inside your servers, even the smallest scratch on them can potentially corrupt your data.
In order to prevent any possible damage to the equipment, you can house your servers away from the walls and in protected containers designed with some room for mild vibrations. It also helps if the data center is placed at a considerable distance away from any source of vibrations like heavy machinery and garage spaces.
Poor cable management
Data centers naturally come with hundreds of cables crisscrossing from one port to another. Failing to manage them correctly can lead to pinching and outages. It also makes it frustrating for the maintenance personnel to make some sense out of the mess. Jumbled cables might also block air outlets from the back of servers, which can cause server failures.
You could use velcro straps or zip ties to bundle the cables up and hold them neatly in place. However, if your data center uses fiber optic cables, it calls for a different cable management strategy. In this case, you have to construct raceways to ensure that corners and bends do not affect the transmission capabilities of the cables.
At Hardy Racks, we provide A-Z server racks solutions to properly house your servers in 86% perforated racks – the highest percentage of perforation for any brand in the world. We also provide custom containment solutions which will help you maintain the optimum temperature in your data center. In addition to this, we also manufacture and install fiber raceways which can efficiently manage fiber cables without compromising on the quality of its transmission. To know more about our services, get in touch with us now.