A data center is a very expensive service to maintain and is often influenced by a several different variables. It’s easy to see why setting up one for maximum efficiency and safety can seem like a daunting task. Luckily, there are some established strategies in place that any data center can implement to lower costs and increase the safety of working in such areas. Let’s take a look at some of these:
Sealing the Area
The main area people will look at when maintaining a data center is the temperature and humidity. High temperature can cause electronic equipment to quickly over heat and high humidity can cause corrosion and increased structural degradation. Try to keep the data center separated from other areas of the business and make sure doors are only open when it’s absolutely necessary. A vapor seal is a great way to protect temperature and humidity fluctuations from outside at a low cost. These are generally created by using vinyl wall and floor coverings as well as plastic film and sealants on doors and windows.
Air Flow
Also make sure to have proper air flow throughout the entire building, so that the temperature is spread out and cooled evenly throughout the entire area. If you have a properly sealed environment, regularly alternate the position of electronic equipment when setting it up in rows so that the exhaust ends of the equipment from one row is pointing towards the exhaust ends of another row and vice versa for the intake ports. This will create alternating zones of cold and hot. Keep in mind that using this strategy is most effective when the zones have minimal contact with one another, so properly sealing the area is important.
Measure Temperature
Accurate temperature keeping is a key method to maintaining control of the cost of your data centers. Even with the best air flow, different areas of the data center can have differing levels of heat, so it’s important to have multiple temperature gauges throughout the entire center to get an accurate read out of which subsection of the building needs more cooling and which needs less. More precise control over temperature will lead to more precise control of the budget.
Cable Management
Anyone who’s packed their own luggage can see that properly managed cables are going to take up less space than a tangled mess. Clear, color-coded labeling and data cabinets are an important component of any data center, keeping cables grouped appropriately and labeled for easy use. This won’t just lead to better air flow either, as employees will be able to identify cables much more easily and there won’t be any risk of the employees or anything else to become tangled up, which is a major safety concern in data centers.
Fire Safety
The more electronic equipment in an area, the greater the chance there is for fire. Make sure to keep all flammable substances, particularly paper and cardboard, out of the immediate area whenever possible. Install targeted sprinkler systems to insure that any damage caused by a fire is kept to an absolute minimum.
Maintaining a data center is a large responsibility for anyone, but looking at the problem as small bits that make up a whole can lead to an effective approach at minimizing unnecessary expenditure and increasing the safety of said data center for its employees.
