The heat wave is on here in the Northeast with temperatures at or over 100 degrees now for the last week.
Computer rooms and data centers have been filling up with more and more equipment adding to the heat produced. Many companies have also started the move towards virtualization, buying ever more powerful servers that produce more heat. Moving to blade servers is also becoming commonplace in many computer rooms and data centers and for good reason. They are more efficient, saving money and improve a company's 'green' credentials. However, they do produce a lot of heat in a small area which will be a problem if there is insufficient cooling to cope with a hot summer.
Careful consideration must be given to sitting any new equipment, especially in an older facility which doesn't fully follow computer room and data centre design best practice.
When choosing a suitable place to install, look for the best location with regard to cooling. Don't try to keep all finance servers together, or all HR servers together! Spread the load.
Start planning now!
- Look at your facility, get someone with the right amount of in-depth knowledge in to survey it.
Have a spring clean
- Remove all unnecessary equipment, cardboard boxes, unused servers, those old CDs, modems and monitors sitting on cabs.
- Get the Hoover out and give the room a thorough clean.
- Set up a regular housekeeping routine.
Audit what you have
- Do you have sufficient cooling, and will it be sufficient to cope in very hot weather?
- How many cooling units do you have? If one of the units fails can the other cope with the added demand?
Pre-arrange temporary cooling
- If portable air-conditioning units have to be used, can they be obtained quickly?
- Is the computer room on an outside wall?
- Can the exhaust pipes be routed to a suitable outside (or inside) space?
- Will security be compromised if windows and doors have to be left open?
Things heating up in your computer room?
Make the business aware of the potential problems now, and explain the consequences of not taking action. No modern business should be in a position where a few hot days can put the whole business at risk by losing essential systems, email or phone - even for a few hours. When the high temperatures hit it's too late to start redesigning the room. So what should be done if the worst happens?
Call InfoQuest today at (800) 622-4403 for a free computer room evavluation.