Many people believe that IT rooms have to be kept very cold. While cold temperatures help electrical conductivity and makes electronic equipment function better, it’s expensive to maintain and it’s not what the primary focus of your IT room’s environmental controls policy should be. Today’s data room equipment (servers, switches, routers, etc.) have higher temperature tolerances than older ones. Modern equipment can tolerate temperatures of up to 80 degrees, however your IT room should ideally be between 68 and 74 degrees.
As previously mentioned, lower temperatures should not be the primary focus of your IT room’s environment. The primary focus should be to control temperature variations. Varying temperatures can cause the metal and plastic components in your equipment to expand and contract, leading to deformity. Deformed fan blades produce more friction, work harder and produce higher noise levels. The metallic solder that holds components to the main board expand and contract with temperature and can become brittle, creating intermittent electrical connections which in turn cause devices to freeze (figuratively speaking) or reset.
Another often overlooked facet of IT environmental controls is humidity. Ideal humidity should be between 30-65%. Humidity levels of 70% should trigger an alert and 80% is unacceptable, creating risk of short-circuits, component damage and electrical fire.
For additional information on how you can monitor your IT room’s temperature and humidity levels, contact us today.