Why should you be concerned about data center contamination?

 

Data center contamination is one of the major threats to all equipment and servers which are mainly found in big and closed rooms. The effects of contamination might range from some impaired power effectiveness to equipment destruction because of failure. But like all other aspects of life, these threats can also be reduced in some shape or form.

There are various kinds of processes you can undergo to make sure your data center is clean and free from contamination threats. Contamination that puts an impact on data centers are mainly of two types

●            Particulate

●            Gaseous

With particulate matter blocking your equipment's cooling fan and also heatsinks, the whole system has to work more for maintenance of temperature. This enhances the power requirement of the data center and also shortens the lifetime of the equipment. Some of the common examples of contaminants are ferrous metal particles, zinc whiskers, salts or chlorides etc.

There are a lot of beneficial practices that data center managers and operators can follow for maintaining a good environment for equipment like monitoring humidity, corrosion control unit for data center, replacement of dust filters on time, limiting foot traffic etc. In addition to that data center operators can conduct annual contamination assessments and proper cleaning to make sure that all standards are met.

When no appropriate measures are taken the air contaminants can lead to various issues starting from reduced power effectiveness to failure of equipment. Because the latest circuit boards, as well as computer chips, are getting smaller and smaller day by day, those contaminants are causing head crashes along with contact intermittence.

Know about the major cause of data center contamination

Contaminants arise from both outsides as well as inside of data centers. Those contaminants that come from the outside world are sea salt, construction dust, pollen etc. Humans also bring in lint from skin particles, fibres, hairs and skin particles.

Contaminants that come from inside our data center infrastructure and also from regular operations like particles from CRAH units, floor tiles and packing materials. Other contaminants mainly include corrosive gases that come both from inside as well as outside of the data center. Both corrosive gases along with dust particles can cause damage to IT equipment with time.

Have a look at some of the common contaminants

●            Ferrous metal particles: These come from printers, worn-out parts from HVAC units, conduit pipes and several other mechanical parts. As they are conductive, they can lead to electrical damages of circuit boards thereby resulting in downtime.

●            Corrosive gases: Gaseous contaminants like Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone etc can lead to copper and silver corrosion. With time these contaminants cause corrosion of delicate metal parts along with the latest circuit chips and boards.

●            Concrete dust particles: Opened concrete releases some fine dust into the air that consist of calcium, and other by-products that are quite corrosive and abrasive. Even if the concrete is sealed, these seals will break down with time and must be inspected on a regular basis.

●            Zinc and tin whiskers: Whiskers are some of the metal filaments that grow from electroplated steel floor plates along with other metal components. Because tin and zinc are effective conductors of electricity, these filaments can lead to shorts when they break off, circulate in the air and then come in contact with the circuits.

●            Chloride or salts: Anyone who has visited the beach knows how rapidly salty air can lead to corrosion on metal objects and vehicles. Data centers that are present in coastal areas must remain careful of the airborne salinity levels.

●            Electrostatic dust: Some of the hazardous dust along with dust and lint particles from the clothing, paper and other benign particles can easily become static charged and cause interference with servers that causes loss of data, resets and other such issues.

Conclusion

Data centers are a lifeline for various businesses. It is therefore important to consistently monitor all parameters that can affect the uptime. When compared with other major causes of downtime, air contaminants is an unknown factor and requires more awareness as well as initiatives. A data center air purifier from Aqoza will largely handle this issue, along with advice from the experts.