8 Solutions says that a clean data centre is vital to ensure maximum productivity

Picture the scenario, Monday afternoon and you are just settling in to another busy week, next thing you know, you get the call you never want to hear – “a server has gone down”. For some this would be a disaster, for others it would merely be a big inconvenience but regardless of the severity of the problem it causes, you would need to know how and why it happened. Warranties would be called upon, assessors could be brought in, answers would be needed and blame assigned.

Now imagine the warranty provider has assessed the facility and deemed your warranty is void due to levels of contamination which exceed those laid out in your agreement. This might seem like an extreme scenario but in reality, a large number of data centres are currently running this very risk.

Warranty invalidation is just one area that data centre managers need to consider. The risk of contamination due to insufficient professional cleaning, could already be having a serious affect on many areas of the data centre. Rising power consumption, increased downtime and falling overall efficiency are all serious issues which can be caused by contaminates infesting your data centre or comms room. 

At the recent Ashrae Winter Conference, in Chicago, IBM’s senior systems and technology group engineer Joe Prisco, published a white paper on precisely this topic. As he described, any type of data centre contamination can cause serious problems but he started his talk with the biggest culprit, dust (or chemically inert dust to be specific).
Chemically inert dust is by far the most common cause of problems; produced by the obvious sources like dead skin cells and clothing fibres but also from some slightly less obvious places, like cardboard packaging and even ink residue from printers. If left, this type of dust can have serious consequences, clogging server intakes and affecting their ability to regulate temperature; meaning more power is needed to cool the servers and keep air flowing. In time these issues only get worse and if not addressed and will eventually result in server failure. This is becoming an even bigger issue as servers become increasingly more powerful, requiring more air to be circulated for cooling. This results in fans and air conditioning systems working even harder to compensate, in the process spreading dangerous contaminates further and increasing power consumption.

To use a recent example, one major telecoms company, who acquired an existing data centre that wasn’t up to their standards, called in 8 Solutions to provide a full deep clean of the whole facility. The results not only brought the data centre in line with warranty and company standards but increased power utilisation efficiency by almost 1.3%. That may seem like a fairly small percentage but when you consider the total power consumption of a facility larger than a football stadium, you start to realise the affect professional cleaning can have.

Professional data centre cleaning may still be seen by many as a non-essential cost, rather than at the forefront of business continuity but it is this frame of mind that has the potential to cause severe problems in years to come. As a multinational business services company recently discovered, when its server popped due to zinc whisker contamination, ignoring the problem is simply short sighted and potentially far more costly.

Regular use of a professional deep cleaning specialist has many benefits and is a highly cost effective way of maintaining business continuity and improving return on invest of costly capital equipment. It is important to remember that not all contamination is visible to the naked eye. Particle count devices are used to measure contamination microns per cubic metre in line with ISO standards. Larger, more accurate devices pull in a full cubic metre of air from several points around the facility and calculate the contaminate count based on an average of all the information. This information can be used, along with other tests, to determine the level of contamination existing in the facility.

As well as dust, both corrosive and inert, there are many other different types of contamination which a specialist will identify. From Zinc Whisker fragments, which occur on bare metal surfaces coated with zinc in the galvanisation process, to construction and refits contamination and even vermin. Although a general cleaner may be able to see many of these, only a specialist will have the equipment and training to fully remove each and all contamination types.

The value of professional data centre cleaning is today still grossly underestimated and it is unfortunate that it will likely take a major failure, before an organisation regards the service as key to business continuity and the long term efficiency of their facility. As data centres and server farms continue to grow exponentially the risks from contamination rise proportionately and it is those who ignore those risks who will see their business’ suffer in the long term.

Top three tips for data centre cleaning

• Only use professional data centre cleaning companies
  8 Solutions uses only a permanently employed, highly trained team – who have also been policed checked to work in secure environments. 8 Solutions also ensures any materials its employees use are specifically designed for the purpose and are chemically inert. Strong chemicals and water have the potential to cause corrosive dust, which could contain ionic chemical compounds like sulphur and chlorine salts, which, when wet, become corrosive or can create short circuits within equipment.
• Minimise exposure between professional cleans
  Having strict rules on what can and cannot enter the data centre will help to limit the level of contamination between professional visits. Banning all food and drink stuffs from entering, as well as all removing all packaging outside the facility, may seem like simple and obvious tips but rarely are they enforced as strictly as they should. Limiting the number of personnel who have access is another important rule, if there is no need to be in there don’t be. Removing all unnecessary equipment and work stations will also help stop people feeling it is acceptable to remain in inside.
• Ensure all relevant staff are properly trained and adopt best practice
  Simple ideas, like creating a check list to be performed on set dates each day or week, can have a big affect contamination levels. These should include:
  •   Ensure all debris is removed before leaving the data centre each night
  •   A weekly spot check or white glove check to ensure dust levels are at a minimum
  •   Enforce a policy of over shoes being worn at all times inside the centre
  •   Make sure tack mats are in use at entrances and changed regularly
  •   Check underside of raised floor panels for a bronze sheen – a sign of Zinc Whiskers.
  •   Change Hepa filters in air conditioning systems on a monthly basis