* IDC-MCS survey of hundreds of data centers reveals top data center problems
Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDC-MCS) surveyed more than 300 data centers to determine the top data center dangers.
The IT consultancy urges companies to examine the physical infrastructures in their data centers and other mission-critical facilities to find and fix flaws.
IDC-MCS found that the majority of companies failed to get third-party evaluations when they procured equipment. IDC-MCS says that as data centers age or as equipment density increases, it is not uncommon to find that the HVAC, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) or cable management systems are becoming over-burdened.
The company cites 10 top data center problems. The lack of well-managed cabling tops the list.
IDC-MCS says that in older data centers, cable is often installed without removing old cable bundles. If the cabling is run beneath a raised floor, its accumulation can reduce the efficiency of cooling systems. IDC-MCS identified other problems with cabling, including unlabeled patch cables and cabling installed with a bend radius less than that recommended by the manufacturer.
The second data center danger is confusion about UPSes and the type of UPS to install. Customers are often confused whether to buy a standby, line interactive, true online double conversion or ferro resonant UPS and often will purchase the UPS that is most inexpensive.
The third data center danger is something near and dear to Network World readers’ hearts – that is, the accumulation of zinc whiskers. Zinc whiskers grow on the underneath side of raised floor panels. If they break off and become airborne they can be drawn into equipment by air circulation fans, where they can cause shorts.
Fourth is lack of fire suppression systems. Many times companies take fire suppression systems out of service because of maintenance costs or operating difficulties. Many companies, IDC-MCS says, are not aware that fire suppression systems and computer room fire extinguishers are affordable.
The fifth is also a familiar danger – overheated data centers. As new equipment is added to older data centers, it can strain cooling systems. Blade and rack-dense servers are often the cause of these problems, IDC-MCS says.
We’ll take a look at the other five data center dangers in the next newsletter.
