Gregory Smith serves as Critical Facilities Manager for UG2. He recently published an article on facilitiesnet.com sharing important insights drawn from his expertise in HVAC, critical systems, and facility management.
In “Your Data Center’s Most Valuable Asset: Critical AC Units,” Gregory notes that the tremendous heat generated by data center servers increases the risk of electrical issues and equipment failure—with potentially devastating consequences. Even a power loss of less than a second can jeopardize data and cost companies millions of dollars.
Making the case that Critical Air Conditioning Units (CRACs) are the MVP of the data center, Gregory outlines optimal temperature and humidity levels for data centers – 70 degrees and 50 percent, respectively. He discusses the design strategies that enable CRACs to maintain those ideal conditions, and shares best practices for ensuring CRACs are well maintained and properly utilized.
Those best practices include making the effort to:
Practice true preventative care. Routine temperature checks aren’t enough. You need a detailed preventative maintenance schedule for CRACs, generators, chillers, RTUs, and humidifiers. Building maintenance software and a secondary loop provide critical backstops.
Account for your data center’s unique environment and issues. Your awareness of potential weather-related occurrences specific to your area should inform your plan. That means having systems for rerouting and draining water if you operate in a flood zone, and activating supplemental air systems in the event of a heat wave.
Partner with a 24-hour service provider. Keeping HVAC and electrical systems at leak performance requires round-the-clock service from trained, certified mechanical technicians who specialize in your equipment—and oversight from an onsite supervisor.
Be proactive about energy savings. Consider using cooling curtains to isolate areas of your data center. Change filters regularly to keep CRACs operating efficiently, and look into the use of fans to pull in cold, treated outside air to supplement cooling systems.
Engage an expert partner. Data facility center management is a niche skill, and best practices are changing all the time. You can benefit tremendously from a committed partner who excels in their field and is proactive and transparent, providing you access to their continuous maintenance management system and issuing daily reports.
When issues arise—and alarms are raised—at data centers, urgent messages go up the chain to alert executive leadership across the company. Preventing such incidents saves all parties from the stress of entering crisis mode unnecessarily.