Who’s watching your network Part 5 – Keeping Data Systems Running

While you’re enjoying a fall break, who’s watching your network? Just because you’re on vacation, doesn’t mean you’re free from security breaches, system errors, and more. Read our six-part series to learn how you can ensure your data is safe while you and your employees take time off from your business.

As seasonal weather changes, you’re likely to be more focused on your next beach day than the state of your data. Unfortunately, summer is when data centers and networks are most at risk.

History shows that June to August is Outage Season, meaning that more data centers go offline during this time of year than any other season. These outages can be caused by poor performing infrastructure and full-scale power outages. A main cause of these outages can be from hot outside temperatures that require centers to use more energy to cool them inside.

The increased energy expense can cause major damage to your budget. Hopefully, you have a savvy data center manager who can keep things in check all season long. Either way, try these tips to save money and save your network this summer.

Check on Your System

Many problems can be avoided by taking the time to make sure everything is running as it should. Make sure your IT team can complete annual or quarterly health management checks and identify which units might be at risk. Using historical data and predictive analytics can help determine problem areas faster than a manual test.

Embrace the Temperature

Your data center could actually be kept at a higher temperature than you think. You could save big on your energy bills by running your center at 80 to 82 degrees instead of 70 degrees or below. A 10 degree change could save up to 20% on your bill! Even during busy times, your data center should be able to handle it.

If you increase the temperature, you’ll be operating the data center in a high temperature ambient (HTA) state, which boosts the inlet temperature of that unit but still stays well below component specifications. Just tell your data center managers to remember their shorts.

Stay Diligent

A data center infrastructure management program will make it much easier to stay on top of problems before they occur. As your technology becomes more advanced, manual processes and checks aren’t enough anymore. Automatic monitoring, especially of power and thermal information, can be crucial as you test the environmental changes. It will also allow you to identify issues and solve them before they cause major outages.

Without this data, your manager might not have enough information to make important decisions or complete long-term forecasting. If you’re considering running your system hot this summer, you’ll need this data to ensure everything is running smoothly.

Update Your AC System

Your system should be okay if the temperature is around 80-82 degrees, but any higher and you could get into trouble. An older system or poorly functioning thermostat might not be providing exact data, putting your system in danger. As heat rises, units near the ceiling or higher up in the building might be in a hotspot. If areas of the facility are improperly insulated, temperatures could rise irregularly in different areas. This is why you need updated monitoring, so you can detect hotspots before it’s too late.

You don’t want to spend your summer or your vacation watching your energy bill slowly tick up. Try these solutions to save energy and keep your system protected, even as temperatures rise.