Even the most humble of businesses have some requirement for networking devices to maintain every-day functionality. However, amplify the size of a facility to the much larger capacities used by major organisations around the world; stakes and the risk increase exponentially. Today data centres are the core of many every-day activities and if they go wrong, they have the potential to cause chaos. For example, email-server failure in any business is catastrophic but even more so when a company employs tens of thousands of staff across many countries, as communication would be unfeasible. Similarly it is not just internal comms that is depleted, but other consumer-facing technology also relies on servers such as cash machines, e-banking and extranet systems.
The major concern of any data centre manager is maintaining a suitable operating temperature. If the room of the facility overheats, it impacts massively on the reliability of the technology in-situ causing it to malfunction or fail with potentially disastrous consequences as above.
In the UK, most data centres are looked after by Facilities Management (FM) companies who are experts in creating the perfect indoor environment. However in a temperate climate such as the UK, any data centre manager treads a fine line as it can be difficult to accurately predict temperatures. To complicate matters, all server and networking devices are themselves a considerable source of heat, so a minor change in the conditions outside can be a major issue inside. Ordinarily, as long as the premises' air conditioning is easily controllable and serviced regularly, the temperature can be adjusted easily.
Air conditioning can and does fail though, usually in the most challenging of circumstances and so it is prudent to have a contingency plan in place. It is common to have service agreements in place with a qualified, reputable contractor to find and fix the problem. However the more immediate issue is restoring normal service to clients, which would typically involve hiring portable air conditioning units to reduce temperatures in the short term.
Ideally, the FM company would already have a contingency plan in place with an air conditioning hire company. The latter should have undertaken a site survey (prior to any emergency call out) to match the capacity of existing air conditioning units. This contingency plan would also establish the lines of communication between key staff at both companies should any crisis situation evolve.
The benefits of a contingency plan include the fact that with a plan in place, the hire company has a legal requirement to ensure they will always be able to supply the FM company with the prior agreed equipment. Lots of breakdowns occur during the summer months and some hire companies can run out of stock, particularly of larger capacity units. With a proper plan in place, the air conditioning company will always retain sufficient stock to ensure they can honour their commitments. In addition, the back-up plan can be put in to action immediately, as all the specifying work is complete and the FM manager will know exactly who to call to make things happen.
Of course, emergency breakdowns are less likely to occur if the FM company regularly services its in-built air conditioning equipment. But even in these circumstances, the FM company would need to hire portable air conditioning to maintain the performance of the data centre during maintenance work.
A different type of contingency plan is needed as and when companies expand and require additional IT equipment. The server room can become overloaded and temperatures can spiral if the existing control system is not adequate to cope with the extra demands and heat load created. In these circumstances, temporary air conditioning units are often brought in until the FM company can upgrade existing systems - often a time consuming process of raising funding, gaining tenders and quotes, prior to actual installation.
Most companies have a contingency plan in place for situations such as the absence of key staff or the need to quickly relocate to new premises but not enough organisations apply the same logic to their data centre or ask the right questions of their data centre manager. Although it has often been said that 'people' are a company's biggest asset it could be argued that they have been superseded by technology. The regular servicing of air conditioning in data centres, as well as clear and concise contingency planning for emergency hire, should help maintain business as usual.
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