Environmental Concerns

One of the most neglected items is the environment the computers must run in. Most servers are incredibly reliable despite the abuse they get; they continue to run. In most computer rooms, this is not much of a concern, because they were designed to be friendly to computers, but elsewhere this can be a serious issue.

Cooling

Cooling is one of the most overlooked elements of a server. If the cooling fan should fail, the processor(s), hard drives or controller cards will overheat and fail. If when opening the chassis, the computer feels extremely warm, then you may have had a fan fail. Most servers have two or more fans to protect against this. Some servers also have thermal sensors to detect abnormal temperatures.

Another aspect of cooling is room temperature. A long rack of computers can generate a huge amount of heat. For this reason, almost all computer rooms have some form of cooling or air conditioning. When adding servers to a computer room, be careful to make sure you will not exceed the cooling capacity of the room. A good rule of thumb is that computers are rated for cooling at about 70º F. If the environment exceeds that temperature significantly, you could have problems.

Computers perform best in (approximately) 70º F temperatures. If the computer is installed in an office, temperature is not much of an issue in most cases, but avoid long holiday weekends in the summer with the air conditioning turned off.

Humidity is not very important up to the point where condensation forms or static becomes an issue. Obviously, water condensing in a computer would be very bad. In addition, you do not want mold forming on the computers that could affect cooling or cause a short. Dry air can present a problem as well. People near the computer can develop static. A good static jolt can damage internal components at worst, or just cause the computer to restart.

Cleanliness is very important for computers; dust and dirt can cause shorts and even fires in extreme conditions. For computer room computers, whenever the case is opened for any reason, a quick check should be made to determine if the unit needs cleaning. If it does, then all of the units in the area should be checked.

For computers in office areas, the computer should probably be checked quarterly, or more often if in a dirty area. For plant floor computers or in other hazardous areas, an enclosure with air filtration and climate control is a necessity. The air filters on the cabinet should be cleaned, according to the manufacturer’s recommendation. At the same time the computer and its cabinet should be checked and cleaned if necessary.

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