INDUSTRY INTELLIGENCE POWERED BY THE DCA
Maintaining your data centre should take a ‘minimise, regulate
and maintain’ approach to contamination control and cleaning.
are twofold; firstly, it’s a snapshot in
time and; secondly, it only measures
contaminates that are airborne and not
those that have already settled.
There have been significant new
advancements in the equipment and
methods used to test the air quality
and the volume of particulate in the air.
At Critical Facilities Solutions, we are
introducing new methods of testing.
While we still use hand-held, snapshot,
air particle testing where necessary
and relevant, we are also installing
robust, cost-effective alternatives that
when taking the test parameters of the
ISO standard and integration into data
centre systems into account.
Settled contaminants cause decreased
performance and thermal clogging. When
airborne or touch contaminants build up on
the surface of equipment, this is known as
‘settled contamination’. These tiny particles
make their way onto (and into) delicate
equipment, resulting in thermal clogging,
data loss and performance bottlenecks
due to thermal throttling. Contaminationrelated
failures can even occur with solidstate
drives (SSDs).
Densely packed racks are more
susceptible to contamination. Servers
and drives continue to shrink and
become even more compact. This
is great for reducing floor space but
it also means equipment is packed
in tightly, creating opportunities for
settle contaminants to go unnoticed.
It’s important to note that the more
contamination accumulates on
equipment and in air filters, the less
efficient equipment becomes, leading
to performance bottlenecks and wasted
energy mostly down to the additional
cooling requirements which then lead to
further environmental impact.
On to lesser known risks, but for those
that have experienced it firsthand, the
threat of zinc whiskers – and how they
cripple essential equipment – is very real.
But, there are several factors that are
making this once-rare phenomenon all
the more common.
Mike Meyer, Managing Director at
Critical Facilities Solutions UK
measure the air quality on a constant or
predetermined basis. We’ve coined the
phrase ‘Constant Air Monitoring’. The
product and system we supply and install
can operate as a standalone system or be
integrated into any BMS system.
While Continuous Particulate Air Monitors
(CPAMs) have been used for years in
nuclear facilities to assess airborne
particulate radioactivity (APR) and
pharmaceutical cleanrooms to measure
air particulate (AP), the CPAMs have
typically been extremely costly to install
in other environments. This is especially
22 Issue 17
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