I am facing a dilemma right now. The data center that is at my current job
is dated. I believe it was put in the 60's. Now, since it is dated, my
objective is to get it renovated. The problem is accounting wants
justification for that to happen. The first route I was taking was that the
servers are running too hot. In two of the racks we had temperatures at 101 F
and 98 F. They wanted proof from a manufacturer that stated that was
too hot. I started looking around, only thing I can find is an operating
range for our servers. 45 F - 95 F with 45% RH. Now, that doesn't really dictate
what I want because we can drop the temp in the room to 65, and then my
servers equal out at about 90ish. In my opinion, if you can keep your coffee
warm behind a server, its too hot. That's not good enough for the accountants.
I need someway to justify, with stats and facts, that I have a true need for
funding for a new data center. Issues I have: ceiling is old and missing
tiles in various places. I dont think its fire resistant and our suppression
system is Halon which requires a sealed room for the gas to work
effectively. The floor is only raised 6 inches, has holes cut in it all over the
place, is filthy above and below it. Is there a reason/standard for server
room floors to be higher than 6 inches and if so why? We have no wire trays
so electric wires and network wires run over one another in a giant rats
nest. If a line went bad I wouldn't have any method to trouble shoot it other
than run a new one. I am looking for any advice or stats anyone can give me
to help justify this to the books for a new room. Thanks in advance.
It sounds like your company is a candidate for a This Old Datacenter
makeover. Seriously though, your description offers a great example of what
can happen when a company stops thinking about its datacenter strategically
and lets its IT infrastructure and support solutions grow into an
increasingly complex, difficult to manage, and even dangerous hodgepodge.
The issues you raise are of critical concern, but the information accounting
is asking you to provide suggests that management may (a) be in a state of
denial about the situation or (b) resist addressing the problem (let alone
admitting one exists) until a major problem occurs. Unfortunately, that
head-in-the-sand attitude is all too common, even considering how
potentially disastrous a fire or other serious event could be for the
company and its clientele.
It sounds like your company needs to give serious consideration to assessing
its current IT requirements and comparing/contrasting what it needs against
what it already has. At this point, determining how new IT investments will
pay off with increased performance and efficiencies is likely to resonate
better with accounting and management than even well-founded fears about
over-heated servers and aging or dangerous infrastructure elements.
Most vendors offer assessment services, as do many datacenter consultants.
I'd start by querying your current hardware vendors about their offerings,
and also check in with competitors. It might also be worth finding out how
long it has been since your company's insurance inspected the datacenter.
The possibility of premium increases or a refusal of coverage might be just
the thing to get your datacenter makeover rolling.
