Climate management helps data centers become more efficient

According to the Natural Resource Defense Council, the annual energy consumption by data centers has continued to accelerate. The NRDC predicts yearly electricity use by data centers to reach 140 billion kilowatt-hours by 2020. These numbers suggest that the IT teams can do plenty to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry, and temperature control solutions should be a priority. Streamlining temperature controls will make data centers more efficient and simultaneously help to control costs.

Data confirms or corrects best practices
According to GCN, advanced temperature sensors can be used to collect large archives of climate data. This information can be used to determine how efficiently each section of the data center operates, locate problem spots that are hindering savings and identify where attempts to control hot and cold aisles have failed. A large number of these sensors can be integrated easily into your facility's infrastructure with the help of Serial-to-Ethernet technology - you should consider more advanced temperature controls if previous attempts to improve efficiency have not shown positive results.

Humidity control is key
Poor humidity control can do just as much damage to your data center as underperforming temperature controls, warned Data Center Knowledge. Excess humidity can cause an abundance of moisture and metal rust in the data center. Insufficient humidity allows static electricity to collect and damage server components. Humidity problems can also put an extra burden on your existing temperature control strategies, making it impossible for your facility to operate at full efficiency. By installing humidity sensors and keeping a close eye on airflow, IT teams can can minimize waste caused by airborne moisture buildup.

Sandbox environments allow for experimenting
Tackling new temperature control strategies will be a daunting task for many staffs at data facilities. That's why many companies utilize a staging area, or sandbox environment, to test out new equipment and organization strategies. By learning the ins and outs of new technology in a test environment, IT teams can gain the experience they need for smooth implementation without forcing clients to suffer through possible downtime caused by upgrades to infrastructure.

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