Intelligent Data Centres Issue 48 | Page 69

TO AVOID SUCH UNPLEASANT SURPRISES FROM THE OUTSET , ADMINISTRATORS SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE DATA CENTRE IN ADDITION TO THEIR SYSTEMS AND DEVICES . www . intelligentdatacentres . com
THE EDGE any people might think that data centres are haunted .

M Virtualisation is going crazy , unified computing is doing its own thing and other systems are robbing the IT admin of sleep . We all know that evil spirits are not the cause of these phenomena – even if sometimes IT admins may get that impression .

What dangers lurk in data centres ?
DDoS attacks , viruses , Trojans and other threats from hacker attacks can damage a data centre . However , IT systems are not only vulnerable to threats from the IT world . Besides cyberattacks , ‘ earthly ’ threats such as wear and tear or environmental parameters can have an enormous impact on systems and equipment . To keep an eye on the obvious hazards , data centres usually have various security systems in place , such as locking systems , fire alarms and surveillance cameras . But what about the dangers that are initially invisible to the human eye ?
Even the smallest changes in the ambient air – such as temperature , CO 2 concentration or humidity – affect the reliability , performance and service life of IT components . Increased humidity , for example , can cause condensation inside a server . Consequently , short circuits and corrosion are hardly predictable or traceable .
Excessively high temperatures also cause problems for IT components . An increased room temperature is often enough to cause small smouldering fires or short circuits . But that ’ s not all :
Felix Berndt , Business Development Manager for IIoT and Data Centers EMEA at Paessler AG
if the temperature is too high , many processors slow down or servers shut down for security reasons . Once this state is reached , it takes some time for the devices to reach normal temperature again and resume operation .
The availability and function of essential applications , business-relevant processes , access to valuable data and the work of entire departments can thus be jeopardised – a potential nightmare for every company .
Monitoring reveals the invisible
To avoid such unpleasant surprises from the outset , administrators should keep an eye on the environment of the data centre in addition to their systems and devices . Holistic monitoring makes it possible to monitor various areas such as :
1 . IT and network infrastructure : Network devices such as switches and routers , servers , firewalls , load balancers , virtual environments , etc .
2 . Applications and services : All applications and services hosted in the data centre , for example : web servers such as IIS , Apache , NGINX ,
SQL servers such as Microsoft SQL Server 2005-2016 , Oracle , MySQL , PostgreSQL , mail servers such as Exchange , IMAP , POP3 , SMTP as well as web applications ( websites , portals ), backups , security and custom applications .
3 . Data centre facilities : Physical sensors , temperature , relative humidity , dew point , carbon monoxide levels , motion and vibration , security cameras , power supply , access control , etc .
With such a tool , IT managers can monitor the entire data centre 24 / 7 and expose all visible as well as invisible dangers .
Equipped for ghost hunting
To meet the requirements of the data centre and uncover all phenomena , the

TO AVOID SUCH UNPLEASANT SURPRISES FROM THE OUTSET , ADMINISTRATORS SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE DATA CENTRE IN ADDITION TO THEIR SYSTEMS AND DEVICES . www . intelligentdatacentres . com

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