How to Maintain a Clean and Tidy Server Room

Managing a server room is a big responsibility. And while most of the focus goes on the actual setup, you also have to account for factors like tidiness and cleanliness. Do you know what to do?

Why Your Server Room Needs to Be Clean and Tidy

A company’s server room is often treated like the bowels of the business, when it should really be treated like the heart of the business. Because, for all intents and purposes, it’s the place where businesses process all data that’s essential to their organizations.

That means information on customers, sales, employees, compliance, transactions, contracts, and more. A failure to keep this room clean and organized is a failure to prioritize the company’s most important assets.

Cleaning a server room may seem like a small thing, but here are several specific reasons why it matters:

• Reduces downtime.  Did you know that downtime in a data center costs businesses an average of $5,600 per minute in lost productivity and revenue? (That comes out to a cool $336,000 per hour.) Regular cleaning can’t fix network errors and other tech issues, but it can improve equipment performance and remove dust and debris that has the potential to clog filters and/or hide issues (like frayed wires) from the naked eye.

• Improves longevity. Your server room is tasked with running 24/7/365 with no breaks – year after year after year. In other words, there’s no time for machine components to cool down or take a break. Cleanliness is one of the only things that can actively improve performance and longevity.

• Prevents unwanted visitors. You can have all of the access control you want in a server room, but if you don’t keep it clean and tidy, you’re still going to attract unwanted visitors. We’re talking about rodents, insects, and pests. Rodents are a huge problem in server rooms and can create lots of damage and chaos. (Just read about Yahoo’s 2012 squirrel infestation to see what can happen). Keeping your server room clean eliminates contaminants that may attract these pesky visitors.

• Promotes safety. They might not be common, but server room fires do happen. And when they occur, they’re extremely dangerous. Not only do they wipe out the server room (which results in millions of dollars of damage and downtime), but they can lead to serious injury and death of employees. Keeping a data center clean and free of dust significantly reduces the risk of a server room fire.

• Lowers stress and confusion. If you’ve ever walked into a server room disguised as a spaghetti bowl, then you have an appreciation for how messy things can get. Keeping a server room clean and tidy lowers stress and confusion, allowing your team to operate more productively.

Keeping your server room clean is a testament to your diligence. It’s not something that customers notice, and it certainly won’t win you any pats on the back from your coworkers or employees. However, it’s one of those small details that speak to your commitment to the greater good of the organization. Done regularly (and well), it ensures your server room operates efficiently and doesn’t hold your business back in any way, shape, or form.

5 Tips for a Spotless Server Room

Keeping a server room clean and tidy doesn’t require an Ivy League degree or complicated acronym attached to the end of your name. It does, however, require a plan. Here are some recommendations:

1. Get Serious About Cable Management

Enough with the spaghetti cables! It’s hard enough to clean a server room as it is – don’t make it more difficult by having an endless mess of cables and cords coursing through the room. Simple solutions like Velcro? ties and labels will prove highly beneficial.

1. Document, Diagram, Display

Just because you and a couple of employees understand how the server room is set up doesn’t mean you can keep it a secret. Your server room environment needs to be carefully documented and diagramed so that anyone who enters the room has a clear “lay of the land.” This prevents confusion and makes it easier to identify issues, properly clean components, etc.

1. Use an Air Purifier

As you know by now, dust is a huge problem in server rooms. Unfortunately, you can’t always see dust until it’s too late (meaning it’s accumulated on surfaces and inside of equipment). One way to proactively address this issue is by installing air purifiers and air treatment solutions.

Depending on the air purifier and how it’s installed, these systems have the potential to collect fine particles of dust that would otherwise be sucked into server fans and/or your air conditioning filters. Not only does this extend the longevity of your equipment, but it also leads to better efficiency.

1. Keep the Temperature Optimized

Temperature control is a very important aspect of keeping your server room efficient and clean. Overheating can create numerous issues, including faulty equipment, overheating, and even mold and mildew (if there’s an issue with humidity).

To avoid overheating, always keep the internal room temperature below 77 degrees Fahrenheit. Account for the heat generated by the servers and don’t overcrowd your server room. Proper spacing allows for better airflow.

The relative humidity should land somewhere in the 45 to 55 percent range. If it’s too low, you could experience electrostatic discharge. If it’s too high, rust, corrosion, mold, mildew, and short-circuiting are possible.

1. Schedule Regular Cleanings

In addition to following all of these tips on an ongoing basis, it’s a smart idea to schedule a professional server room cleaning service to come once a quarter (at a minimum).

“You should regularly schedule site cleanings in order to keep your environment free of dust, dirt and other harmful particles that can damage your operating systems and create health risks for personnel” IT expert Rory Wallwork advises. “Dust and other particles that circulate within your server room can accumulate and greatly interfere with the equipment by causing a variety of difficult-to-deal-with or even tragic problems. Such problems could include media errors and data loss.”

Combining semi-regular professional cleanings with your own ongoing attention to detail will significantly reduce risks and keep your server room in tip-top shape around the clock.

Putting it All Together

It might seem like a small detail in the grand scheme of running a business or managing an IT department, but keeping your server room spotless has a direct impact on almost every other area of the company. From efficiency and productivity to employee safety and controlling costs, it’s an all-important factor.