Advances, Systems and Applications
Table 2 Summary of the physical threat to the datacentre server room
Threat | Definition | Impact on datacentre | Types of sensors |
|---|---|---|---|
Air temperature | The temperature of the air in the datacentre room, rack, and equipment. | Temperatures above specification and/or drastic temperature changes cause equipment failure and reduce equipment life span. | Temperature sensors |
Humidity | At a specific temperature, the relative humidity of the datacentre room and rack. | - Static electricity buildup causes equipment failure at low humidity levels. - Formation of condensation at high humidity levels. | Humidity sensors |
Leaks of liquid | Water or coolant leaks | Air conditioner problems are indicated by liquid damage to floors, cabling, and equipment. | - Spot leak sensors - Rope leak sensors |
Smoke/Fire | Electrical or material fire | - Failure of equipment - Asset and data loss | - Supplement smoke sensors |
Human error and unauthorised access | - Personnel’s accidental wrongdoing - Unauthorized and/or coerced access to the datacentre with malicious intent | - Data loss and equipment damage - Downtime of equipment - Equipment theft and sabotage | - Motion sensors - Digital video cameras - Door contacts - Vibration sensors - Glass-break sensors |
Dangerous airborne contaminants | Chemicals in the air, i.e., hydrogen from batteries, and particles such as dust | - Hazardous situation for workers and UPS (uninterruptible power supply), unreliability, and failure due to hydrogen release. - Failure of equipment due to increased static electricity and filter/fan clogging due to dust buildup | - Chemical/hydrogen sensors - Dust sensor |