Estech 2021 Session Preview: Best Practices for Data Center Contamination Control
March 23, 2021 by Jason Roth It’s no mystery to those in the field of data center management that downtime is a threat to success. But did you know the cost of a single data center outage averages over $700,000 per event? Depending on the type of organization, each hour of downtime equals an average loss of $140,000 to $540,000, or $5,600 per minute.
These statistics illustrate just how much the financial impact of downtime can devastate a company. But, according to Jason Roth, CEO of Sterile Environment Technologies (SET3), leader in contamination control and expert in ISO standards, this threat is largely preventable. A recent study found that 78% of “unknown” downtime in data centers is actually the result of particles and corrosive air that causes arcs, static shorts, overheating, and corrosion.
According to Roth, “most IT managers are very knowledgeable in regard to navigating and caring for the informational systems that they are responsible for, [however] there are several common gaps in knowledge of industry standards that we encounter that can lead to disastrous events.” For example, “data centers are considered ISO 8 level cleanrooms and are therefore held to much higher standards of cleanliness than what [the IT manager] may be accustomed to. And odd as it may sound,” he continues, “janitorial cleanings are not the answer. They can actually make things worse.” Roth concludes, “the only proven solution to ensure uptime is applying ISO protocols in building design and maintenance, to monitor the environment and implement corrective actions when necessary.”
In his virtual session, which will be offered as part of the 67thAnnual Technical Meeting and Exposition of IEST, Roth will be providing insight to address some common misconceptions and will give a breakdown of how ISO 8 standards provided by ASHRAE and ISA can be implemented to mitigate these known contamination risks and prevent downtime in data centers. In addition, he will discuss exciting new trends (such as underwater lab tanks, oil submersion tanks and looped containment for air circuits) that have the potential to transform the industry.
IEST, or the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology, is a not-for-profit technical society and ANSI-accredited standards-developing organization. As Secretariat of ISO/TC 209 Cleanrooms and associated controlled environments, the organization gives technical guidance through International Standards, Recommended Practices, and education programs developed by experts in the fields of contamination control, environmental testing, and nanotechnology facilities.
Jason’s presentation: Best Practices for Data Centers will take on Thursday, May 6. There will also be a number of other presentations and session topics available for you to attend. You can view the full list online here.
Attendees will also have the opportunity to hear from other industry experts during training courses; give input into upcoming IEST Recommended Practices with Working Group meetings; and network and build relationships with other fellow professionals.
Details and registration information can be found online at http://www.iest.org/Meetings/ESTECH. The regular rate deadline for the conference ends April 16. Our SET3 team looks forward to “seeing” you at the conference!