By Deepak Pahwa, Managing Director, Bry-Air
Over the years data centers have emerged proportionally to the rise of data consumption and brisk cloud adoption. Companies are enthusiastically resorting to the Internet of Things (IoT), Industry 4.0, and new age technologies to scale their productivity and efficiency of work. As a result, organizations across the globe are showing alacrity in harnessing the benefits of Big Data & Data Analytics for data management.
Data Centers have become a top priority in operational structure for computation, data storage, networking, and all business applications. This adoption of data centers was fast-tracked during the COVID breakdown to compensate for the discontinuity in physical work with the help of a virtual working model.
The unanimous digital shift during lockdown contributed to the exponential consumption of internet-related services. To cope up with the new working model, big conglomerates to medium enterprises and even start-ups resorted to data centers for secure storage of critical and sensitive information with the help of cloud-based services. Securing an important place in the workplace dynamism, Large Data Centers became a part of the mission-critical category owing to their essential services across banking, telecom, large firms, consultancies sectors, and even small businesses.
Ever since COVID, the demand for data centers has only been rising. If estimations by CRISIL are to be believed, then India’s data center is projected to double by 2025, reaching 1,700–1,800 MW. But while focusing on the robust expansion, it is very important to be attentive to the unknown threats looming around data centers. It requires a lot of manual vigilance to inhibit the damage to sensitive information.
Data Centers run the risk of a downturn due to Airborne Molecular Contamination (AMC) and atmospheric particulates like smoke and dust. Vapors of gases like compounds of sulphur, oxides of nitrogen, chlorine, ammonia, etc. cause chemical contamination responsible for Airborne molecular contamination. This is an alarming situation for the data centers and server rooms wherein m miniaturization of electronics is the norm but leading to increased downtime. Furthermore, high relative humidity in combination with the gases forms corrosive elements on the electronic circuits that adversely affect the operation, reliability, and longevity of sensitive electronic process control equipment in industrial control rooms, as well as data centers.
Consequently, there are frequent cases of breakdown in data centers and server rooms. The downtime cost of corrosion attack levies an enormous amount on the mission-critical facility. Compounding the problem, the corrosive effect is directly responsible for the loss of information and revenue. It also leads to less efficient processes, additional maintenance, costly repairs, and unplanned downtime. Moreover, in case the environmental conditions are not as per the prescribed limits then even OEMs do not offer an annual maintenance contract for expensive cards.
Therefore, preventive measures must be taken by companies to protect the data equipment and servers from any potential contamination threat. Installing DataCenter Air Purifier (DAP), and advanced Gas Phase Filtration systems is a vital step in ensuring the protection of Datacom equipment and servers. It enables passing the contaminant-laden air stream through a gas adsorbent impregnated with neutralizing chemicals placed in a properly designed housing. By filtering out corrosive gases, the systems inhibit the damage to the micro circuitry of PCBs. Along with this equipping the data centers with dehumidifiers further helps in solving the problem. It maintains the humidity at optimum levels to control the amount of moisture in the air and prevents the condensation of equipment.
With the world moving towards digitization, it is essential that businesses not just focus on data centers but invest in the complete infrastructure with quality air solutions to ensure reduced downtime and productivity of the company.