The Importance of Contamination Control at Floor Level. Carlos Mourelle EMEA Director Nov 2018

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1 The Importance of Contamination Control at Floor Level Carlos Mourelle EMEA Director Nov 2018

2 Contamination is a Reality According to the major IT equipment manufacturers, the number of data centres with contamination-related failures is on the rise American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers Inc. (Ashrae) 2011 Gaseous and Particulate Contamination Guidelines for Data Centers

3 Green can be Green Dust and Dirt are enemies of the Data Center. Dust has a way to clogging equipment, air inlets, and clinging to the inside of active equipment. All of this dust requires more airflow and more cooling dollars in the Data Center Creating the Green Data Center Simple measures to reduce energy consumption ADC

4 The Facts Dust and dirt are two of the biggest enemies in a data centre They force greater energy use They clog fans They get into computers They collect and are a major fire hazard They are created by Equipment They are introduced through People They come from the environment 1 hour of downtime can cost from 50,000 to 500,000 (IBM Today)

5 Who Generates these Particles? In short, everything generates particles 97% of these particles are not visible to us All particles represent a threat/danger to the integrity and quality of the Data Centre 80% generated by personnel 15% generated by equipment 5% generated by environment

6 How and Where does Contamination Enter?

7 The Problem Dust contamination is known as the Undetected Disaster IT industry research has concluded that up to 70% of computer-related breakdowns are caused by dust and other debris. This often takes the form of construction dust or Organic Particulate It can build up over time, often unnoticed, until it causes a catastrophic failure in the Data Centre, e.g. Fan burn out leading to a discharge of expensive fire suppressing gas. It creates the slowing down of mission critical systems It can cause unexplained disk errors It can be responsible for the overheating of servers or other boxes It can explain the reason why servers and/or other IT Equipment shuts down unexpectedly

8 ASHRAE 2009 Data Centres must be kept clean to at least Class 8 of ISO Incumbent on Data Centre Managers to do their part in maintaining hardware reliability by monitoring and controlling the dust and gaseous contaminations in their Data Centres Sources of Dust inside Data Centres should be reduced. Every effort should be made to filter out dust that has deliquescent humidity less than the maximum allowable relative humidity in the Data Centre Objective of this White Paper is the need to control airborne contaminants both particulate and Gaseous in Data Centres

9 Why the need to Control? Components are getting smaller Increased heat load burning more energy Higher packing density exposes electronics to these factors Decreased spacing increases possibility of short circuiting Expanding corrosion approaches the size of the components Focus on Green

10 The Damage: Hardware Dust can cause irreversible harm to computer systems by clogging heat-sinks and cooling systems This could lead to overheating and induce a fire hazard. As well as reducing the lifespan of any of your systems Higher cost for replacing filters, or using more expensive filters

11 The Damage: Loss of Data Malfunctions in hardware Leads to problems with operation of servers, and software used on systems Loss of data Possible large cost replicating lost data Customers not satisfied with service if data is lost Damage to company reputation

12 The Damage: Energy Dust clogging filters and heat sinks Leads to excess heat and more energy used by the severs and all the cooling units Added cost for all the excess energy usage Lowered efficiency of data centre More emphasis on running Green technology in data centres

13 Dust will Affect Power Consumption Total reliance on power presents a concentrated area of significant risk to modern data centres The needs of Facilities Management (FM) and Data Centre Infrastructure Management (DCIM) is protection from: - External power supply restrictions - Rising energy prices - Total power failures caused by local overloads Global energy consumption is set to treble by 2050, which will further impact the energy shortfalls already being experienced in some of the world s technology hotspots (Jimmy Chang ATEN)

14 Filters Preventative Measures Specialist Cleaning (Sun Micro Best Practise 2000) Personnel Habits Introduction of foreign materials (Cardboard, Packaging etc) Contamination Control Flooring/Mats

15 Prevention of Contamination 70% to 80% of all contamination entering a room is carried in on wheels or feet (Department of the Environment) Contamination on unprotected floors will rise to shoulder level and above on air particle movement created by vortices Installation of a contamination control system at floor level is the most cost effective solution to the removal of the majority of contamination By removing 80% for small cost compared with the expense of trying to cope with the 20% (air handling systems, gowns, hats, gloves, Server Room costs!!)

16 Benefits of contamination prevention Less chance of System failure costing millions of pounds/dollars and even threatening the viability of the business - reduced downtime and costs. The equipment may last longer and cost less to run Staff and other stakeholders see you are serious about the importance of the equipment Reduced Life Cycle cost Increased confidence Less time and money spent on people fault finding and repairing breakdowns

17 So how do we prevent... This sort of contamination from dust and dirt?

18 Solutions: Tacky Mats Multiple Layers of Polyethylene film coated with an acrylic adhesive Adhesive strength alone collects contamination Performance deteriorates after several footsteps/overstrikes Appropriate for confined spaces, with low personnel traffic volumes Low efficiency in particulate removal for smaller particle sizes of less than 10µmicrons When peeled, tens of thousands of viable and non-viable particulates are released into the environment Cannot be recycled High costs when analysed on an annual basis

19 Solutions: Polymeric flooring Polymeric Composition Optically smooth, flexible surface enabling maximum contact between shoe and wheels High surface energy (Van de Vaals forces) allows maximum collection and retention of all particulate sizes Ability to collect/retain contamination over a wide range of particle sizes, with effective removal in the 2 to 10 µmicron range Simple and regular cleaning regime guarantees effective contamination control over several years Picks up contamination over a full floor coverage Particulates removed are contained within the controlled medium thereby preventing their release into the environment Flooring can be recycled at the end of its life

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21 Summary Contamination can cause any number of equipment problems, including intermittent or permanent failures, overheating and loss of energy efficiency This damage is caused by the chemical, electrical and mechanical properties of the contamination The amount of contamination will depend upon a number of factors particularly the amount of traffic (feet and wheels), the location and the design and construction of the Data Centre

22 Conclusion IT Industry research has concluded that up to 70% of computer-related breakdowns are caused by particles of dust and dirt The Environment is the source of this contamination 80% of all dirt and dust is brought into areas on the soles of feet and/or wheels at floor level Unless controlled and trap this dust can cause untold damage and affect performance/energy consumption/hardware For a relatively small investment this dust/dirt can be controlled, trapped and removed preventing it from continuing to be

23 The End Any Questions?