For many businesses, it takes a downtime event or a series of close calls to drive improvements for the availability of IT operations. This can also provide a spur to further upgrade projects as it presents an optimal opportunity to assess the physical infrastructure required to ensure reliable IT services.
Smaller IT deployments are typically relegated to confined spaces, closets, or even the office floor. A common explanation for this is that there are only a few pieces of IT equipment and no real location to house them in. This reasoning is justified because there is little perceived criticality to the wider business should IT systems fail. However, as businesses grow, their dependence upon IT increases which makes them much more sensitive to downtime.
Causes of IT outages are not only due to power events like blackouts, they may be simply a case of human error – reported incidents include:
- The wrong server was unplugged.
- Random equipment failures and reboots due to high temperatures in the room.
- A server error for high temperature forced a shutdown of the system.
- A few pieces of IT gear turned off during a brief power outage.
- A cleaning person unplugged a server to plug in the vacuum cleaner.
- A power outage caused all the systems in a branch office IT rack to go down.
Research suggests that IT managers often lack the time to explore and specify appropriate solutions. Schneider Electric’s white paper #174 is hands-on experiences and summarises practical improvements to power, cooling, racks, physical security and monitoring for reliable IT operations in small server rooms and branch offices.
To download white paper #174 in full, and a chance to win a Samsung Galaxy Gear Smart Watch, please visit www.apc.com/promo and enter keycode 47627P