I can’t believe summer has come and gone again. Appears we did not have much of a summer and now winter is brewing. I don’t like the change of seasons, you have to put your light summer wear away and dig out all your winter stuff. Just the sight of my winter jacket gives me a tingle up my spine…I hate winter PERIOD…give me a warm beach and sun any day.

Maybe this is why I am not a fan of working in Data Centers, you always need to put on a sweater or light jacket if you plan to be in there too long. I do enjoy building them but who ever thought they needed to be run at 60-68 degrees anyway? I suspect this thinking is a throw back to the days cooling technology was not very reliable or efficient. It was better to have the room so cold you could hang meat and endure a short outage on your HVAC system rather than actually considering your utility bill!

As time went on people just assumed this is where you set your thermostat. There is a lot of discussion these days around Green Data Centers. Everyone is buzzing about raising the temperature and the potential impact this may have to equipment efficiency and longevity. Well the reality is most companies will refresh their server farms every couple years and the equipment being installed today is a lot more efficient then the equipment of days gone by. They are designed to run hotter and can handle the higher a set point of your thermostats.

So let’s all take a walk into our Data Centers and move the thermostat up to 76-78 degrees…if anyone asks tell them your Data Center is a shade of Green now. Best part is you will save 4-5% of your utility bill per degree and won’t have to endure winter every time you enter your Data Centre.

Mark Yetman
Director Managed Services