
Here is an article that I think our customers will find interesting. For those who haven’t followed the topic, this is a trend that has been consistent over the past few years. Three years ago, we raised our temperature threshold from 68 to the 72 – 74 degrees Fahrenheit range.
There are challenges to taking the temperature up higher in a public data center. For example, as the temperature goes up in the data center so does the ambient noise level as equipment fans operate at a higher RPM. A second example is customer perception. Many customers still have an expectation of very cool temperatures experienced in the past. If it is not noticeably cool in a colocation room, often times customers assume there is an issue. Finally, equipment also needs to be in sync with the data center temperature changes.
Therefore, public data centers have to walk a fine line. We want to save energy by increasing temperatures in the data center, but we do so at the risk of losing business if customers falsely believe their equipment is at risk. We have to strike a balance and do what we can to educate customers about current data center trends to ensure that we are all on the same page.
Read the article here