Maintaining Data Center Hygiene: Our Comprehensive Approach at Mid-Range

In the fast-paced and interconnected digital landscape, data centers have become the nerve centers that power our modern world. These facilities house the critical infrastructure and store the invaluable information that drives businesses, organizations, and even our daily lives. While the technical prowess and robust security measures of data centers often take center stage, there is another vital aspect that should never be overlooked: hygiene. The cleanliness and maintenance of data centers play a pivotal role in ensuring their optimal performance, longevity, and protection of the invaluable data they hold.

In this blog post, we will explore the importance of hygiene in data centers and delve into how Mid-Range’s unwavering commitment to cleanliness sets the foundation for reliable computing operations and the safeguarding of your most valuable digital assets.

Hygiene in Data Centers

Keeping a data center clean is critical for a number of reasons — here are the top ones:

Equipment maintenance: Data centers house a variety of critical and sensitive hardware components, such as servers, storage devices, and networking equipment. Regular cleaning helps maintain the optimal performance and lifespan of these devices. Dust and debris accumulation can lead to overheating, increased power consumption, and potential hardware failures. Cleaning helps remove these contaminants, ensuring the equipment operates efficiently.

Air quality and cooling efficiency: Data centers rely on efficient cooling systems to prevent overheating and maintain a controlled environment for sensitive equipment. Dust and debris can clog air vents and obstruct airflow, reducing the cooling capacity of the facility. Regular cleaning helps maintain proper air quality, ensuring efficient cooling and preventing potential heat-related issues.

Fire prevention: Dust accumulation poses a significant fire hazard in data centers. Dry and static-prone environments, combined with electrical components, increase the risk of fires. Cleaning helps remove dust, reducing the chances of ignition and mitigating fire risks.

Data integrity and security: Data centers store valuable and sensitive information. Dust and debris can settle on storage media, leading to read and write errors, data corruption, or even complete data loss. Regular cleaning minimizes the risk of physical damage to storage devices, helping to preserve data integrity and security.

Preventing equipment failures: A clean data center reduces the likelihood of equipment failures and downtime. By regularly removing dust and debris, the risk of system crashes, network outages, and other technical issues is minimized. This improves the overall reliability and availability of the data center infrastructure.

Compliance with regulations: Data centers often need to comply with industry-specific regulations and standards, such as those related to security, environmental control, and safety. Regular cleaning helps meet these requirements, ensuring that the facility maintains the necessary cleanliness and hygiene standards.

 

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Next, let’s delve into the scope of work that we undertake to maintain a safe and hygienic environment within our data centers.

Underfloor Plenum Cleaning

At Mid-Range, we recognize the significance of a clean underfloor plenum for optimal data center performance. Our comprehensive approach involves a systematic process:

• Prior to removing floor tiles, we ULPA vacuum the raised floor surface to eliminate loose particulate.
• We lift a limited number of floor tiles to provide access to the underfloor plenum.
• Our team manually removes large debris and contaminants.
• The subfloor slab is ULPA vacuumed to eliminate dust and debris.
• We meticulously wipe clean the subfloor slab to remove fine dust and residue that vacuuming alone may not capture.
• We ULPA vacuum and wipe clean floor stringers, pedestal heads, and large mechanical components.
• Our team cleans perforated tiles and returns them to their original locations.
• Upon request, we provide a comprehensive report highlighting the condition of the underfloor plenum.

Note: We ensure that hardware devices are not shifted or moved to access captive floor tiles. Our floor tile removal is managed strategically to prevent equipment overheating, maintain floor system structural integrity, and minimize safety hazards. We pay special attention to data cabling, electrical connections, and sensors to ensure uninterrupted service.

Floor Surface Maintenance

We pay close attention to the cleanliness of both raised and non-raised floor surfaces:

• We remove loose particulate by ULPA vacuuming, including areas beneath hardware devices.
• Depending on maintenance frequency, we scrub clean accessible floor surfaces using low-speed scrubbing machines to remove embedded contaminants and scuff marks.
• Our team safely damp mops floor surfaces using our specially formulated cleaner and low lint mops to eliminate residual contaminants and cleaning solution.
• Non-raised flooring is treated according to specific surface or material requirements.
• For static dissipating tile/ESD surfaces, we apply an anti-static restorer cleaner if agreed upon with the customer.

Note: We ensure that liquid usage is minimized to avoid excessive moisture on floor surfaces.

Equipment and Environment Cleaning – Level 1

To maintain a pristine environment, we employ ULPA vacuuming, damp wiping, and spot-scrubbing techniques on various surfaces:

• We clean exterior surfaces of equipment cabinets, racks, and stand-alone equipment, excluding opening cabinet doors.
• Our team takes care of the exterior surfaces of support equipment such as CRACs (Computer Room Air Conditioners) and PDUs (Power Distribution Units).
• We ensure that the exterior surfaces of furniture and desktop equipment like tables, storage cabinets, and monitors (excluding keyboards) are thoroughly cleaned.
• Overhead cable trays and cage partitions are also included in our cleaning process.
• Air Quality Particle Testing:
• We understand the significance of air quality in data centers. Therefore, we perform air quality particle testing in compliance with ISO-14644-1 Class 8 Classification for Air Cleanliness. This testing confirms that the tested area meets the ISO Standard’s requirements for air cleanliness. It is important to note that the testing protocol reflects the moment and time of testing and does not represent the room’s condition before and after the sampling period.

Conclusion

At Mid-Range, we take great pride in our unwavering dedication to maintaining the hygiene and cleanliness of our data centers. It is this commitment that sets us apart as a leader in the industry. By prioritizing a clean and well-maintained environment, we ensure that our data centers operate at optimal performance levels, minimizing the risk of equipment failures and maximizing reliability and security. Our proactive maintenance approach, utilization of advanced cleaning techniques, and strict adherence to industry standards reflect our relentless pursuit of excellence in serving our clients. With Mid-Range, businesses can have full confidence that their valuable data is housed in a secure and meticulously maintained facility, allowing them to focus on their core operations with peace of mind.

 

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About The Mid-Range Data Centers…

Click on the video below to take a 2-minute tour of our data center!