Disaster Recovery Journal

capacity to generate more than 30 KWH of
electrical power. However, it takes some
time to start these systems and resume
normal cooling operation. Dr. Khankari
noted, “It is crucial to understand the rate
of temperature rise of the room air during
this off-cooling period and how long serv-
ers can sustain such a situation without
automatic thermal shutdown.”
Dr. Khankari simulated the effects of
room height, rack weight, and number
of rack rows among other variables and
found room temperature reached target
temperatures of 95°F ( 35°C) in <100 sec-
onds (< 2 minutes) and 125°F ( 51. 7°C) in
<300 seconds (< 5 minutes). Only in the
case where heat load density was ≤100
W/sq.ft. (1076 W/m2) did room tempera-
ture stay below the target temperatures
for more than five minutes. In most cases,
data center cooling should be restored in
less than five minutes, not a lot of time
for facility managers to correct the situa-
tion. Reports from conversations with IT

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professionals note failures need not occur only during the incident but weeks and months after, as weakened electronics fail with apparent randomness after elevated temperature excursions.

So what can be done? Large, modern data centers are built with a vast network of sensors and back-up systems. Everything from the basics of temperature and humidity to exotic video and intrusion monitoring systems are installed in the most secure sites. Teams of security personnel and 24/7 monitoring are deployed to try to ensure everything that can prevent system outages is done. Redundant locations and fault tolerant operating systems are employed to help manage the inevitable problem. In short, millions of dollars are spent each year in disaster prevention to ensure business continuity.

For small and mid-sized businesses that rely on smaller data centers and server or telecom rooms, million dollar budgets with which to address their reliability problems are generally not in the cards. A recent IDP white paper titled “Business Risk and the Mid-size Firm: What Can Be Done to Minimize Disruptions?” described how mid-sized businesses face IT disaster and offered some ideas to help prevent or minimize disruptions. It noted while executives at these companies worry about natural disasters when they read about floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes, many business disrupting outages result from causes far less dramatic. Every day events such as construction crews cutting through a power line, an air conditioning failure, a network provider interruption, or a security issue can take systems offline. These interruptions occur more than most mid-size business managers expect and with increasingly critical impact as customers become more accustomed to accessing information and placing orders online.

Despite their concerns about being ready to deal with disaster recovery, many respondents within the IDP paper said that they feel they cannot afford to prepare for disasters without exceeding their IT budget limits. This despite research showing such expenditures can reduce costs by more than 35 percent compared with unprepared centers using older technology.