Overheating and fire are the biggest threats to data centers

Overheating (93%), fire (91%) and shock (88%) are the top reasons for data center failures. That's one finding of the 2018 Data Center Evolution and Future study. The study was conducted by the expert panel of 7Alliance (www.7-alliance.com), a consortium of companies. "Heat and fire are definitely among the big dangers for sensitive servers. Hardware, for example, can be damaged by even the smallest particles. If a cable even burns through completely, a short circuit occurs. A rather surprising result of our survey, however, is the concern that a faulty operating concept could cause negative headlines. It shows: A secure data center must be thought of from the very beginning," says Thomas Lechner, Inst-IT managing director and co-initiator of the 7Alliance.

Wear hardly feared

69% of the IT professionals surveyed assume that technical wear and tear can bring a data center to a standstill. Slightly less than three-quarters of respondents talk about how failures in maintenance could have glaring consequences. "This shows that most assume they have done everything possible to safeguard their data center when they contract for maintenance on individual vendor components. However, this is a fallacy we must strongly warn against: Almost three quarters of respondents do not even know exactly what maintenance cycles exist for the complex technical infrastructure. The results of maintenance are often inadequately evaluated. But only good operating and management concepts provide a comprehensive overview of the condition of the technical infrastructure and thus reduce the risk," explains Lechner.

Results close together

In general, all causes of failures are rated enormously highly. Faulty power supply and manipulation by third parties, for example, are seen as a danger by 86% of those surveyed. A power failure is still feared by 85%. Dust that can settle in a server and thus cause local overheating is also perceived as a threat by 85%. For 81% of the respondents, the human factor is more relevant. They see human error as the biggest problem. Slightly more than three-quarters of IT professionals see inadequate building structures as the challenge to greater security. Finally, three-quarters of respondents fear force majeure, such as flooding.

Source: 7Alliance