Data Center Maintenance

Achieve Continuous Availability and Limit Downtime in Your Critical Facility

Preventive maintenance is conducted to keep equipment working and should be used as a strategy to improve the performance of your data center environment assets. Most companies implement a preventive maintenance strategy to protect themselves against unplanned downtime as well as to extend the operating life of the equipment inside their data center or server room.

According to research done by Forrester Research, Inc., companies are more focused on service continuity, achieving continuous availability, and limiting the amount of downtime on their equipment in today’s critical environments. There is also a strong emphasis on the adoption of standards in an effort to maximize the benefit of a company’s assets. Preventive maintenance is the best approach a company can take to accomplish these initiatives while getting the most value out of their assets. It is essential for all companies that want to maximize the benefits of their assets to implement a high-quality preventive maintenance program on the critical environment equipment such as Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS), batteries, HVAC and generators.

Preventive maintenance programs can help companies maximize the benefits of these assets in several ways. These value-added benefits include, but are not limited to, decreasing the potential downtime of the asset, preventing failures from occurring, extending the life expectancy of the equipment, and allowing the equipment to run more efficiently.

The number one preventable cause of downtime - insufficient maintenance

The 2007 Study of Root Causes demonstrated that two-thirds of downtime events stem from preventable causes, the number one preventable cause was due to insufficient maintenance. Decreasing potential downtime and preventing failures from occurring are the most critical aspects of a good preventive maintenance program. One of the common failures on Data Center equipment is in the UPS with the batteries. These batteries are the heart of the UPS and need maintenance to trend performance and to identify any batteries with potential for failure. Considering the fact that one single battery failure can cause an entire UPS to fail, battery maintenance should be a fundamental part of business. Another common failure is overheating of the UPS - this failure is usually caused by dust blocking the air filters, which will cause the UPS to shut down. Replacing the filters is an inexpensive and effective part of a good UPS maintenance plan. Regular maintenance will help ensure the UPS and batteries keep running through outages, utility spikes, and unforeseeable power issues.

Within the HVAC system the most common failures tend to be high temperature or high head failures. Both malfunctions can be prevented by changing air filters frequently as well as by power washing the condenser to maximize air flow and to maintain the operation of the unit. In generators, most maintenance is preventive by nature because of the durability of diesel engines. By following recommended maintenance procedures, a company will substantially increase assurance that the generator will start and run when needed most. A good preventive maintenance program for a generator should include a resistive load bank test. A load bank test allows the engine to reach its full operating temperature which burns out the accumulation of un-burnt fuel and allows the generator to run cleaner and more efficiently.

Corrective repairs typically cost two to four times more than preventive maintenance

The “run it until it breaks” methodology does not work when dealing with most applications and especially not with critical environment equipment in a data center. No matter how a situation is assessed, downtime is disastrous and carries an enormous price tag. Corrective repairs typically cost two to four times more than preventive maintenance due to their inherent inefficiencies. Companies also have the potential of losing revenue as well as damaging their reputation if their equipment fails and their customers are impacted. It makes good business sense to have a preventive maintenance program in place in an effort to minimize unplanned downtime.

The most simplified way to reduce the potential of equipment failure and unplanned downtime is performing regular scheduled maintenance. Another primary goal of a preventive maintenance program is to maintain the equipment’s reliability. This is accomplished by replacing worn components before they actually fail and cause the unit to go down. Most qualified maintenance companies record and trend equipment deterioration, as well as known common failures of equipment, in an effort to increase the equipment’s uptime. A maintenance company should replace worn parts as part of their standard scope of work during a maintenance visit. Preventive maintenance activities should include checks, adjustments, lubrication, cleaning, changing filters, and so on. Performing these basic checks and replacing deteriorated parts will substantially decrease the likelihood of an unplanned outage.

Proper maintenance adds years to the life expectance of critical equipment

Extending the life expectancy of your equipment is a crucial aspect of preventive maintenance because the cost of the critical infrastructure equipment is a major capital investment. Part of managing one’s assets is based on the Return of Investment (ROI) and getting the maximum benefit from the assets based on cost. A standard preventive maintenance program will decrease the total cost of the investment by extending the life and reducing repair costs of the asset. According to a study performed by Jones Lang LaSalle, a preventive maintenance investment not only pays for itself but also produces a substantial ROI. The study shows that a good preventive maintenance program can yield up to a 500% return in some cases. The primary reason that this significant ROI is achieved is because proper maintenance adds years to the life expectancy of the equipment. The delay in replacing equipment allows companies to avoid the expensive capital outlay needed to replace the equipment for years. Basically, the longer the capital expense can be deferred the higher the ROI because the bulk of the return comes from increasing the useful life of the equipment.

Performing maintenance can help you save energy

Performing maintenance can also help equipment run more efficiently, which in turn helps with the longevity of the equipment, but more importantly saves money by reducing the amount of energy the equipment uses. Scopes of work to help equipment run more efficiently should include regular checks of the quality of fluids, frequently changing air filters, and power washing condenser coils to name a few. Checking fluids is essential because contaminants can result in diminished performance. Changing filters frequently is important because it will maximize the airflow in the equipment. One of the most important maintenance checks on HVAC equipment is regularly cleaning the condenser coils. Condensers are known to draw in dirt, pollen, and other debris that restricts airflow and reduces efficiencies. Power washing the condenser on a regular basis will ensure that the HVAC equipment will run efficiently and also will help reduce emergency service calls. According to the Consortium of Energy Efficiency, facilities in which proper HVAC preventive maintenance is completed will use approximately 15% to 20% less energy than those where systems are allowed to deteriorate. With the high cost of energy it is crucial to maintain the equipment in a data center in order to take advantage of efficiencies and save money.

If preventive maintenance has not been a high priority, then the critical environmental equipment in a data center has probably experienced a number of equipment failures during the past year. Some of the failures may be random, but the majority are a direct result of not implementing a preventive maintenance program. Preventive maintenance programs are conducted to keep the equipment running efficiently and effectively and to prevent failures before they occur. Long term benefits include: improved reliability, decreased cost of replacements, decreased downtime, and more efficient equipment. Good preventive maintenance programs should include partial or complete overhauls at specific set periods and recording equipment trends to know when to replace or repair worn parts before they cause an unplanned outage.

Companies should work with their maintenance provider to develop a scope of work and then standardize that scope throughout the company. With the exorbitant cost of downtime, a strong preventive maintenance program is not an option, it is a must.

Find out how Electronic Environments’ Preventive Maintenance Programs can ensure your mission critical facility is running at its best — contact us at 800-342-5332 or sales@eecnet.com to learn more.