Given the importance that immediate access to information carries in today’s business world, being able to rely upon your data center for round-the-clock reliability is vital. Unfortunately, completely uninterrupted support is impossible. Far too many companies adopt a “wait-and-see” approach when it comes to dealing with problems that may arise from their data centers. If this is the method that you choose to follow, then you’re essentially guaranteeing yourself to face costly periods of downtime in the future.
Condition-Based Maintenance Programs
Rather than reacting to data center component failures after they happen, why not choose to monitor and address them before they even manifest themselves? Impossible? Not if you choose to implement a proactive approach to your data center management. Along with delivering impressive support and backup to end-users, the technology supporting today’s data centers also offers a certain level of self-diagnostic capabilities. Conditioned-based maintenance programs now allow you to receive real-time alerts of potential problems with your data center hardware.
Factors such as temperature fluctuations and the amount of energy exerted during peak load times can be easily measured and used in factored the toll that it exerts on your equipment. As the signs of wear-and-tear begin to show, your CBM lets you know not only that a problem may be pending, but also allows you to localize it so that your IT teams knows where to look. A quick replacement of the worn components then ensures that eventual failures can be avoided.
Other Preventative Maintenance Methods
Yet while CBM’s are changing the way that data centers are maintained, older centers that aren’t supported by such technology require increased effort on your part to avoid problems. Yet you needn’t worry; a few simple, intuitive practices can be just as effective in fulfilling preventative maintenance. These include:
Prioritizing your applications: Identify those applications that are most critical to your day-to-day operations, and then pinpoint the data center components that support them. Create a preventative care plan to ensure that those components are routinely inspected and serviced. This not only prevents downtime, but also allows you to optimize your maintenance budget.
Maintain detailed information on all your equipment: Learning the unique requirements of each of your data center components helps you know exactly what sort maintenance is required and at what time intervals. This allows you to create a care plan customized to the meet the needs of each of your components systems.
Take advantage of manufacturer service plans: Equipment manufacturers will also typically offer service plans with their equipment. Purchasing them allows you the advantage of having an expert evaluation of your equipment done annually. This takes much of the guesswork out of preventative maintenance.
There’s no avoiding the fact that your data center components have a shelf life. Yet that doesn’t mean that you have to accept downtime as an inevitability. By adopting a proactive approach to your data center management, you can reduce the risks of experiencing downtime by dealing with small problems before they have the chance to become larger issues.
