A Guide to Data Center Temperature Monitoring

Maintaining optimal temperatures in data centers has become increasingly important as power densities surge, global temperature climb, and energy consumption rises.

These challenges make data center temperature monitoring more essential than ever.

In this blog post, we’ll explain why data center temperature monitoring is important, what temperature your data center should be, common challenges in managing temperatures in the data center, and how you can implement temperature monitoring in your data center.

Why Data Center Temperature Monitoring Is Important

Data center temperature monitoring helps:

• Protect equipment and extend its lifespan. Effective temperature monitoring prevents overheating, which can damage hardware and reduce the lifespan of critical equipment.
• Maintain uptime and reliability. Almost 30% of unplanned data center outages are a result of environment issues. By continuously tracking temperatures, data center managers can prevent thermal issues that lead to equipment failure, enabling better uptime and operational stability.
• Improve energy efficiency and reduce costs. Monitoring temperatures allows for optimized cooling strategies to reduce energy consumption and operational expenses while maintaining optimal conditions. Data centers can save 4% to 5% in energy costs for every 1°F increase in server inlet temperature.

Optimal Data Center Temperature and Humidity Ranges

Maintaining optimal temperature and humidity levels are crucial for ensuring operational efficiency and hardware longevity. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) recommends a data center temperature range of 64-81°F or 18-27°C and an allowable range of 59-90°F or 15-32°C), with relative humidity levels ideally set between 45% and 60%.

Deviating from these ideal temperatures can lead to significant consequences. A high temperature can create risk of overheating, resulting in hardware failures, downtime, and reduced lifespan of equipment. On the other hand, too low of a temperature wastes energy and money.

Common Challenges in Data Center Temperature Management

Effective temperature management in data centers faces several challenges that can undermine energy efficiency and reliability.

• Lack of comprehensive data and monitoring. Intelligent data center temperature management relies heavily on accurate, real-time data from temperature sensors. Limited or outdated monitoring systems can lead to inadequate insights into temperature variations and inefficiencies. Without sufficient data, it becomes challenging to identify hot spots, optimize cooling strategies, and proactively respond to temperature fluctuations.
• Balancing efficient and equipment protection. Striking the right balance between energy savings and maintaining safe temperatures for hardware is critical. Overcooling waste energy and inflates costs, while undercooling risks overheating and potential hardware failure.
• Hot spots and airflow optimization. Managing uneven temperature distribution and hot spots is complex due to factors like poorly configured cooling systems, airflow obstructions, and the layout of equipment in racks.
• High-density computing. Modern data centers often have high-density racks that generate significant heat, requiring more sophisticated cooling solutions. Standard cooling methods may not suffice, pushing the need for innovative approaches like liquid cooling.
• Scalability and adaptability. As data centers grow or change, temperature management systems need to scale or adapt accordingly. Implementing solutions that can be modified without significant infrastructure overhauls poses a challenge.
• Energy consumption and sustainability goals. Managing temperature efficiently while aligning with sustainability targets requires investments in advanced technologies and strategies. Achieving these goals can involve eco-friendly cooling methods and modern data center management software to optimize efficiency.

Addressing these challenges with a clear strategy requires holistic monitoring solutions and sensors to maintain optimal temperature for the data center.

How Data Center Temperature Monitoring Works

It is essential that data center temperature monitoring is a priority as it can directly influence equipment lifespan, energy efficiency, and uptime.

Here’s how it works:

• Deploying data center temperature sensors. Temperature sensors measure the temperature in real-time, providing data that can help inform good data center temperature management practices.
• Selecting reliable temperature sensor. Leading vendors like Legrand and CPI provide reliable, highly accurate sensors that integrate easily with DCIM software for seamless monitoring. Check out the most popular data center temperature sensors here.
• Placing temperature sensors. ASHRAE recommends six sensors in each rack: one at the top, middle, and bottom of both the front and back.
• Using DCIM software to simplify temperature monitoring. Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software streamlines temperature monitoring. It offers features like thermal map visualizations for quick identification of hot spots, customizable temperature thresholds with automatic alerts for proactive management, ASHRAE psychrometric cooling charts for visualizing cabinets that are outside of recommended and allowable ranges, and dashboard charts and reports to track temperature trends and cooling capacity to save time on manual data collection and reporting.

Case Study: How Vodafone Implemented Data Center Temperature Monitoring

In a real-world case, Vodafone, a telecommunications company trusted by hundreds of millions, was struggling to accurately monitor the temperature in their data center. Vodafone wanted to know if they could raise set points throughout the facility to save on energy costs but didn’t have the proper tools.

Andrew Marsh, Vodafone UK's Senior Manager for Infrastructure and Data Centers, noted that they “wanted to gain insight regarding power usage, cooling, and data and power connections,” and required a solution that offered visualization, an intuitive dashboard, a thorough asset inventory, and advanced reporting features.

To tackle this obstacle, Vodafone significantly expanded the number of temperature sensors from 16 to 800 in one facility and implemented DCIM software for comprehensive monitoring.

Marsh stated that they installed temperature sensors at the top, middle, and bottom of every rack and are using Sunbird’s leading DCIM software to measure the individual temperatures so they can see the Delta T. This has allowed them to safely increase temperatures, reducing energy consumption which contributes to sustainability and saves money.  

Read the complete case study here.

Bringing It All Together

Effective temperature monitoring is essential for any data center aiming to balance operational efficiency, equipment protection, and cost savings. As global temperatures and data processing demands rise, maintaining optimal temperature in data centers can be challenging, especially when cooling alone consumes nearly half of the facility's power.

By implementing a robust temperature monitoring strategy and leveraging advanced solutions like DCIM software, data center managers can gain comprehensive insights into thermal patterns, reduce cooling-related expenses, and prevent unplanned outages due to environmental issues.

DCIM software simplifies temperature monitoring with capabilities like real-time visualization, threshold-based alerts, and detailed reporting. These tools empower data centers to make data-driven decisions that optimize cooling efficiency and extend equipment lifespan, ultimately contributing to a more sustainable and cost-effective operation.

Want to see why the leading data center managers choose Sunbird’s DCIM software for temperature monitoring? Get your free test drive today!