A server room in Omaha taught me to always check the humidity

I was troubleshooting random shutdowns for a week before I found the environmental monitor was reading 15% RH. The static buildup from the dry air was zapping components. Anyone else run into weird failures from low humidity in a data center?

4 comments

4 Comments

piper_kim1mo ago

Doubt static alone would cause full shutdowns that fast. Modern gear has decent protection built in. Seen plenty of bone dry server closets in old office buildings that just keep chugging along. Maybe your monitor was off or something else was going on with the power at the same time?

joel_jones12h ago

Our Denver data center had a static event last winter that dropped three blade chassis in under two seconds. Humidity was at 12%. The logs showed a clear ESD spike on the management network right before everything went dark. Protection circuits can only handle so much before a direct hit finds a weak spot. I've seen it happen with my own eyes.

ninaowens1mo ago

Our Phoenix colo had the same issue, and I was just as skeptical until I saw the logs.

anna_ellis881mo ago

Ever seen static trip a whole rack? Piper_kim might doubt it, but I've watched a single zap take out a PDU. Dry air plus cheap carpet is a nasty combo.