How to Improve Data Center Uptime With Advanced Environmental Sensors

Contemporary data centers are vital environments where even slight variations in temperature, humidity, or airflow can lead to significant operational issues. A prime example occurred in October 2023, when a cooling failure at the Equinix data center in Singapore resulted in major disruptions for DBS and Citibank. Over two days, this incident impacted 2.5 million payment and ATM transactions, resulting in customers without access to online banking and highlighting the vulnerability of essential digital infrastructure.¹

For data center operators, incidents like this demonstrate the importance of maintaining continuous server operation through careful environmental control. Given the potential financial losses per minute of downtime, environmental risks are a top priority.²

Environmental Challenges in Data Centers

Data centers house numerous servers and networking equipment in limited spaces, generating substantial heat. Without adequate controls, facilities encounter several issues:^3,4

• Overheating: Insufficient cooling can accelerate the degradation of components, resulting in downtime and equipment replacement costs.
• Condensation and Corrosion: High humidity can accumulate moisture on electronic equipment, damaging systems through corrosion or short circuits.
• Electrostatic Discharge (ESD): Low humidity increases the risk of static discharge, which can potentially damage components and cause intermittent or complete system failures.
• Poor Airflow: Improper airflow can create hot spots and allow outside air and contaminants to infiltrate, affecting sensitive hardware.
• Energy Inefficiencies: Overcooling wastes energy, while undercooling stresses equipment, reducing lifespan and increasing costs.

A data center’s environmental conditions must stay within an optimal zone of temperature and humidity. Industry guidelines recommend specific temperature and humidity levels for reliable performance.

ASHRAE guidelines state server inlet temperatures should range from 18–27 °C and relative humidity around 60% for reliable performance.⁵ Achieving this balance with changing IT loads and weather conditions is an ongoing challenge that advanced environmental sensors can address.

Advanced Sensors: Enabling Real-Time Control

Environmental sensors are essential for real-time monitoring, allowing HVAC and cooling systems to respond readily to changes in temperature, humidity, or airflow. By integrating these sensors into a centralized system, operators can maintain stable operating conditions in data centers and protect server uptime.

Temperature Sensors

Temperature regulation is crucial for data center reliability. Sensors provide real-time data to optimize cooling efficiency:

• Thermistors: Known for their sensitivity and rapid response, these are suitable for detecting thermal spikes in tight spaces.³
• Semiconductor-Based Sensors: These integrate well with HVAC systems, offer digital outputs, and are used in wireless networks for scalability.³
• Precision Resistance Thermometers (PRTs): PRTs offer high accuracy and stability, essential for detecting subtle temperature changes in areas requiring precise control.³

Strategic placement of sensors is key, including at various rack levels, air intakes and exhausts, as well as along airflow paths, resulting in the creation of a thermal map to identify hot spots and fine-tune cooling.⁶

Humidity Sensors

Managing humidity is as important as temperature control. Excessive moisture threatens to result in condensation and corrosion, while insufficient moisture increases risks of static discharge. Humidity sensors continuously measure air moisture, ensuring HVAC systems maintain safe humidity levels.

Two primary sensor technologies are used:

• Capacitive humidity sensors: These are standard in data centers due to their accuracy, fast response, and stability, detecting moisture changes by sensing capacitance variations.⁴
• Resistive humidity sensors: These measure changes in electrical resistance as humidity varies, but may be less stable in extreme conditions and require more frequent recalibration.⁴

Humidity sensors are placed in air ducts and server rooms to track air return and supply, automatically regulating humidification or dehumidification to maintain safe operational ranges.

Pressure Sensors

Proper airflow ensures efficient cooling and can be monitored through pressure sensors to help maintain the delicate balance required:

MEMS-based low static pressure sensors detect subtle static pressure shifts, maintaining consistent airflow and preventing unconditioned air from entering critical zones.⁴
• Differential pressure sensors monitor pressure between points, flagging issues like airflow restrictions, filter blockages, or imbalances between hot and cold aisles.⁴

These sensors support airflow integrity, prevent contamination, and ensure optimal cooling systems to operate at peak efficiency.

Integration with HVAC and Predictive Maintenance

Integrated sensor networks allow HVAC systems to adjust airflow, cooling, and humidity control based on real-time sensor data to maintain conditions within specific ranges.

Modern wireless sensor networks offer deployment flexibility, simplifying monitoring in hard-to-reach areas.

Sensor data also supports predictive maintenance. Analyzing temperature, humidity, and pressure trends helps identify issues early, such as degrading cooling units or clogged filters, before they impact uptime.

For instance, increasing differential pressure across a filter may be indicative that the filter needs replacement, while consistent temperature rises in a specific area may indicate reduced cooling performance. In turn, operators can avoid unplanned downtime and optimize maintenance schedules through trends in sensor data.^3,4

Image Credit: Leonid Sorokin/Shutterstock.com

Safeguarding Uptime Through Smarter Sensing

A resilient data center relies on data. Environmental sensors act as real-time sentinels, assessing the conditions that affect uptime, equipment health, and energy efficiency. Integrating these can help data centers maintain tighter control, respond faster to changes, and prevent costly disruptions.

In today’s rapidly changing digital economy, the use of advanced environmental monitoring in data centers is a strategic choice to avoid costly periods of downtime.

Want to learn how advanced sensing solutions can support your data center’s reliability and performance goals? Contact a member of the team today to explore the right technologies and strategies for your facility.

References and Further Reading

1. Dobberstein, L. (2023). Overheating datacenter thwarts 2.5 million bank transactions. (online) The Register. Available at: https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/07/overheating_datacenter_singapore/.
2. AVTECH. (2016). Environment Causes of Data Center Downtime - A Helpful Graphic - AVTECH. (online) Available at: https://avtech.com/articles/5713/environment-causes-data-center-downtime-graphic/?srsltid=AfmBOooGZXENV55lZ6keDzfEUZ8waU770i-eDQPh2cnmawcuvojGO1Sa (Accessed 30 May 2025).
3. Amphenol Sensors (2024). Maximize Efficiency with Data Center Temperature Sensors. (online) Amphenol Sensors. Available at: https://blog.amphenol-sensors.com/industrial-blog/data-center-temperature-sensors-maximize-efficiency (Accessed 30 May 2025).
4. Amphenol Sensors (2024). Data Center Humidity Control Via Advanced Sensor Technology. (online) Amphenol Sensors. Available at: https://blog.amphenol-sensors.com/industrial-blog/data-center-humidity-control (Accessed 30 May 2025).
5. ASHRAE (2015) Thermal guidelines for data processing environments. Available at: https://xp20.ashrae.org/datacom1_4th/ReferenceCard.pdf.
6. Liquori, T. (2019). Environmental Monitoring in Your Data Center - Learn More. (online) Dataspan. Available at: https://dataspan.com/blog/what-is-environmental-monitoring/.

This information has been sourced, reviewed and adapted from materials provided by Amphenol Advanced Sensors.

For more information on this source, please visit Amphenol Advanced Sensors.