Data centers are increasingly important to the functioning of our connected and digital society – which means that reliability is the number one priority. After all, any downtime at a data center can have a big impact on our daily lives. Precise monitoring and measuring of temperature and humidity is key to keeping data centers up and running. After you have decided which sensors to install for this monitoring, have you also remembered to take sensor lifecycle maintenance into account?
Even the best sensors need periodic maintenance to make sure measurements don’t drift and the device provides accurate long-term measurements. The calibration interval for sensors is different depending on your application. Because data centers are highly controlled and stable environments, sensors typically don't need to be calibrated as frequently as in other applications – but when the time does come to calibrate, there are several options to choose from.
The options for sensor maintenance
Laboratory calibration usually requires you to send the sensor back to the manufacturer’s service center, where lab technicians will check to ensure that the instrument is providing accurate measurements. After the technicians have made the necessary adjustments, the service center will return the sensor to you along with a new calibration certificate. The benefit of this option is you can be certain your sensor will continue to perform reliably. The downside is the sensor will be out of service for days or even weeks.
A more convenient option is to install devices with removable or interchangeable probes and swap out the probes for maintenance. This makes sense in a hyperscale data center, for example, which might have hundreds or even thousands of sensors, making it impractical and extremely time-consuming to check them all at the same time. Instead, you can return the sensors for calibration on a rotating schedule every few months and swap in freshly calibrated spare probes for the missing sensors. This way, no sensors are out of service.
On-site calibration is probably the most common option in data centers. In this case, a technician will visit your site to check your sensors. With this approach, everything is taken care of during the maintenance visit and the sensor is only out of service for the time it takes to calibrate it. In an industry where downtime equals financial losses, this can be a big benefit.
Your preferred approach to sensor lifecycle maintenance is something you should consider during the design phase of your data center. For example, if you end up choosing instruments that don’t have a replaceable probe or can’t be serviced on site, your maintenance options become more limited.
Modular, scalable sensor solutions for data centers
Vaisala can help you optimize your data center performance with modular and scalable sensor solutions tailored to your unique needs. Our sensors are designed to ensure precise and reliable environmental monitoring, which is crucial for maintaining optimal operating conditions.
We offer sensors that can be calibrated on-site and sensors with exchangeable probes. For example, products like the Vaisala HMT120 have proven to be a popular choice for many data centers around the world. Switching the probe on the HMT120 is quick and easy – the devices use a standard connection so probes that need to be swapped out for calibration can be quickly exchanged. This reduces sensor downtime to just a few seconds.
By providing robust and adaptable sensor solutions like this, Vaisala supports data centers in achieving energy efficiency, operational reliability, and scalability to meet growing demands.
If you want to learn more about how Vaisala can help optimize your data center operation, contact us to discuss more.
