Kens Korner

Come here to hear the latest and greatest about data centers - (Will change later)

  1. Benefits of Chocolate for Data Centers

    As recently reported in the Washington Post, the Main-Syracuse Longitudinal Study (MSLS) found that people who eat chocolate at least once a week tend to perform better cognitively. Prior studies have shown that nutrients called cocoa flavanols, found in cocoa and chocolate, have a positive effect on people's brains. Cocoa flavanols increase blood flow to the brain which in turn...
  2. Electrical Device Torque Settings

    Electrical device manufacturers recommended torque settings that range from 12 to 90 inch pounds depending on the device type, when terminating conductors. Device torque settings can vary dramatically between manufacturers for the same device. As an example, for a CS8369 device one manufacturer recommends 25 to 30 pounds, while another recommends 45 to 54 pounds. That's a very broad range...
  3. KEN'S KORNER - Selecting a Hosting Data Center

    More and more businesses, large and small, are beginning to reach a point where their data needs have outstripped their in-house computing capabilities. Instead of spending the capital or devoting resources to upgrade their infrastructure, they are seriously considering contracting with a retail data center to host their data. Your concerns when outsourcing data hosting are the same as when...
  4. KEN'S KORNER - Taking Advantage of Free Cooling

    First off free cooling isn't free it would better described as reduced cooling. My data centers were located in Minnesota so we were able to take advantage of the outside temperatures for a good part of the year. Two of our sites utilized CRAC units with compressors to cool raised floor space. We set our wet cooling towers to make...
  5. It sure sounds impressive, but upon closer review...

    One of our AirGuard customers pointed out that a company he'd never heard of was advertising their version of a data center cable floor seal. I visited their website, and found them promoting rubberized vinyl foam that resembled a rough textured anti-fatigue mat that is glued over cable openings. You have to cut holes or slits in the rubber with...
  6. Predicting the Future

    As we approach the new year one tradition I'd be happy to do away with is...FUTURE PREDICTIONS. When you consider that we can barely predict the weather a day or two out, how can we predict what new technologies will take hold in a dynamic industry. People are bad at making predictions and that includes experts. Humans tend to overestimate...
  7. KEN'S KORNER - Data Center Environmental Monitoring

    Selecting a Monitoring System Monitoring can range from electrical power equipment supporting critical load such as UPS systems, diesel generators, PDU/RPP’s down to individual branch circuits within power panels. When evaluating a monitoring system consider what type of graphics are desired and available.  Pictorial diagrams displaying individual monitored components are helpful, especially ones that change color or light up in...
  8. Worker Electrocuted

    That was the headline five years ago when an electrician was working in a data center accidentally touched a high voltage live terminal and was killed while installing an uninterruptible power supply. Five years later the courts have found the electrical contractor negligent in the accident because of failures in communication and management. The electrical contractor claimed to have been...
  9. AirGuard Split Extreme, Newest Product in Award Winning Line of Data Center Floor Grommets

    PDU Cables™ introduces the new AirGuard® Split Extreme cable seal for sealing power and data cables through cable cutouts in raised floors of data centers and mission critical facilities. MINNETONKA – November 16, 2015 - PDU Cables, a division of Engineered Products Company, the industry leading manufacturer and supplier of power-distribution cable assemblies in North America since 1981, has expanded...
  10. KEN'S KORNER - Data Center Facility Staff Duties

    Every data center is different; size, structure, and complexity vary from site-to-site. The goal of facility management is to keep the site up and running, to avoid outages and maintain uptime. Where much of facility management’s energy is devoted to monitoring the system, it takes considerable time and resources to install and maintain equipment. Where monitoring needs to be owned...

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