Extreme weather events are wreaking havoc across the country, and they are only set to become more frequent and unpredictable in the coming years. While this obviously has wider societal and ecological implications, the impact of these weather events on data centers can be pronounced. Extreme weather can quickly put the power supply at risk by forcing conditions to shift outside of normal operating range, causing downtime that operators cannot afford. In fact, an Uptime Institute Survey found that nearly a third of all reported outages cost their victims more than $250,000, with many exceeding $1 million.
Heatwaves themselves are becoming an area of concern. Many data center professionals haven’t had to prepare for extreme heat before, especially those hailing from the northern U.S. This has made data center cooling a top priority for operators seeking to maintain optimum environments amidst fluctuating temperatures. As outside temperatures rise, the strain to keep data center temperatures in range increases exponentially. This dramatically increases the risk of downtime. During extreme weather events like heatwaves, this strain could even be extended over several days, putting facilities at major risk for downtime.