[geeks] What happens when the humidity is too low?

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

velociraptor wrote:
> On 2/5/07, Lionel Peterson <lionel4287 at verizon.net> wrote:
>>> From: Dave K <davek08054 at gmail.com>
>>> In particular, I'm having some tape drive issues, and I'm wondering if
>>> the fact that the drive specs say a minimum of 20%RH and right now I
>>> have 8%RH has anything to do with it?
>> The info I'm seeing on the web indicates that relative humidity should be around 45%, if
>> you're at 8%, you appear to be way off the mark, and well beyond Mfg. specifications...
>>
>> I had a job assembling servers (from individual parts) in an office space that was a
>> static electricity festival, and that was in no small part due to the low humidity (not
>> sure of the percentage)...
>>
>> I would believe anything can happen in an environment that far off-spec...
> 
> A single zap may cause an intermittent problem--multiple small static
> discharges can cause component failure.  Big contributors: poor
> grounding, low ambient humidity, excessive amounts of paper in the
> data center.  I actually received training on this several jobs ago
> when I was supporting HW/SW labs at $network_juggernaut.
> 
> Current $ork has a colo/ISP DC they run, and the temperature is too
> high, the AH is too low, and the power & floor (not raised) is poorly
> grounded.  Nothing like getting a sizable static zap off the 220 power
> bars to make it apparent why they have HW issues.
> 
> Add 'static' or possibly 'static control' to your search terms and you
> may get more hits.

All of the big iron jobs I had in the past were in computer rooms where
huge humidity displays were prominently displayed, and if you valued
your job you kept a watch on it.

Now we have even bigger computer centers all over the place, and yet I
can't remember the last time I saw one with real grounding systems,
proper cooling, and humidity displays and control.

A little back-to-basics work would do wonders for data center reliability.

Every time I've brought it up in places, I'm told it costs too much, and
that modern equipment doesn't need as much coddling as the older stuff.

-- 
shannon           | An Irishman is never drunk as long as he can hold onto
                  | one blade of grass and not fall off the face of the
earth.