Ken Koty, who blogs for PDU Cables, spent a recent post discussing the benefits of infrared (IR) scanning for data center management. Specifically, he pointed to the ability of infrared scanning/thermal imaging to avoid network outages.
He explained, "A thorough infrared scan analysis can indicate hot spots and anomalies in electrical equipment that might compromise data center network reliability caused by high heat."
Koty then listed the following three ways IR scanning can support data center uptime.
- Detecting worn bearings, which may indicate above-normal heat in electrical systems
- Early-stage detection of irregularities in a data center's support infrastructure
- Non-invasively detecting problems hidden from the naked eye
Koty pointed out that many large data center facilities are investing in their own IR scanning devices, and others are contracting for such scans to be performed.
