An in-depth nationwide survey by technology specialist, Swiftbase, has revealed that an alarming 98% of server room managers are neglecting to back up, or even implement, active environmental monitoring - risking hundreds of thousands of pounds in disruption if their first line of defence fails.
The findings come after a series of server meltdowns in high-profile organisations. Swiftbase director, Bob Fiander, comments: "These results should be a real wake-up call for businesses across the country. It's incredible that millions of pounds are spent by businesses on state-of-the-art air conditioning units when the whole lot could go up in smoke because they didn't consider a £400 environment monitor that alerts you instantly if something is wrong.
"It would be unthinkable to overlook backing-up your servers, not running RAID or having no DR plan so why is deemed perfectly acceptable to neglect to back-up your environmental monitoring?
In one recent high-profile case a power spike completely disabled an air conditioning circuit breaker, leading to more than £1 million of damage. The IT staff were unaware of any problems until the following day because the system's alerts facility had been rendered useless without power.
Without the necessary environment control in a server room, temperatures can quickly breach 80 degrees Celsius. Whilst air conditioning units help to moderate climate, any number of common faults can knock the entire system out allowing temperatures to soar unchecked.
"Endless amounts of money are spent on setting up disaster and recovery sites in case of terrorist attack, but the most immediate threat to servers is quite simply overheating. If there's no back up from an independent monitor, whether it's for your immediate server or your contingency plan, it could be the most expensive oversight your company makes.