Intel: server component life shortened due to environmental pollution

Very interesting results of their research regarding the lifetime of the servers were presented by Intel. The study itself was conducted in the Asia-Pacific region, where the level of environmental pollution is very high. And since more and more data centers use the equipment cooling system with air from the outside, where the level of atmospheric pollution is high enough, such “dirty” air leads to a reduction in the service life of individual server components and entire servers.

There is banal corrosion of parts. The company itself decided to conduct the study after it compared the level of equipment returns from the Asia-Pacific region to that of other regions. In the first case, there were much more returns, and Intel experts noticed such a discrepancy. After conducting additional analytical work, it turned out that the server components from the Asia-Pacific region are highly corroded. A similar level of equipment corrosion was observed only at industrial enterprises with a high level of air pollution. All this was noticed about two years ago, and in the end it was decided to conduct an investigation that would clarify the situation.
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Usually, the equipment that is installed in the data center-ah, is much longer than the one that works on industrial complexes, and where the cooling system is used with external air. The conclusion was the same - in a problem region the level of air pollution is so great that such a cooling system leads to corrosion of equipment even outside enterprises, in conditionally clean regions. It is worth noting that in China and India the situation is worsened by the fact that the atmosphere here is humid and the temperature is high. Thus, the level of corrosion of electronic components and so high, and if you add more and atmospheric pollution, the level of corrosion increases significantly.

Since previous testing methods did not take into account the levels of air pollution observed in India and China, the corrosion level of the components was much higher than expected.

It is worth noting that existing tests and industry standards are based on lower rates of air pollution than those that take place in the Asia-Pacific region. “We found that the standards of the 1980s are simply not applicable to the situation in India and China. And we found out that we simply do not have equipment testing methods that would be relevant for these countries. Usually, we already conduct millions of checks for our equipment, but we had to come up with additional tests that are unique, ”continues Anil.

In order to prove the proposed point of view, it was decided to conduct an experiment (by the way, about 300 thousand dollars were spent on it). In specially designated laboratories of the company in the USA, Oregon, Hillsboro, the company's specialists built a chamber through which mixed gas flows were passed and where the server components were tested for strength.



“We needed to check our components for work in harsh environments, and make sure that Intel products are resistant to negative factors like environmental pollution. The goal of our study is to find out how high temperature, humidity, and various levels of air pollution affect equipment performance, ”says Anil Kurella, a fault analysis engineer.



The chamber allowed specialists to experience various types of atmospheric pollution characteristic of industrial regions. At the same time, the corporation decided to test both its own equipment and equipment from other manufacturers.

As it turned out, the main problem is sulfur - or rather, not itself, but sulfur compounds emitted into the atmosphere by industrial enterprises. These are mainly hydrogen sulfide and sulfur oxides.

Now, based on the results, a team of experts from Intel is trying to develop new standards for industrial equipment, as well as equipment that is shipped to the Asia-Pacific region. Work in this direction is still ongoing, and the first results are expected during the year. “We are trying to create new standards. We also try to attract other companies to our work. We can also publish the results of the study, which we hope will lead to the manifestation of changes in the creation of server components, ”said Anil Kurella.

Via intelfreepress

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