It’s vital to consistently address dust, debris, and contaminants on and under the floors of your data center. Dirt and dust can cause havoc on your data center equipment, accumulate in vents and fans, and cause power loss and overheating problems. We’ve previously discussed how to deal with dust in your data center, and now we’re taking a look at how to clean data center floors.
Data Center Floor Cleaning 101
Choosing the right tools and supplies for your data center floor cleaning is essential. Also, please note that these specific cleaning supplies and tools should only be used to clean data centers and nothing else.
Your friend for this job is your vacuum connected to a HEPA filter setup. This type of filter system is what will trap even the smallest particles, which is exactly what you want when cleaning data center floors. The pleats in the HEPA filter structure catch the small contaminants in the fine mesh fibers of the filter, and prevent them from blowing around the room while cleaning.
Low-lint towels, wiping rags, and mops should also be part of the cleaning tools used to clean data center floors. Anti-static solutions can be incorporated to help prevent static build-up and dispersion while cleaning.
What to Know about Data Center Floors
A variety of materials are used to construct a data center floor. The main layers will likely be concrete, steel, wood, plastics, and composites covered with a laminate surface or clean components. These materials are layered and incorporate a raised floor often with cables and electronic units dispersed underneath.
Data center floors will easily tolerate vacuum cleaning systems, mopping, and wiping. They can be cleaned well by addressing any recesses and crevices where dust and debris can hide.
You won’t see wood flooring, ceramic tiles, or ornate stone laid in data centers; a specialized data center floor will be established to provide the optimal setting for data center equipment, server racks, and environmental regulation.
Why Do Data Centers Have Raised Floors?
Data center floors are often raised to supply space for cabling, cords, wire, and power. This space under the raised floor can be delicate, and dust and dirt accumulation should be avoided as much as possible.
The other reasons why floors in data centers are raised are to prevent heat accumulation, encourage airflow, and help cool the work environment. If dirt and debris are allowed to build up in this space, overheating, failures, and downtime can pose serious problems. Cleaning your data center should happen on a regular basis.
What About Cleaning Other Data Center Components?
It’s actually advisable to clean other data center components like rack infrastructure, equipment and computer components, and any furniture in the space before addressing the floors. Any dirt and dust distributed to the floor area during cleaning will then be captured during the floor cleaning process.
Preventing more dust from entering the data center space can greatly reduce the need to clean. Incorporating double-door features and air filtering should be incorporated as a preventative measure to dust build-up.
Get a Data Center Cleaning Quote
When You’re Ready for Consistently-Clean Data Center Floors
The easiest way to keep your data center floors clean on a regular basis is to hire a professional team to clean. Let us do the cleaning work for you – either on a regular schedule or for your one-time cleans. Learn more about the data center cleaning that we can help you with.
Our professional cleaning staff is bonded, insured, and maintains OSHA compliance. We are happy to clean most any work environment. Please contact us online or call us at (844) 256-6843 for answers to your cleaning questions and to schedule your personalized janitorial cleaning estimate today!
