An acceptable, industry recommended internal temperature should be maintained in all network closets and server rooms, and mechanisms should be in place to constantly monitor and report on the temperature.
Control Type: Physical
Control Function: Preventive/Detective
Protects: Availability
An environmental attribute that frequently goes without monitoring in enterprise environments is internal temperature. It may not seem like this is something that would factor in information security, but when we are concerned with availability, it is important to ensure that physical technology components are not exposed to potentially dangerous temperatures. Computers that sit in either extremely cold temperatures or extremely hot/humid temperatures could see damage to their internal components over time. This can manifest to end users in slower performance and frequent crashes.
An industry standard for controlling internal temperature is the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). They offer temperature recommendations for a variety of IT components and data center deployments. At a basic level, ASHRAE recommends the following average internal temperatures for IT environments:
Temperature: 64 ° F to 81° F (18° C to 27° C)
Humidity: Dew point 42° F to 59° F (5.5°C to 15° C)
Relative Humidity of 60%
Breaking it down further, ASHRAE recommends the following according to the class of IT equipment being used:
Enterprise Servers & Storage: 59°F to 90°F (15°C to 32°C)
High-End Commercial Servers: 50°F to 95°F (10°C to 35°C)
Newer IT Equipment: 41°F to 104°F (5°C to 40°C)
Edge/Custom Hardware: 41°F to 113°F (5°C to 45°C)
For most business server rooms/data centers/network closets, a target temperature between 64°F and 81°F (18°C to 27°C), is the best target for balancing hardware performance and cooling efficiency.
To ensure that the temperature remains continuously monitored, organizations should install IoT temperature sensors that allow remote monitoring from network devices. These sensors can trigger alarms on the end devices when temperatures fall out of range. This way, quick response can be initiated. A good example of a free and open-source platform for monitoring environmental characteristics is Home Assistant. Proprietary temperature sensors can be bought by the organization, which then uses a server running Home Assistant to collect the environmental data and display it in a clean, private interface. More advanced organizations with larger budgets and a higher level of risk involved could take things a step further, implementing IoT HVAC systems that automatically recalibrate the internal temperatures whenever they fall out of balance.