In addition to electronics, many IT devices also contain mechanical operating components, as is the case for hard disks and removable disks, DVD drives, printers, scanners etc., and also for processor and power supply unit fans. The increasing demands on the quality and speed of these components means they must operate more and more precisely. Even minor contamination can cause a device to malfunction. For example, dust and pollution can occur to a larger extent when the following activities are carried out:

• work on walls, raised floors, or other parts of the building-
• hardware upgrades.
• unpacking of devices (e.g. Styrofoam packaging materials).

In most cases, the safety circuits built in to the devices switch them off in time. Although this may reduce the resulting amount of direct damage to the device, repair costs, and downtime, the corresponding device will still be unavailable during this time.

Moreover, devices and the infrastructure can be affected by corrosion. This may even negatively impact building safety, not just the IT.

Corrosion can also lead indirectly to other threats. For example, water can leak from corroded areas (see G 0.3 Water).

In general, pollution, dust or corrosion can cause failures of or damage to IT components and supply systems. As a result, proper information processing may be impaired.

Examples:

• A server was installed in a media room together with a copying machine and a fax machine, after which the processor fan and the power supply fan slowed down due to the large amount of dust in the room. The failure of the processor fan caused the server to crash sporadically. Eventually, the power supply unit fan failed too, causing the power supply unit to overheat and short-circuit, which in turn resulted in the total failure of the server.
• To hang a wall panel in an office, holes were drilled into the wall by the building services personnel. The employee left his office for a short time so the work could be done. When he returned to his workplace, he discovered that his PC no longer worked. The failure was caused by the dust generated by the drilling, which had penetrated into the PC power supply unit through the ventilation slots.

Propojené úkoly

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