It's not just humans that are starting to suffer in the hot weather. Soaring temperatures are already creating an epidemic of frazzled hard drives, and more PCs are likely to fall victim to lightning strikes and flooding in the storms expected later this week.
With the onset of the hot weather, data-recovery company Ontrack said it is on its way to its busiest summer ever. According to the company's business development manager, Phil Bridge: "We do get a definite peak in jobs over the summer every year."
Heat and humidity are a big factor in the rise in demand for data recovery but Bridge said that the increase in mobile working in the summer is another factor, as workers take their laptops out to enjoy the sunshine. "We see laptops that are filled with sand and seawater," he said.
On top of this, IT managers — like everyone else — are on their holidays, and that means data is less likely to be backed up as conscientiously as it is when they are in the office.
When staff get back to the office, the danger for PCs isn't over. Bridge warns that rebooting a machine after it has had a long rest could be just enough to send the hard drive over the edge. And the storms that follow hot weather hold dangers for hardware too — power surges, floods and lightning strikes can all send PCs to the big server room in the sky.
Ontrack has come up with 10 top tips to keep your systems running happily through the heat.
- Keep computers in a cool, dry area to prevent overheating
- Don't have too many computers running off one power supply, via an extension cable. If the power socket is affected by a power surge, then all the machines could suffer damage
- Install a surge protector between the power socket and the computer's power cable. Some brands offer guaranteed lightning protection
- Small businesses with networks should get surge protectors to stop power spikes normally transmitted through network cables
- At least once per year users should inspect power protection devices to make sure they are functioning properly
- Ensure IT equipment has its own power circuit, so it isn't sharing the power with air conditioners, fans and/or other ancillary devices.
- Turn off and disconnect the power cord during an electrical storm
- Turn off power during a blackout. When power is restored after a blackout, the signal can initially be inconsistent, which can cause damage
- High voltages can enter the computer through a phone line connected to the modem. To protect your computer during electrical storms, unplug the telephone line from the modem jack or use a telephone line surge suppressor
- Businesses with network servers should invest in some form of uninterruptible power supply
What are your tips for coping with the heatwave? We would love to hear from you — and publish the better suggestions — especially if you are a SME operating without air-conditioning. Contact us using the Talkback option at the bottom of the page.
Talkback
Over time, computers can become filled with dust. Get a powerful vacuum cleaner and direct the suction over the fan outlets grills.
This cleans the fans, heat vanes and removes lose bits of whatever which could cause overheating.
No need to open the case, but I do, possibly best to turn the machine off first - but I don't.
Over time, computers can become filled with dust. Get a powerful vacuum cleaner and direct the suction over the fan outlets grills.
This cleans the fans, heat vanes and removes lose bits of whatever which could cause overheating.
No need to open the case, but I do, possibly best to turn the machine off first - but I don't.
Also, any heavy duty screensavers - like SETI@home etc which run the CPU at full belt should be retired during the worst of the heat. Turn them back on later though!
I have a computer in my bedroom, which is the loft room - and I would never have opted to take the room if I knew how hot it gets in there...
Unfortunately I rely on my computer heavily for work and as you can imagine, it doesn't really help the situation, especially with this summer.
I have air conditioning fitted throughout the entire house, however don't use them due to energy reason - one imported step to protecting the computer that I can tell you is to keep the room cool.
The computer keeps iteself cool by using the cooler air from its environment (the room) passing it throught the system to pick up the warmer air and exhaust it back into the room - if the room is warm, the computer will be warmer - always...
A tactic to keep a room cooler (without air conditioning) is to create airflow through the room - this involves a oscillating fan, the door and windows... Keep the door open and place the fan in front of it to that is blows air into the room, keep the windows open to allow air to move out... The effect that is created is similar to a computer system, cooler air (from downstair - as heat rises) is drawn into the room by the fan and hense creating a positive pressure in the room, with allows the air in the room (warm and stale) to exit through the windows. This should help in reducing the temperature of the room and in turn the computer system can do the same to cool its components (or so I've read, and I guess it makes sense).
One thing I must point out is that people should not assume that directing a fan directly at a computer will help cool it, fans are for people and other things that perspire (sweat), which is why it's affective (as the sweat absorbs heat from the body and easily passed it to the air which is brushed pass by the fan), computers don't sweat so a brush of air passed over it will not help (unless cooled by air conditioner). I used to do this before I was told so by a friend...
Hope this helps for those 'bedroom' users couls also help in small offices spaces with no air conditioner...
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