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Difficulty: MediumPhysical Security Controls and Environmental Measures

A network administrator is auditing the physical and environmental security controls of a newly built enterprise data center. During inspection, the administrator notes that the HVAC system is maintaining ambient relative humidity at 15% inside the server room. Which of the following recommendations should the administrator make to address the primary risk caused by this environmental condition?

  1. Increase relative humidity to between 40% and 55% to mitigate the heightened risk of electrostatic discharge (ESD).Answer
  2. B
    Decrease relative humidity further to prevent moisture condensation from short-circuiting network hardware.
  3. C
    Install high-velocity circulating fans directly facing the rack chassis to counteract moisture buildup.
  4. D
    Deploy localized antistatic wrist straps as a substitute for facility-wide HVAC environmental adjustments.

Answer

Increase relative humidity to between 40% and 55% to mitigate the heightened risk of electrostatic discharge (ESD).
Low relative humidity (below 40%) causes air to become excessively dry, significantly increasing the accumulation of static electricity. This creates a severe risk of electrostatic discharge (ESD) events that can destroy delicate microprocessors and network expansion cards. Maintaining relative humidity between 40% and 55% safely dissipates static charges while avoiding condensation.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the reported relative humidity level of 15% in the server room.
Identify that 15% humidity is extremely dry and falls well below the industry-standard minimum threshold of 40%.
Air with low moisture content acts as an insulator, allowing static electrical charges to accumulate easily on surfaces, cables, and personnel.
2
Determine the primary physical hardware threat associated with low humidity.
Recognize that static buildup leads to electrostatic discharge (ESD), which can permanently damage sensitive network switches, routers, and server motherboards.
ESD events can occur at voltage levels far below what a human can feel, causing immediate component destruction or latent degradation.
3
Select the appropriate environmental control adjustment.
Recommend increasing relative humidity to the standard target range of 40% to 55%.
This target range prevents static electricity accumulation while remaining low enough to prevent moisture condensation on hardware surfaces.

Key Concept

Environmental Controls and Humidity Management in Server Rooms
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Topics

Physical Security Controls and Environmental Measures

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