Keeping critical Internet infrastructure working in South Africa’s biggest cities
Data centre operators in South Africa must design their facilities to be climate-appropriate. Facilities in Johannesburg require cooling systems that are different from those in coastal cities like Durban.
That is according to Warren Schooling, sales manager at Digital Parks Africa, who said many businesses underestimate the impact of temperature and airflow on performance, efficiency, and cost.
However, he said designing cooling systems for data centre facilities isn’t straightforward or one-size-fits-all.
“In Johannesburg’s dry air, evaporative cooling works well, but in humid coastal conditions, a different approach is needed,” says Schooling.
“That’s why a dual topology design is optimal, for example, using evaporation cooling supported by DX units that can supplement or take over when required.”
He added that smart heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, 2N redundancy, and airflow containment help maintain optimal conditions in any environment.
2N redundancy means having a fully-duplicated, independent, mirrored system for all critical components, such as cooling and power supply.
“Automation plays a role, but it is not a silver bullet. Sensors can fail. You need human oversight, live monitoring, and clear mitigation plans,” says Schooling.
“The data centre environment is fragile and demands surgical precision.”
While most businesses focus on the critical IT load a data centre can offer, they frequently overlook the importance of cooling.
Effective and efficient cooling is critical, as servers are engineered to run in a specified temperature range. Running at higher temperatures can significantly degrade performance.
Heat is a corrosive force in a data centre, placing undue stress on hard drives, solid-state drives, RAM, and CPUs.
CPUs are especially vulnerable to high temperatures, accelerating wear and tear and reducing their operational lifespan.
As a result, heat increases the risk of system crashes, data corruption, and irreversible loss. It also often voids any hardware warranties.
“If you run them hot, performance suffers, warranties can be voided, and the risk of failure increases,” says Schooling.
“Meanwhile, your operational costs go up because hot machines draw more power. It’s a vicious cycle.”
He warns that data centres are frequently built to minimise upfront costs rather than optimise long-term performance.
“Proper airflow management, humidity control, and environmental monitoring are essential, and if a data centre operator is being reactive instead of proactive, it should be a red flag,” said Schooling.
Important information for data centre customers
Absolute Hosting managing director Jade Benson explained that while power is important for uptime, air quality and heat must be managed to ensure long-term performance.
“You can have all the backup power and solar systems you need, but if three out of four HVAC systems fail, you and your business are in serious trouble,” he said.
“We have experienced switches and systems failing from overheating, a challenge we experienced first-hand with a previous provider.”
Benson explained that the experience forced Absolute Hosting to shut down systems to prevent catastrophic losses and damage.
“This issue underscored just how important it is to have a data centre provider that prioritises maintaining optimal thermal conditions,” adds Benson.
“When servers overheat, performance drops. We pay a premium for high-quality hardware, and if it is not running at optimal levels, the service we deliver to our customers suffers.”
He added that, once a provider loses a customer due to downtime or poor performance, winning them back is very challenging and costly.
“As equipment gets more powerful and heat loads increase, it’s no longer enough to ask if there is backup power,” says Benson.
“Companies need to understand how their infrastructure is built, how it is managed, and whether it is truly designed to handle demand, because by the time something fails, it’s already too late.”
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