Water ingress in the data center – risks and protection mechanisms

Water ingress in data centers is one of the most severe IT risks. Even small leaks cause short circuits, downtime, and costly damage. Leak detection is therefore essential for IT infrastructure. Didactum offers advanced water sensors and detection chains, combined with monitoring servers, to provide real-time alerts and automated responses.

1. Causes of Water Damage

• Leaking AC units or water-cooled racks
• Condensation from poorly maintained chillers
• Defective pipes, roofs, or plumbing above IT rooms
• Faulty or leaking sprinkler systems
• Flood or groundwater infiltration
• Sabotage or vandalism causing deliberate leaks

2. Consequences of Water Damage

• Hardware failures and total IT system loss
• Corrosion of disks, boards, and power rails
• Company-wide outages from lack of IT contingency
• Reboot and recovery times from days to weeks
• Compliance and insurance issues (Basel II)

3. Prevention with Didactum Sensors

Didactum water sensors and cable chains detect even minute liquid amounts. Alerts are sent instantly via monitoring systems, ensuring valuable time for preventive action.

4. Didactum Monitoring Platforms

• sensorProbe2: compact, SNMP/email enabled for small IT rooms
• sensorProbe8: more ports, ideal for medium environments
• securityProbe Premium: enterprise-grade platform with IT emergency plan integration

All systems support SNMP, email, and SMS notifications for instant action.

5. Integration with IT & BMS

Didactum devices integrate with Nagios, PRTG, OpenNMS, HP OpenView, and building automation systems. Actions like valve closure or pump activation can be triggered automatically during water events.

6. Benefits of Didactum Leak Detection

• Early server room leak detection
• Automatic real-time alarms
• Scalable from SMEs to enterprise data centers
• Multi-channel alerts: email, SMS, SNMP
• IT emergency plan integration for escalations

7. Practical Example

A mid-sized company deployed Didactum detection chains under raised floors. A leaking AC pipe was detected instantly. The issue was resolved before damage occurred, while the securityProbe Premium triggered the IT emergency plan and automated escalation.

Didactum solutions – from point sensors to cable chains and monitoring servers – provide comprehensive data center flood protection. With real-time alerts via SNMP, email, and SMS, plus integration into emergency plans, businesses ensure sustainable IT availability and security.