Zinc whiskers are a common phenomenon when it comes to data and colocation centers (sometimes called ‘data farms'), yet they can go unnoticed for years before they become a nuisance and a serious threat to server machines. To say that the problem ‘grows' can be somewhat accurate (even though we know zinc is not an organic substance); the whiskers are formed from pressure that eventually lifts off little pieces of zinc from metal to create microscopic threads that get longer and longer over time. Thus the name, ‘zinc whiskers.' Environmental conditions are not a factor affecting the formation of whiskers, and in most cases they are inevitable (so don't waste time trying control humidity and such). However, the consequences of not dealing with zinc whiskers proactively in other ways can result in future power failures, circuit shortages, damaged data and decreased reliability when new devices are installed in the data center.

Zinc whiskers form beneath the raised floor in a data center and, when disturbed, usually due to equipment being moved around, they can detach themselves from the metal surfaces they were formed upon to become airborne substances. Once in the air, these metal particles, still capable of conducting electricity, can float around until they land within servers, affecting other metal pieces in there which can be detrimental, especially now that hardware parts are made more and more micro-sized these days, creating perfect crevices for the tiny zinc pieces to nestle in and destroy electronics.

Data centers with floors that are made of wood or concrete and covered with a metallic zinc layer on the bottom of the panels are most at risk. Zinc is commonly used for plating boards to prevent corrosion. Using solid concrete or certain kinds of other metal finishing can often help reduce the chances of zinc whiskers. It is typical of older structures to be more at risk than newer ones, having been built with the former techniques of using wood and concrete. Not only that, age alone can be sufficient to warrant the possibility of zinc whiskers. The whiskers can be seen with the naked eye, though the help of a flashlight and side view to be able to look downward across the surface of the board might be necessary.

There are two solutions to dealing with zinc whiskers. First, if you let the floor boards alone and don't plan on any rearrangements in your data center, you can rest assured they won't create a hazard. So long as they are stuck to their metal surfaces, they can't float around and land where they are unwelcome. If moving equipment is, however, necessary you will have to replace the entire floor. Cleaning the floor boards or coating them is only a temporary solution since nothing can stop the re-growth of zinc whiskers.

To prevent zinc whiskers from being a problem, choose a data center that has a plan in place for dealing with them, or one that uses special filters capable of preventing them from floating onto your server's electronic components.