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I'm studying for the Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) exam and one section of the course material discusses optimal ambient temperature for the data center (as per ASHRAE recommendations).

One section of the course material discusses why/how this can affect stuff:

An ambient temperature that is too high may allow equipment to overheat. High-capacity electrical components generate a great deal of waste heat, and the devices can be sensitive to conditions that exceed their operating parameters. An ambient temperature that is too low can be a risk to health and human safety; touching bare metal at the freezing point can burn or remove skin; moreover, people working in such conditions would simply be uncomfortable and unhappy, conditions that lead to dissatisfaction, which in turn lead to security risks.

OK. Fair enough. Those are valid points, but are there any technical reasons why running at very low temperatures could affect hardware? I feel like there should be practical limits at which point the hardware simply won't function properly, regardless of the impact on operators. Am I mistaken?

Mike B
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  • It seems to me the material is trying to tell you the primary issue with the too-high or too-low temps. Clearly much of your system has a max and min temperature spec, so that puts a hard limit on the operation. So, yes there is a low-temp limit below which the equipment would likely fail. – mike65535 May 21 '18 at 14:59

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Obviously, heat is a known issue in hardware. But can extreme cold affect hardware? Yes. The only "real world" negative effect I have seen of cold on hardware in person, is on LCDs. If the temperature gets cold enough, the liquid in the LCD can freeze, causing them to stop functioning.

Condensation is another factor. Just like a cold drink glass on a hot day, water vapor can condense and freeze onto cold metal. The heat of the computer could then melt it, causing water damage. I have not personally seen this, but I have seen videos online of graphics cards that have been water damaged due to someone blowing air conditioners right into crypto mining rigs. The condensation caused rust and corrosion and the eventual failure of several GPUs.

Another potential issue of the cold that materials shrink as the temperature drops and expand when it rises. This can cause physical stress and cracks to appear, most likely where two different materials are connected, as they expand and contract at different rates. Solder joints can break, internal traces could break, etc. You can see this happen if you pour cold liquid into a hot glass, causing it to shatter.

Keltari
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  • +1 humidity and condensation can be a problem, particularly with cooled metal parts in a computer in a general humid atmosphere. – MountainMan May 21 '18 at 16:05