alt Hacker NewsDatacenters need cool dry air? <45%
No, low isn't good perse. I worked in a datacenter which in winters had less than 40%, ram was failing all over the place. Low humidity causes static electricity.
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mbreese • today at 7:21 AM
Low is good if you are also adding more humidity back in. If you want to maintain 45-50% (guessing), then you would want <45% environmental humidity so that you can raise it to the level you want. You're right about avoiding static, but you'd still want to try to keep it somewhat consistent.
It is much cheaper to use external air for cooling if you can.
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The datacenter is in San Diego - a quick Google confirms that external humidity pretty much never drops below 50% there.
Things would be different in a colder climate where humidity goes --> 0% in the winter