How much environmental protection does a data center really need? Depending on who you talk to, there are definitely a number of IT managers that practically coddle their hardware with precise temperature and humidity monitoring as if they were fine cigars. Microsoft is doing some innovative things with just sticking equipment outside for its newest datacenters to take advantage of natural air flow as opposed to using electricity for fans. They previously operated a set of HP servers outdoors for nearly a year using nothing more than a tent to protect them … with only minor issues including some rain leakage and a leaf. OP/ED – While I didn’t have a “farm” of servers in Iraq, my Dell servers and Cisco gear weren’t protected by much more than camo-netting and they worked fine through sandstorms and 140° ambient heat. Ever since then I’ve never really cared too much for babying computer equipment.