Everything tends to work better when it's properly maintained. After all, there's a reason why we say that something works like a "well-oiled machine" when it's being productive.

For any business, nowhere is this more important than your data center or server room. Luckily, we've rounded up a few key principles that you can follow to keep your company's data safe and sound all year round.

Make sure to clean properly

Computers and other technology equipment tend to attract dust and other particles like a magnet so staying proactive about regularly cleaning can be a simple way to prevent major system damage. Never use anything moist to clean your equipment. Always use either a dry cloth or compressed air to remove any unwanted dirt or dust.

Keep things organized

Part of keeping your data center environment clean requires you to keep everything as organized as possible. Not only will keeping everything labeled and in its place make the best use of your space, your authorized IT tech will thank you for it.

Regulate temperature

Any room with a lot of computer equipment should be kept in an air conditioned environment and out of direct sunlight to prevent overheating. Ideally you want to maintain a steady temperature of anywhere between 70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit.

Here's a sample of a client site we just recently helped set up. You can see the differences between the Before and After images are pretty amazing.