Things That Go Bump in the Data Center: Tales of Data Center Horrors

The end of October means it’s time for costume parties, haunted houses, and your favorite scary movies. We all enjoy a frighteningly fun spooky story during parties or while wrapped up in a blanket at home, but these ghoulish tales come to life not just around Halloween for tech pros—they encounter these scary stories year-round.

This year, SolarWinds polled its THWACK community of over 150,000 tech pros to share some of the real-life scary stories community members have encountered while working in the data center. A terrifying mishap with a chiller, HVAC, generator, or branch circuit, perhaps? Or maybe some eerie elements outside the data center affected their ability to conduct business as usual?

A recent SolarWinds survey explored tech pros’ confidence in their current skillsets as they contemplate the IT environments of tomorrow and revealed that despite the lack of tech pro confidence in managing current and future environments, skill development is still on the back burner. While there’s no easy fix for leaks, accidental blackouts, or other mishaps, these types of unexpected nightmares—despite the headache—often offer important learning opportunities for admins to managers and everyone in between.

Here are a few spooky tales fellow tech pros shared this year: