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Deploris

The quarterly data-center hygiene checklist we run for clients

The concrete items on our quarterly data-center audit from cable hygiene to firmware discipline with why each one matters.

February 8, 2025

Managed data-center services should run on discipline, not heroics. Here is the checklist we run every quarter for the sites we operate under our data-center maintenance retainer.

Physical

  • Cage tour. Photos of every rack, front and back, dated.
  • Cable hygiene. Every patch labeled at both ends, colors matching the standard.
  • Airflow. Blanking panels where they should be; no hot air recirculating.
  • PDU headroom. Each PDU at less than 70% sustained.

Change and access

  • Change log review. Every change ticketed, reviewed, and closed.
  • Access review. Who has cage access, still needed?
  • Vendor escort log. Every visitor and the ticket that justified them.

Firmware and CVE

  • Firmware inventory. Current version vs. vendor stable, per device. Also feeds into the wider infrastructure support baseline for the client.
  • CVE exposure. New CVEs for any device in scope; remediation date planned.
  • Backup verification. Config backups exist and have been restored to a lab in the last quarter.

Monitoring

  • Alert quality review. Which alerts fired, which were noise, tune.
  • SLA report. Response and resolution vs. the SLA, per priority.

Reporting

  • Written report to the client. What we did, what we found, what we recommend for next quarter.

If any of these are new to you, that's not a criticism it's a small change window from where you are. For sites moving between facilities, pair this checklist with our rollout and migration playbook rather than treating the move as a separate project.

Ask for a sample report and we'll walk you through what a real one looks like.