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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesNeither condition-based nor preventive maintenance is right for every data-center asset. Use a risk-based blend: schedule work when time or runtime determines the need, and use condition measurements when they provide a reliable warning early enough for staff to act safely. Choose separately for each asset, based on failure consequences, useful monitoring signals, operating readiness, and life-cycle cost.
What is the difference?
Preventive maintenance
Preventive maintenance schedules work by elapsed time or equipment runtime. It suits tasks with known time-dependent requirements and can protect against deterioration associated with age or use. Its trade-off is that a fixed interval may trigger work before the equipment’s condition warrants it. ASHRAE’s 2023 Handbook, Chapter 40, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Operations and Maintenance Challenges and Solutions describe maintenance approaches and their application.
Condition-based maintenance
Condition-based maintenance uses measurements of equipment condition or performance to guide when maintenance is needed. Data may come from continuous monitoring or periodic inspections, and can be compared with established limits or historical baselines. Intervention can then be planned in response to observed degradation rather than relying only on a fixed interval.
Predictive maintenance and reliability-centered maintenance
Predictive maintenance analyzes condition measurements and degradation trends to estimate when failure may occur and help plan an intervention. Terminology varies: ASHRAE describes condition-based maintenance among predictive-maintenance subcategories, so the labels are not universally distinct.
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Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) is a broader decision process, not a synonym for predictive maintenance. DOE describes it as an optimized combination of reactive, preventive, and predictive approaches, selected using root-cause analysis, system reliability characteristics, and operating context.
How to choose an approach for each asset
Assess each asset or system on its own rather than choosing one maintenance philosophy for the entire facility. The following decision axes synthesize ASHRAE’s asset-level economic criteria and DOE’s site-specific optimization framework; they are not a prescribed scoring standard.
| Decision factor | Scheduled preventive work tends to fit when… | Condition-based or predictive work tends to fit when… |
|---|---|---|
| Task mechanism | A calendar or runtime interval is known, or the task has a time-dependent requirement. | Wear or performance degradation can be observed and measured. |
| Failure consequences | Consequences are limited, or scheduled work adequately controls the risk. | An outage, safety, or equipment consequence is high and a useful warning is feasible. |
| Data and instrumentation | No dependable sensor or inspection signal exists, or monitoring costs exceed its likely value. | Reliable measurements and a useful baseline or threshold can be established. |
| Task economics | The scheduled task is simple and inexpensive. | Avoiding unnecessary work, planning labor, or reducing downtime may justify measurement and analytics costs. |
| Operational readiness | Routine work can be planned without undue service risk. | Staff, procedures, alert ownership, and maintainable redundancy paths are in place. |
Account for safety consequences, required availability and performance, purchase and replacement cost, lifetime labor, downtime cost, and training. For monitoring, include equipment purchase, calibration and maintenance, software integration, staffing, and the effort needed to maintain data quality. A measurement is useful only if it arrives early enough to support a safe maintenance window and the facility can act on it.
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Examples are starting points, not assignments
ASHRAE gives roughing-filter changes and strainer cleaning as examples of tasks that may use preventive schedules, and chillers and boilers as equipment that may benefit from predictive strategies. These are not universal prescriptions: actual equipment, operating conditions, and manufacturer instructions determine the appropriate plan.
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Before scheduling work on critical infrastructure, check the actual power and cooling topology and how dependent computing systems will be affected. ASHRAE defines concurrent maintainability as the ability to shut down and remove an infrastructure element without compromising dependent computing systems. It also cautions that an “N+1” label alone neither fully describes redundancy nor proves concurrent maintainability. See ASHRAE Handbook 2023, Chapter 20, Data Centers and Telecommunication Facilities.
In practice, maintenance planning must account for which components can be isolated, what capacity remains, and whether the proposed work leaves the required service and safety margins. A maintenance strategy that detects deterioration is not a substitute for an approved work method or a safe maintenance window.
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Set up condition monitoring without creating alert-driven mistakes
- Establish baselines. Use commissioning or recommissioning measurements as operating baselines, then update them after significant upgrades or changes. ASHRAE’s AI Data Center Energy Performance Framework operations guidance recommends sensor baselines for this work.
- Choose relevant telemetry and validate thresholds. Match sensors and measurements to the power or cooling equipment and the degradation being monitored. Define alert thresholds and assign an owner to review them; the ASHRAE framework recommends anomaly detection and thresholds for predictive alerts.
- Write response procedures before relying on alerts. Cover routine work, abnormal conditions, maintenance events, and alarm response. Connect alerts to approved maintenance methods and operating limits.
- Keep human accountability explicit. Facilities personnel should interpret findings, approve actions, manage safety and compliance, and execute work. Analytics can inform decisions, but the cited guidance does not make automated output a substitute for operational control.
- Review costs and outcomes. Compare life-cycle costs and results, including avoided downtime, labor, training, instrumentation, integration, false alarms, and missed degradation. Track operational KPIs that match the facility’s goals rather than treating one metric as universally decisive.
Condition-based monitoring is not automatically cheaper. ASHRAE identifies instrumentation and training costs, as well as the costs of purchasing and maintaining building automation systems and integrating them with computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS). One described pattern is a pressure-drop measurement exceeding a set point and triggering a maintenance call; that only works if the signal, threshold, and response process are fit for the equipment.
Match diagnostics to the asset and failure mode
ASHRAE lists these nondestructive diagnostic methods for maintenance work:
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- Electrical-current analysis
- Vibration analysis
- Lubricant and heat-transfer-fluid chemistry
- Pressure and temperature differentials
- Ultrasonic and eddy-current testing
- Dye penetrant testing
- Visual inspection
These methods are not interchangeable. Select a diagnostic that can reveal the relevant failure mode, and use suitably qualified personnel and equipment. An infrared image, for example, is useful only when the inspection method and equipment are appropriate to the asset and operating conditions.
What facility-level figures do—and do not—show
NIST’s Life Cycle Costing Manual for the Federal Energy Management Program, Handbook 135e2025, dated August 2025, reports that among top-performing facilities using RCM, 45% to 55% primarily implement predictive approaches, 25% to 35% primarily implement preventive approaches, and under 10% primarily implement reactive approaches. The figures describe those facilities, not data centers exclusively; they are not a causal estimate or a recommended target mix. They should not be treated as a data-center benchmark.
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