We've been advised by our tape library vendor that one of the reasons we might be seeing lots of errors is if our server room is particularly dusty.
It doesn't look dusty, but that's not to say it's not there.
We've got an environment sensor cluster which measures Temperature, Airflow and Relative Humidity.
I should probably point out that the low-hanging fruit solution I came up with is to use Sellotape (scotch tape) in a loop, one side stuck to the server cabinet, the other side free-hanging.
I've also put a couple of other tape loops by the exit and intake fans of the hardware (not blocking airflow, naturally).
How can we (electronically, ideally) measure dust levels?
Best Answer
Sounds like some push back from the vendor, but either way we used to have Air Particulate Meters in an old pharma company I worked for. They basically will measure everything in the air and tell you what's there. Dust is technically many different particles from various sources so you have to know what the individual makeup of the air is.
Unfortunately the testing devices are not cheap and range from expensive to ridiculous. If it's a big problem ask the vendor to bring one, sounds like they have had the problem before!
Either way I can't remember the brand we used but these look familiar: http://www.wolfsense.com/particle-counter-detector.html
Here's one on Amazon for a decent price, not sure how accurate but I don't think you need it to be real detailed: http://www.amazon.com/Dylos-DC1100-Laser-Quality-Monitor/dp/B000XG8XCI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1341241387&sr=8-2&keywords=particle+counter