Once in a while (once a year?), I need to unhook the server, take it outside, and blow out all the dust with my compressor. I can't do it in-place, as there is SO much dust it would get all over everything.
Computers and electronics don't like heat, or excessive amounts of dust (which impedes cooling, causing heat buildup).
It needs to be during the day, since the server is on a high shelf (near the ceiling) in one of the kids' bedrooms. Also, it's hard to use the compressor in the dark, even though it *could* be done if I had to.
I might just have to take the server down 15 min. during the day. But when that happens, don't get all worried. Expect a short outage in the near future.