<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><br>Halon has been banned in Australia for about 20 years and it’s not that deadly as it’s made out to be I had a halon extinguisher in the cockpit of my plane which would not be ok if it were poison. Most DC in .au use FM200 or inergen. <div><br></div><div>I’m thinking they used CO2 in the remote station as it requires less gas and is cheaper to transport. Inergen requires massive amounts of gas almost the volume of the protected area which would not be practical in a remote area. Co2 is also often used in high power environments where you can get a burning metal fire. </div><div><br></div><div>Don’t stir up a fuss here your safe in your DC if you have payed attention to your induction and leave when your told. </div><div><br></div><div>There is also an interesting suppression system that lowers the oxygen in the room so combustion can not be supported. It’s interesting because humans inhabit the room while the oxygen is lowered. Seems that a fire needs more oxygen then a human! I have seen a demo with people attempting to light matches inside that environement which extinguish almost instantly. </div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Matt</div><div> </div><div><div id="AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr"><div><br></div><div>-- </div><div>/* Matt Perkins</div><div> Direct 1300 137 379 Spectrum Networks Ptd. Ltd.</div><div> Office 1300 133 299 <a href="mailto:matt@spectrum.com.au">matt@spectrum.com.au</a></div><div> Fax 1300 133 255 Level 6, 350 George Street Sydney 2000</div><div> SIP <a href="mailto:1300137379@sip.spectrum.com.au">1300137379@sip.spectrum.com.au</a></div><div> Google Talk <a href="mailto:MattAPerkins@gmail.com">MattAPerkins@gmail.com</a></div><div> PGP/GNUPG Public Key can be found at <a href="http://pgp.mit.edu">http://pgp.mit.edu</a></div><div>*/</div></div><div dir="ltr"><br>On 13 Dec 2018, at 11:29 am, Paul Wilkins <<a href="mailto:paulwilkins369@gmail.com">paulwilkins369@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br><br></div><blockquote type="cite"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>See I would expect there would be an Australian Standard for Data Centre Fire Suppression<br></div><div> Systems, with regular inspections that were certified and the certificate on display in the data centre.</div><div><br></div><div>And as I haven't noticed this, and Chris hasn't noticed this, I would guess it's not a gap in places I've worked, but there's a more widespread lack of governance around inspections.</div><div><br></div><div>Furthermore, the fire suppressant, may leak. Halon is poisonous and can impair your judgement. So there ought to be an alarm that detects if Halon is present. It's not good enough to rely on the fire alarm to warn you of the presence of fire suppressant, because you could have a leak without a fire.<br></div><div><br></div><div>One would have to assume the people in Antarctica knew what they were doing, and yet, something went wrong and now they're dead.</div><div><br></div><div>Kind regards</div><div><br></div><div>Paul Wilkins<br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr">On Thu, 13 Dec 2018 at 11:00, Chris Ford <<a href="mailto:chris.ford@inaboxgroup.com.au" target="_blank">chris.ford@inaboxgroup.com.au</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
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<p class="MsoNormal">As a university cadet working for IBM in the late 80s I remember getting inducted into the Westpac data centres and getting a long explanation of what to do when the halon system went off – where the breathing gear was, where the exits
were, to basically just drop everything and run.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Have been inducted into a few DCs in the last 3 years and can’t remember that being part of the induction at all – although given I already knew it I may have just glossed over that part.<u></u><u></u></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:rgb(31,73,125)">--<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height:115%"><span style="font-size:12pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:rgb(0,176,240)">Chris Ford<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:rgb(46,116,181)">INABOX GROUP<u></u><u></u></span></b></p>
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</span></b><span style="font-size:10pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Century Gothic",sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51)">0401 988 844
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:36pt"><b><span lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span lang="EN-US"> AusNOG <<a href="mailto:ausnog-bounces@lists.ausnog.net" target="_blank">ausnog-bounces@lists.ausnog.net</a>>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Paul Wilkins<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, 13 December 2018 10:53 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> <a href="mailto:AusNOG@lists.ausnog.net" target="_blank">AusNOG@lists.ausnog.net</a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [AusNOG] [AUSNog] : Re Data Centre Fire Suppression Safety<u></u><u></u></span></p>
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Every data centre has a fire suppression system. We're not used to thinking of this as a hazardous environment, but consequent to
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/12/antarctica-two-technicians-dead-mcmurdo-station-ross-island" target="_blank">
two techs being found dead working on a fire suppression system in Antarctica</a>, I find myself wondering yet again, why there aren't more stringent controls around the fire suppression systems in data centres: viz - when you enter a data centre, how confident
can you be you're not going to be quietly asphyxiated?<br>
<br>
Kind regards<br>
<br>
Paul Wilkins<u></u><u></u></p>
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