[AusNOG] [AUSNog] : Re Data Centre Fire Suppression Safety

Thu Dec 13 13:15:02 EST 2018

>> From all I’ve read and had recounted to me it is not a pleasant experience and would possibly cause a burst eardrum or too in the process.

It is probably less of an issue these days with the uptake of SSD's, but it is also worth noting the impact to HDD's this can have.

Seamus

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From: AusNOG <ausnog-bounces at lists.ausnog.net> on behalf of Nicholas Hobbs <Nicholas.Hobbs at epworth.org.au>
Sent: Thursday, 13 December 2018 12:54 PM
To: ausnog at lists.ausnog.net
Subject: Re: [AusNOG] [AUSNog] : Re Data Centre Fire Suppression Safety

Hi all,

Re the Equinex/NEXTDC bit;

Depends a bit on the detail. Water is cheaper to install and maintain based on the unlikely event you ever have to use it. I’m not a big fan of mixing water and electricity though, unless you guarantee you can isolate the power first.

Modern gas systems (Inergen, FM200) etc which is what the NextDC ones sound like, are Oxygen depleting, but gererally speaking, down to around 10-12% Oxygen. Enough to maintain life, but not enough for fire to continue burning. This is about same amount of Oxygen at Everest base camp, beathable, but not something you’re going to want to run a marathon in! There are specific calculations made based on the volume of the space and the height to which you want to protect. Gas does becomes quite an expensive proposition for large spaces.

>From all I’ve read and had recounted to me it is not a pleasant experience and would possibly cause a burst eardrum or too in the process. Having seen an accidental discharge (during a fire system maintenance process where someone accidently swapped the isolate and emergency discharge relays!) in a small comms room, there were no lasting effects to the room and all active equipment kept running. Visibility does become an issue as its like being in a pea souper fog.

https://www.nist.gov/document-8749 for reference on Inergen. Google will pop up the FM200 one too.

In our modest sized data centres we have a 1 minute delay timer from VESDA detection of a fire (requiring multiple sensor confirmation) to firing of the gas. Once confirmed, loud hailers and flashing LED signs go off, making it impossible not to know to that you need to evacuate.

Our one minute is based on the maximum time it would take someone to walk to the exit from the furthest point in the room plus a 30 second buffer.

Entry doors have large signs and instructions on what to do which are covered on induction of the very limited number of people allowed in there.

All of our installs (oldest is 8 years, newest is 2 years) had to be signed off and approved by building and fire inspectors and receive maintenance inspections every 6 months and monthly fire panel operation tests. There was a standard they had to be signed off to, but can’t recall it at the moment.

I’m not across how halon systems we loaded/dispersed, or what system was used in Antarctica (but as it is a power generator room mentioned, assuming they’re still using Halon.), however our systems discharge via an explosive firing pin at the bottle head which is a pretty binary state system and means the pipes are empty. They also have a hardwired pressure sensor that alarms (and sets off the evacuation alarm) if there is a pressure change in the bottle. Best practice also has the bottles in a separate room to the data room.

Pure speculation, however Antarctica’s temperature may have caused unknown factors such as a fractured pipe or valve from extreme exposure over time, or as it was a power generator building, there may have even been a flashover event causing a ‘valid’ discharge.

Nick

Nicholas Hobbs
Chief Technology Officer
Epworth HealthCare

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(03) 9097 0062

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From: Christopher Hawker [mailto:me at chrishawker.com.au]
Sent: Thursday, 13 December 2018 11:22 AM
To: Paul Wilkins <paulwilkins369 at gmail.com>; ausnog at lists.ausnog.net
Subject: Re: [AusNOG] [AUSNog] : Re Data Centre Fire Suppression Safety

We all will be safe in Equinix DCs, as they don’t use Halon:

“We use dry pipe fire suppression, which means there’s no water in the pipes until it’s needed to put out the fire. We think water is superior to using the firefighting chemical compound Halon, because water Is less damaging to technology and Halon can destroy circuit cards.”

Source: https://blog.equinix.com/blog/2014/03/26/we-must-protect-this-house-against-disaster/<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__blog.equinix.com_blog_2014_03_26_we-2Dmust-2Dprotect-2Dthis-2Dhouse-2Dagainst-2Ddisaster_&d=DwMGaQ&c=jQ6ay83CVmgj5V11xW3UtQ&r=XSpfCkuf0gREgFjFByhNqraj4jS59-taMO3up43SKvc&m=O8q8e7jPwBXgiTPzGQ04UZdS4GIhELvgE5vEAWLS_Fs&s=NulTIo5GXGMyc6NdItwQO3iS7ANu5lrAIG3yGjHbWT0&e=>

Can’t say the same for NextDC (M1 at the very least:

“This is because gas is a mixture of argon and nitrogen that suppresses fire by depleting oxygen in the the data hall.”

Source: https://www.nextdc.com/blog/m1-argonite-fire-suppression-gas-cylinders<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nextdc.com_blog_m1-2Dargonite-2Dfire-2Dsuppression-2Dgas-2Dcylinders&d=DwMGaQ&c=jQ6ay83CVmgj5V11xW3UtQ&r=XSpfCkuf0gREgFjFByhNqraj4jS59-taMO3up43SKvc&m=O8q8e7jPwBXgiTPzGQ04UZdS4GIhELvgE5vEAWLS_Fs&s=xqL__k_IViamNwFJvZU3yZD89GQukJZbjqNfBXo3CqM&e=>

CH

Sent from my iPhone

On 13 Dec 2018, at 10:53 am, Paul Wilkins <paulwilkins369 at gmail.com<mailto:paulwilkins369 at gmail.com>> wrote:

Every data centre has a fire suppression system. We're not used to thinking of this as a hazardous environment, but consequent to two techs being found dead working on a fire suppression system in Antarctica<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.theguardian.com_world_2018_dec_12_antarctica-2Dtwo-2Dtechnicians-2Ddead-2Dmcmurdo-2Dstation-2Dross-2Disland&d=DwMGaQ&c=jQ6ay83CVmgj5V11xW3UtQ&r=XSpfCkuf0gREgFjFByhNqraj4jS59-taMO3up43SKvc&m=O8q8e7jPwBXgiTPzGQ04UZdS4GIhELvgE5vEAWLS_Fs&s=nAxwziO7XT3VjNOkiN2qYMyZdVO0F6mqvnTMKCbjCvE&e=>, 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?

Kind regards

Paul Wilkins

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