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I can't see anything about a fire suppression system mentioned? Doesn't OVH have one, except for colocation datacenters? A fire detection system using eg. lase

I can't see anything about a fire suppression system mentioned? Doesn't OVH have one, except for colocation datacenters? A fire detection system using eg. lasers and Inergen(or Argonite) for putting the fire out is commonly used in datacenters. The gas fills the room and reduces the amount of oxygen in the room so most fires are put out within a minute. The cool thing is that the gas is designed to be used in rooms with people, so that is can be triggered any time. It is however quite loud, and some setups have been known to be too loud, even destroying harddrives.

MattGaiser 6y ago
Are fires common in data centres? Specialized fire suppression tech seems to indicate that they are.
- jhugo 6y ago
  The decision to design and implement specialised tech comes from a combination of how likely the risk is and the magnitude of the potential loss. Fires are not that common in DCs, but the potential loss can be enormous (as OVH is currently finding out).
- jabroni_salad 6y ago
  They aren't super common, but halon and other gas systems are just the right tool for the job. It can get inside the server chassis and doesn't damage equipment like a chemical application would. We won't know what went wrong at OVH until a proper post mortem comes out. These systems work by suppressing the flame reaction, but if the actual source was not addressed, it could reignite after awhile.
- perlgeek 6y ago
  Yes, mostly due to two reasons: * overall high energy density (lots of current flowing everywhere) * the batteries for backup power are dangerous, and can easily(ish) overheat when activated.
jhugo 6y ago
At a datacentre I used to visit years ago, part of the site induction was learning that if the fire suppression alarm went off, you had a certain amount of time to get out of the room before the argon would deploy, so you should always have a path to the nearest exit in mind. The implication was that it wasn't safe to be in the room once it deployed, but I don't know for sure.
- saagarjha 6y ago
  Presumably you would have trouble breathing as it displaced the oxygen in the room?
  - jhugo 6y ago
    Yeah, that was always my understanding. GP saying "the gas is designed to be used in rooms with people, so that [it] can be triggered any time" made me second-guess that though. Maybe there is a concentration of oxygen that is high enough for humans to survive, yet too low to sustain combustion?
    - lol768 6y ago
      > Maybe there is a concentration of oxygen that is high enough for humans to survive, yet too low to sustain combustion? Yes, supposedly (12% ish?). Can't say I'd be thrilled at the idea of testing it.
    - thspimpolds 6y ago
      The "gas" is more like a fog of capsules. FM-200 is a common one. Basically it has a Fire suppression agent inside crystals which are blasted into the room by compressed air. These crystals melt when they get over a certain temperature and therefore won't kill you; however, breathing that in isn't really pleasant. Source: I've been in an FM-200 discharge
      - Scoundreller 6y ago
        Does everyone carry an N95 or equivalent? I guess many of us have gotten good at donning them by now...
torh 6y ago
A few years ago the company I work for installed suppressors on the Inergen system. It did trigger from time to time, which was tracked to the humidifiers. And yes -- it did destroy harddrives because of the pressure/sound waves before we installed the supressors. Haven't had any incidents after we fixed the humidifiers. But Inergen (and other gas) is more or less useless if you allow it to escape too quickly. So the cooling system should be a fairly closed circut. Edit: I'm also a Norwegian dude. :)
monsieurbanana 6y ago
> even destroying harddrives So loud that it destroys hard drives... That's scary, are people's eardrums much more resistant?
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
- Scoundreller 6y ago
  A lot of DCs are loud enough that it’s quite pleasant to wear ear protection. Even better with headphones that play what you want to listen to.
pmontra 6y ago
What's the point of a fire suppression system that destroys what it should protect?
- qeternity 6y ago
  In a data center the fire suppression is mostly there to protect the servers.
- rini17 6y ago
  When it destroys one room but prevents fire spreading to whole building.
growt 6y ago
So how is it safe with people if there is no oxygen left to breathe? Reminds me of my first trip to a datacenter, where the guy who accompanied us said: "In the event of a fire this room is filled with nitrogen in 20 seconds. But don't worry: nitrogen is not toxic!" Well, I was a little worried :)
- tallanvor 6y ago
  Newer systems like the ones mentioned above are designed to reduce the amount of oxygen in the room to around 12% (down from around 21%). That's low enough to extinguish fires, but allows people to safely evacuate and prevent people from suffocating if they're incapacitated.

MattGaiser 6y ago

Are fires common in data centres? Specialized fire suppression tech seems to indicate that they are.

jhugo 6y ago
The decision to design and implement specialised tech comes from a combination of how likely the risk is and the magnitude of the potential loss. Fires are not that common in DCs, but the potential loss can be enormous (as OVH is currently finding out).
jabroni_salad 6y ago
They aren't super common, but halon and other gas systems are just the right tool for the job. It can get inside the server chassis and doesn't damage equipment like a chemical application would. We won't know what went wrong at OVH until a proper post mortem comes out. These systems work by suppressing the flame reaction, but if the actual source was not addressed, it could reignite after awhile.
perlgeek 6y ago
Yes, mostly due to two reasons: * overall high energy density (lots of current flowing everywhere) * the batteries for backup power are dangerous, and can easily(ish) overheat when activated.

jhugo 6y ago

At a datacentre I used to visit years ago, part of the site induction was learning that if the fire suppression alarm went off, you had a certain amount of time to get out of the room before the argon would deploy, so you should always have a path to the nearest exit in mind. The implication was that it wasn't safe to be in the room once it deployed, but I don't know for sure.

saagarjha 6y ago
Presumably you would have trouble breathing as it displaced the oxygen in the room?
- jhugo 6y ago
  Yeah, that was always my understanding. GP saying "the gas is designed to be used in rooms with people, so that [it] can be triggered any time" made me second-guess that though. Maybe there is a concentration of oxygen that is high enough for humans to survive, yet too low to sustain combustion?
  - lol768 6y ago
    > Maybe there is a concentration of oxygen that is high enough for humans to survive, yet too low to sustain combustion? Yes, supposedly (12% ish?). Can't say I'd be thrilled at the idea of testing it.
  - thspimpolds 6y ago
    The "gas" is more like a fog of capsules. FM-200 is a common one. Basically it has a Fire suppression agent inside crystals which are blasted into the room by compressed air. These crystals melt when they get over a certain temperature and therefore won't kill you; however, breathing that in isn't really pleasant. Source: I've been in an FM-200 discharge
    - Scoundreller 6y ago
      Does everyone carry an N95 or equivalent? I guess many of us have gotten good at donning them by now...

torh 6y ago

A few years ago the company I work for installed suppressors on the Inergen system. It did trigger from time to time, which was tracked to the humidifiers. And yes -- it did destroy harddrives because of the pressure/sound waves before we installed the supressors. Haven't had any incidents after we fixed the humidifiers. But Inergen (and other gas) is more or less useless if you allow it to escape too quickly. So the cooling system should be a fairly closed circut. Edit: I'm also a Norwegian dude. :)

monsieurbanana 6y ago

> even destroying harddrives So loud that it destroys hard drives... That's scary, are people's eardrums much more resistant?

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
Scoundreller 6y ago
A lot of DCs are loud enough that it’s quite pleasant to wear ear protection. Even better with headphones that play what you want to listen to.

pmontra 6y ago

What's the point of a fire suppression system that destroys what it should protect?

qeternity 6y ago
In a data center the fire suppression is mostly there to protect the servers.
rini17 6y ago
When it destroys one room but prevents fire spreading to whole building.

growt 6y ago

So how is it safe with people if there is no oxygen left to breathe? Reminds me of my first trip to a datacenter, where the guy who accompanied us said: "In the event of a fire this room is filled with nitrogen in 20 seconds. But don't worry: nitrogen is not toxic!" Well, I was a little worried :)

tallanvor 6y ago
Newer systems like the ones mentioned above are designed to reduce the amount of oxygen in the room to around 12% (down from around 21%). That's low enough to extinguish fires, but allows people to safely evacuate and prevent people from suffocating if they're incapacitated.