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There are photos of the fire suppression system in one of their data centres in this (French) forum thread: https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protec

There are photos of the fire suppression system in one of their data centres in this (French) forum thread: https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protection-incendie https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protection-inc.... They have sprinklers, with the reasoning being that the burning racks' data is gone anyway if there's a fire, and at least sprinklers don't accidentally kill the technicians.

Faaak 6y ago
Sprinklers are only present in OVH Canada datacenter ! There are no sprinklers in Europe ones.
- mwcampbell 6y ago
  Given that they're headquartered in Europe and most popular there, why is the satellite location better? Is it because the Canadian data center is newer, because Canada has stronger regulations in this area, or something else? Also, does anyone know how the OVH US data centers compare?
  - sofixa 6y ago
    According to a 2013 forum post by the now CEO of Scaleway, a competitor of OVH, it's due to North American building regulations that basically force you into sprinklers and stuff for insurance reasons. Source in French: https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protection-incendie/msg80633/#msg80633 https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protection-inc...
35fbe7d3d5b9 6y ago
> They have sprinklers, with the reasoning being that the burning racks' data is gone anyway if there's a fire I think the real problem, per that post, is this: >> They are simple sprinklers that spray with water. It has nothing to do with very high pressure misting systems, where water evaporates instantly, and which save servers. Here, it's watering, and all the servers are dead. It's designed like that. Astonishing, isn't it? >> Obviously, they rely above all on humans to extinguish a possible fire, unlike all conventional data centers. (all thanks to Google Translate) This strikes me as a terrible safety system because even if a human managed to detect the fire, they have to make a big call: is the risk of flooding the facility and destroying a ton of gear worth putting out a fire? By the time the human decides "yes, it is", it may well be too late for the sprinklers. > and at least sprinklers don't accidentally kill the technicians. Not a real risk with modern 1:1 argon:nitrogen systems – the goal is to pump in inert gases and reduce oxygen content to around 13%, a point where the fire is suppressed and people can survive. You wouldn't want to be in a room breathing 13% oxygen for a long time, but it won't kill you. All in all, it looks like this was a "normal accident"[1] for a hosting company that aggressively competes on price. The data center was therefore built with less expensive safeties and carried a higher risk of catastrophic failure. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents

Faaak 6y ago

Sprinklers are only present in OVH Canada datacenter ! There are no sprinklers in Europe ones.

mwcampbell 6y ago
Given that they're headquartered in Europe and most popular there, why is the satellite location better? Is it because the Canadian data center is newer, because Canada has stronger regulations in this area, or something else? Also, does anyone know how the OVH US data centers compare?
- sofixa 6y ago
  According to a 2013 forum post by the now CEO of Scaleway, a competitor of OVH, it's due to North American building regulations that basically force you into sprinklers and stuff for insurance reasons. Source in French: https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protection-incendie/msg80633/#msg80633 https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protection-inc...

35fbe7d3d5b9 6y ago

> They have sprinklers, with the reasoning being that the burning racks' data is gone anyway if there's a fire I think the real problem, per that post, is this: >> They are simple sprinklers that spray with water. It has nothing to do with very high pressure misting systems, where water evaporates instantly, and which save servers. Here, it's watering, and all the servers are dead. It's designed like that. Astonishing, isn't it? >> Obviously, they rely above all on humans to extinguish a possible fire, unlike all conventional data centers. (all thanks to Google Translate) This strikes me as a terrible safety system because even if a human managed to detect the fire, they have to make a big call: is the risk of flooding the facility and destroying a ton of gear worth putting out a fire? By the time the human decides "yes, it is", it may well be too late for the sprinklers. > and at least sprinklers don't accidentally kill the technicians. Not a real risk with modern 1:1 argon:nitrogen systems – the goal is to pump in inert gases and reduce oxygen content to around 13%, a point where the fire is suppressed and people can survive. You wouldn't want to be in a room breathing 13% oxygen for a long time, but it won't kill you. All in all, it looks like this was a "normal accident"[1] for a hosting company that aggressively competes on price. The data center was therefore built with less expensive safeties and carried a higher risk of catastrophic failure. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_Accidents