4 ms·

I'm going with Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce as giants who's shoulders we stand on. A particular generation of chip is just one stepping stone of the many along

by vmh1928 5y ago

I'm going with Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce as giants who's shoulders we stand on. A particular generation of chip is just one stepping stone of the many along the way. https://www.keranews.org/health-science-tech/2014-09-12/on-this-day-in-1958-a-ti-engineer-invented-a-chip-that-changed-the-world https://www.keranews.org/health-science-tech/2014-09-12/on-t... Also, a quibble, it's Halon not Argon. Nobody sprays water around a room full of burning electrical equipment. Halon is no longer being manufactured for greenhouse reasons (afaik.) Alternatives being worked on: https://www.firetrace.com/fire-protection-blog/why-is-halon-banned https://www.firetrace.com/fire-protection-blog/why-is-halon-...

pengaru 5y ago
> Also, a quibble, it's Halon not Argon. Nobody sprays water around a room full of burning electrical equipment. But... Argon isn't water? What do you mean? Argon is also used for fire extinguishing in datacenters, according to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Argon.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Argon.jpg
- nostrademons 5y ago
  I think he's saying that datacenters would not have water sprinklers and would instead use Halon fire extinguishers. He's wrong and you/Wikipedia are right, BTW. Halons were banned in 1994, before datacenters became commonplace. Argon and other inert gas fire suppression systems (of which Halon is one, but a banned one) are used instead.
  - nemo 5y ago
    Halon used to be the standard for data centers using gaseous fire extinguishers in the mainframe era. See: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/dinosaur-pen.html http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/dinosaur-pen.html The op's a bit outdated, but not completely wrong. Even now a lot of data centers use various halon replacements rather than Argonite, though there are a number of different gaseous fire suppressants used in data centers these days.
  - beachy 5y ago
    > Halons were banned in 1994, before datacenters became commonplace. The 90s called and would like a word with you.
    - bdavis__ 5y ago
      when that call is over, the 60's, 70's, and 80's are on hold.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
    The last data centre I worked in certainly had water sprinklers too. The gaseous system was one-shot. If the fire continues or restarted, or another fire occurred before the system was recharged, water sprinklers would save the building. Redundant systems. Of course, some data centres probably have redundant gaseous suppression too.
  - therealcamino 5y ago
    > Halons were banned in 1994, before datacenters became commonplace. The article is talking about 1971, long before Halon was banned. It was commonplace to find Halon installations in computer rooms in the 1980s.
TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
If I recall correctly Halons (bromomethanes) are ozone depleting, though they may also been a greenhouse gas I’m not sure. The last data centre I worked in had an FM200 liquified has fire suppression system, that’s 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-Heptafluoropropane - so probably still a greenhouse gas to some extent due to the propane, but wouldn’t be a significant concern given they’re not routinely discharged.
- Accujack 5y ago
  It's being outserviced for the reasons you mention, although you can still replace bottles in existing systems with gas from the used market.
vmh1928 5y ago
My bad, apparently argon is also used as a fire suppressant.

pengaru 5y ago

> Also, a quibble, it's Halon not Argon. Nobody sprays water around a room full of burning electrical equipment. But... Argon isn't water? What do you mean? Argon is also used for fire extinguishing in datacenters, according to wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Argon.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Argon.jpg

nostrademons 5y ago
I think he's saying that datacenters would not have water sprinklers and would instead use Halon fire extinguishers. He's wrong and you/Wikipedia are right, BTW. Halons were banned in 1994, before datacenters became commonplace. Argon and other inert gas fire suppression systems (of which Halon is one, but a banned one) are used instead.
- nemo 5y ago
  Halon used to be the standard for data centers using gaseous fire extinguishers in the mainframe era. See: http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/dinosaur-pen.html http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/D/dinosaur-pen.html The op's a bit outdated, but not completely wrong. Even now a lot of data centers use various halon replacements rather than Argonite, though there are a number of different gaseous fire suppressants used in data centers these days.
- beachy 5y ago
  > Halons were banned in 1994, before datacenters became commonplace. The 90s called and would like a word with you.
  - bdavis__ 5y ago
    when that call is over, the 60's, 70's, and 80's are on hold.
- TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago
  The last data centre I worked in certainly had water sprinklers too. The gaseous system was one-shot. If the fire continues or restarted, or another fire occurred before the system was recharged, water sprinklers would save the building. Redundant systems. Of course, some data centres probably have redundant gaseous suppression too.
- therealcamino 5y ago
  > Halons were banned in 1994, before datacenters became commonplace. The article is talking about 1971, long before Halon was banned. It was commonplace to find Halon installations in computer rooms in the 1980s.

TheSpiceIsLife 5y ago

If I recall correctly Halons (bromomethanes) are ozone depleting, though they may also been a greenhouse gas I’m not sure. The last data centre I worked in had an FM200 liquified has fire suppression system, that’s 1,1,1,2,3,3,3-Heptafluoropropane - so probably still a greenhouse gas to some extent due to the propane, but wouldn’t be a significant concern given they’re not routinely discharged.

Accujack 5y ago
It's being outserviced for the reasons you mention, although you can still replace bottles in existing systems with gas from the used market.

vmh1928 5y ago

My bad, apparently argon is also used as a fire suppressant.