4 ms·

Remember the OVHcloud data center fire? Here's why it was so bad (2022)

33 points by mkl95 3y ago

zihotki 3y ago
Short summary: The building did not have an electrical cutoff mechanism, it lacked an automatic fire extinguisher system, it had wooden ceiling, and two inner courtyards acted as chimneys.
- dopamean 3y ago
  Sounds like the worst possible setup if you want to avoid a catastrophic loss due to fire.
  - DANmode 3y ago
    Or...the BEST possible setup if you don't mind the opposite. How did they make out with their insurance?
zx8080 3y ago
It would be interesting to know the DC project author/company name.
- wut42 3y ago
  OVHCloud builds their own DCs.
  - zx8080 3y ago
    If physical security (against fire, in this case) in their DCs is clearly not good, then how safe is data?
    - wut42 3y ago
      There's a reason that OVH is usually seen as a trash, low quality provider. :)
dspillett 3y ago
> more than 140 customers filed a class-action lawsuit, seeking damages for losses. I wonder how many of those suing OVH (presumably for lacking due diligence in the DC design) have paid out to their customers for lacking the due diligence to have properly engineered & tested DR plans (off-provider backups etc.).
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
(2022) Lots of discussion about this then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30763945 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30763945
heretohelp232 3y ago
[flagged]
theamk 3y ago
The original article (linked by the submission) is more informative: https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/22/ovhcloud_fire_datacenter_report/ https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/22/ovhcloud_fire_datacen...
jraph 3y ago
With this event and the recent Global Switch / Google Cloud datacenter fire in Paris, we, the French, hope we now have proven our experience in burning datacenters enough. Feel free to reach us if you ever need to burn some datacenters inadvertently, we'll happy to give a hand. We can help by leveraging our unmatched knowledge in advanced technologies and materials like water sourced from clouds.

33 points by mkl95 3y ago

Short summary: The building did not have an electrical cutoff mechanism, it lacked an automatic fire extinguisher system, it had wooden ceiling, and two inner courtyards acted as chimneys.

dopamean 3y ago
Sounds like the worst possible setup if you want to avoid a catastrophic loss due to fire.
- DANmode 3y ago
  Or...the BEST possible setup if you don't mind the opposite. How did they make out with their insurance?

zx8080 3y ago

It would be interesting to know the DC project author/company name.

wut42 3y ago
OVHCloud builds their own DCs.
- zx8080 3y ago
  If physical security (against fire, in this case) in their DCs is clearly not good, then how safe is data?
  - wut42 3y ago
    There's a reason that OVH is usually seen as a trash, low quality provider. :)

dspillett 3y ago

> more than 140 customers filed a class-action lawsuit, seeking damages for losses. I wonder how many of those suing OVH (presumably for lacking due diligence in the DC design) have paid out to their customers for lacking the due diligence to have properly engineered & tested DR plans (off-provider backups etc.).

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

(2022) Lots of discussion about this then: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30763945 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30763945

heretohelp232 3y ago

[flagged]

theamk 3y ago

The original article (linked by the submission) is more informative: https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/22/ovhcloud_fire_datacenter_report/ https://www.theregister.com/2022/03/22/ovhcloud_fire_datacen...

jraph 3y ago

With this event and the recent Global Switch / Google Cloud datacenter fire in Paris, we, the French, hope we now have proven our experience in burning datacenters enough. Feel free to reach us if you ever need to burn some datacenters inadvertently, we'll happy to give a hand. We can help by leveraging our unmatched knowledge in advanced technologies and materials like water sourced from clouds.