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The Most Dangerous Server Rooms
Ymerej writes "The Register has an article on dangerous server rooms. Have you seen worse?" Perhaps The Register would like a picture of my desk if they really want to be scared.
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Actually, this is the third article about the subject.
Teenagers these days don't have as much sex as they want each other to think they do.
I'll have to drag my camera up into my attic to take a picture of the mess up there one day. I've 3 machines that run 24/7 up there, covered in dust, various other crap and spiders (and boy do those spiders grow big up there!)
I put them up there as I got sick of the noise, then ran ethernet cabling down to sockets around the place. My main web server (see sig) has been happily running up there for about 1 1/2 years now - barring the odd upgrade. It's not pleasant to open up a case full of dust and cobwebs, BTW!
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
Actually, it isn't used any more because it was found to be ozone-depleting and banned by international agreement.
p ://palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/wn/wn15/wn15-2 /wn15-208.html
http://www.haifire.com/press/halon_rep.htm
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Several of the ozone-friendly replacements (I forget their unfriendly alphanumeric designations) still work by sucking all of the oxygen out ofthe room.
I was in a large shared server facility that still used a Halon system, which when released, fills the area suffocating the fire (and any living creatures in the area as well).
Look -- geeks sue for the wrong kind of keyboard -- ergonomics = safety after all -- do you really think there is just this dangerous gas ready to be released where you work and you have exactly 20 seconds to escape before you die?
Taken from the first site that came up on Google...
"Three things must come together at the same time to start a fire. The first ingredient is fuel (anything that can burn), the second is oxygen (normal breathing air is ample) and the last is an ignition source (high heat can cause a fire even without a spark or open flame). Traditionally, to stop a fire you need to remove one side of the triangle - the ignition, the fuel or the oxygen. Halon adds a fourth dimension to fire fighting - breaking the chain reaction. It stops the fuel, the ignition and the oxygen from dancing together by chemically reacting with them. Many people believe that Halon displaces the air out of the area it is dispensed in. Wrong! Even for the toughest hazards, less than an 8% concentration by volume is required. There is still plenty of air to use in the evacuation process. (Emphasis added by me)
I'm not an expert, but urban myths bug me...
I would have to say that explosives are the most abused technology in all of history.
Well, that's sorta the whole point of halon (and thus, why isn't used anymore.)
Having thoroughly studied the subject, umm, no, you're wrong.
Halon is no longer used because:
a)it was poisonous
b)it was ozone depleting
The number one cause of death in server room fires is toxic smoke inhalation from burning plastic/paint/wire insulation/circuit board components/etc. Why? People go in to rescue backup tapes, and are rather quickly incapacitated when they inhale the smallest amount of toxic fumes. Folks- NEVER ENTER A BURNING ROOM WITH A FIRE. PERIOD. Backup tapes are NEVER more important than your life. People think "oh, I'll hold my breath." They don't think about how far it may be, or they may get disoriented in the smoke..and they think "oh, just a little breath, i need to breathe." That gets you coughing. Then you die. Smoke inhalation is actually(I believe) the number one cause of death in ALL fires.
Let's not even start about what opening a door into a hot, mostly sealed room letting in a ton of oxygen does.
My "Blue Book" (computer security, mostly focuses on physical) says to NEVER store backup tapes in the same room as server equipment, PERIOD, because the temptation to rescue them is too great.
CO2 is the agent that suffocates you...in that case, yes, the point is to remove as much oxygen from the room, and yes, you will suffocate very quickly.
FM200 is the most common substitute and is fairly harmless, but works on pushing oxygen from the room, and because it is much heavier than air, requires very good sealing of the room in order to work properly. It is next to useless on fires high up in the room unless the system is very well designed.
An alternative is INTERGEN, which is 100% harmless and is mixed specifically to make your body naturally breathe faster, which is a good thing if smoke isn't really a problem and you just need to keep from suffocating. It also works mostly on rapid temperature change and chemically interfering with combustion(not by removing oxygen), and its weight is much closer to natural air, so it doesn't sink.
Thus, the server room doesn't have to be sealed(Halon and FM200 both require it), but the amount of extinguishing gas is greater and piping is slightly different.
In server rooms of sufficient size that use Halon, CO2, etc... SCBA units are usually recommended if not required. Interrupt switches and delays are very common as well, although both are designed mostly with reducing false discharges, which can cost $5-10k per 1,000 square feet.
More and more commonly, dry-pipe water systems are being used, particularly in 24x7x365 managed buildings. The idea is that if the fire is small, an alarm goes off and a countdown starts. On site staff can take appropriate action(cut power, run in with a fire extinguisher, that sort of thing) or, if it's bad, let the system come on. They're usually zoned triggered and fogging nozzles are used to minimize equipment damage.
Unfortunately, for your average 1,000 sq ft room, you're looking at about $30k to $50k, not including modifications to the room to get it sealed. Dry pipe water is less expensive, but one false alarm could cost you 10 times the system's cost in equipment alone.