I’ve been seeing this more and more lately and its time to clear the air. In the past, dry chemical fire suppression was the standard. Either Halon or FM200 dry chemical gas would suppress the fire by removing all oxygen from the space.
Nowadays, many datacenters are cutting back on dry chemical systems. Instead they advertise that they have “Dry Pipe Preaction Sprinklers”. Sounds good doesn’t it! Well its a fancy way of saying we use building code required overhead sprinklers. Preaction simply means that the sprinkler pipes dont have water pressure in them. An action has to trigger the building pumps which pressurize the pipes, i.e. smoke alarms and such. Dry pipe means that after the system is triggered (either a real alarm event or planned maintenance) it is drained.
The play on words tricks people into thinking that “Dry Pipe” makes a connection to dry chemical – of which there is none!
Sprinklers are code in all buildings… period. The sprinkler heads only open after a temperature fuse breaks – normally around 175 degrees. Well, if a datacenter gets up to 175 degrees, its all over. Thats why you use dry chemical like FM200 or Halon to kill the fire immediately before sprinklers heads open.
Point of the story is… Never point your equipment in a datacenter that does not have true dry chemical fire suppression.
Dry-Pipe Doesn’t Mean Clean Agent…
The notion of “dry-pipe” is a misnomer for inferring that clean agent fire suppression is in place…….
Good article but still missing some information
Sprinklers are not always required. Depends on the size of the building and the city and jurisdiction they are in. But yes, usually a data center requires something by the local authority.
Sprinklers save lives and are good but they are there to provide evacuation time, reduce or limit the spread of the fire and protect the structure. They do not protect the contents, as you note, by the time the system goes off much will be lost in the data center due to the temperature at which the systems activate.
You talk about dry chemical fire suppression. First a better description is Clean Agent Fire Suppression Agents. They are referred as such in NFPA 2001 which governs clean agents and in NFPA 75 which governs protection in data centers and other electrical equipment areas. The description of dry implies some association with powders which they are not. Second not all Clean Agents put out the fire by reducing the oxygen. Halon did not work this way. Halon which is now banned (since 94) due to being an Ozone depletor and its environmentally friendly replacements (FM-200, ECARO-25) put the fire out by taking the heat out of the fire and by a chemical reaction with the fire itself to impede the chain reaction required to maintain a fire/flame. These two clean agents mentioned, and Halon does not reduce or eliminate oxygen in a room. The beauty of Clean Agents is as their name implies put the fire out without leaving any residue or damaging the equipment as well as allowing for personnel to be present during fire extinguishment without posing a danger to them.
My suggestion is to look towards the standards available today to better understand the options available and recommended in datacenters. NFPA 2001 Standard on Clean Agent Fire Extinguishing Systems and NPFA 75 Standard for the Protection of Information Technology Equipment.
A double interlock preaction system (which is what most people who say they have Dry Pipe have) would not cause the pipes to get flooded with water if a head burst. You would have to have a head burst + smoke detector (or other sensor that was part of the double interlock system).
Actually, “Dry Pipe” Preaction is not a completely correct moniker for these systems in data centers. A “dry” system and a “pre-action” system are indeed two very different things. A “double interlock” preaction sprinkler system is what should be used in a data center if you are using a water based sprinkler system. Two events must happen for the water to enter the pipes, an alarm signal from detectors in the room AS WELL AS a loss of pressure in the pipes. If a head is broken (or the temperature gets too high and operates a head, the system will not trip. Likewise, if a detector for some reason send a signal to the panel but a sprinkler does not break, there will be no water. BOTH events must happen. But, if you don’t want to go with a water based system, take a serious look at Sapphire (Novec 1230 – just Google either term). These are Fantastic systems and do not damage electronics – period.
I’ve noticed this as well. Two large datacenters that I consider to be ‘premium’ – colo4dallas and phoenixnap are both dry pipe.
My guess it the concerns of compliance with fire code, liability / risk to human life, and the size of these facilities makes their cost/benefit lean towards dry pipe instead of dry chemical.
Thanks for the feedback. This article is mainly just trying to inform people that most datacenters are dropping dry chemical suppression systems and just using old fashioned sprinklers. But they say it in a way that makes people think they still have a fire suppression system that is safe for electronics. Last I checked, water and servers dont mix. The reason why you put equipment in a third-party datacenter is because of the fire protection. If water kills a server, then your not protecting it from the fire! Like putting sprinklers in an art museum to protect the paintings from fire, yeah they wont burn, but they still be destroyed. Its amazing how many large SAS70 facilities are cutting backing and just using water sprinklers. It also amazing how many people think that Dry-Pipe Pre-action is an acceptable form of fire suppression for such a facility because they think that means FM200 or similar via the pipe, but its water!
Agreed, but water-based suppression is unacceptable for a datacenters first line of defense against fire. We are actually thinking of replacing the Halon system at Quonix with Sapphire in the near future.
Buy:Zithromax.Cialis Super Active+.Cialis Professional.Propecia.Soma.Maxaman.Tramadol.Viagra Super Force.Viagra.Viagra Soft Tabs.VPXL.Viagra Super Active+.Viagra Professional.Super Active ED Pack.Levitra.Cialis Soft Tabs.Cialis….
Buy:Super Active ED Pack.Tramadol.Viagra Super Active+.Maxaman.Viagra Professional.Viagra.Levitra.Zithromax.Cialis.Cialis Soft Tabs.Propecia.Soma.Cialis Professional.VPXL.Cialis Super Active+.Viagra Soft Tabs.Viagra Super Force….
2010 http://htipsavrl.APTAUTOPARTS.INFO/tag/2010+Ski+Boots/ : Ski…
Ski…