On 8/30/05, Hugh Smith <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> 
> Could anyone assist me on a project in North Carolina? I have a fire 
> official that
> is stating that North Carolina does not allow Data Centers and Server 
> Vaults to be
> protected by a clean agent fire suppression systems. He is demanding water
> sprinklers be located directly over the computer equipment, blade servers, 
> RAID
> units, etc.
> 
> But he willing to review his decision if I can show him another City in 
> North Carolina
> that has allowed a data center to operate this way.
> 
> NFPA 232 allows for clean agent suppression in vaults, (which this would 
> be) and
> NFPA 75 specifically recommends that clean agent gaseous agents be 
> considered
> for computer room environments. There are hundreds and hundreds of data 
> centers 
> that operate this way across the country but he is forbidding it in 
> Raleigh Durham.



As a fellow member of the NFPA 232 TC and one who spends a lot of time 
studying the protection methods used and effects of fires in record and data 
storage situations, I have to agree with Hugh that this seems a bit 
ludicrous and more to the point, illogical.

I would however discourage anyone from publicly "outing" themselves or their 
organization if they are using the more logical and approved methods of fire 
suppression in these environments, especially if you're operating in this 
fire officials jurisdiction. 

You would be best off sending your responses to Hugh (or contacting him by 
phone) privately and discussing your protection scenarios.

Larry


-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

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