Nobel MD discusses fire risks in data centres

The debate on fire safety in Data Centres continues at a pace.

Two recent articles regarding the future of fire protection in data centres featured in the 2015 retro edition of Data Centre Management at the end of 2015.

David Nyberg, of 3M and Stefano Valdrighi, from Siemens Building Technologies both made obvious but important points in relation to the fact that the uninterrupted use of computers and electronic equipment in modern data centres is business critical for all concerned including of course customers.

As we move through 2016 it’s worth noting that year on year both socially and commercially there’s an increasing reliance on the interconnected global IT infrastructure for much of what we consider everyday life. For businesses particularly, the loss of any data centre service will have a hugely negative impact that can often be felt far beyond the effected business by also impacting clients, suppliers and even whole industries.

According to a 2013 Ponemon Institute report, the cost of data centre downtime is high – and gets higher each year. Put simply, the report states that just sixty seconds of data centre downtime costs approximately £5,300 on average!

At Nobel Fire Systems we’re fully aware that the combination of high value and susceptible electronic equipment found in today’s global data centres when combined with the consequences of system interruption makes fire protection a critical consideration of any data centre risk assessment. And we know that fires do frequently occur in global data centres resulting in the loss of valuable data and considerable downtime costs as reported on a regular basis over recent years.

Effective and reliable fire suppression is essential and it’s therefore important to obtain advice from an experienced supplier so that the correct protection system is installed to meet the specific individual risk. At Nobel, the policy is always to share a complete understanding of the individual customer’s risk and only on that basis will it be then possible to take a fully informed approach to providing the most appropriate solution.

Our entire focus is on fire suppression technologies for special risk environments including the most advanced data centres where we know there are special challenges to be faced. It’s our belief that early fire detection and fast effective suppression will protect data centres and server rooms in terms of their structure, critical assets and business continuity. In many cases it can also help save lives and impact positively on the environment.

As such, Nobel offer a comprehensive range of solutions including industry leading water mist, gas and oxygen reduction fire suppression systems in addition to a revolutionary alternative known as Stat-X, a condensed aerosol technology that’s environmentally friendly and allows easy, cost effective installations for all types of data room applications.

But before considering any system first focus on the ‘risk’ involved and discuss with an industry expert who can provide impartial guidance and advice.