As is universally acknowledged, fires in buildings are pretty awful things. But something truly awful, is a fire in a data center. I previously wrote a blog post about how America has the 4th most network integrated economy in the world. A fire in a data center can truly be catastrophic. The possible loss of data and equipment damage, plus the lives put in danger are truly frightening prospects.
Although, to move out of dark territory, there are amazing prevention methods to avoid this:

There are a few methods of waterless fire protection in data centers, as well as strategic structure preparation. The most common reasons for data center fires are:
- Accumulations of underfloor combustible materials, such as unused wiring insulation and connectors
- Paper storage and supplies within data center space
- Tape storage materials stored outside of the designated storage space
- Improper storage and maintenance of fuel for emergency generators
- Failure of personnel to adhere to stated guidelines
- Fuel system piping leaks
These are things that are easily remedied by not running wiring under the floor, but rather where it is visible and then basic vigilance in terms of data center maintenance and staffing. We are proud to say that at SingleHop, we absolutely demand all of these safety measures, as well has having a truly awesome (as in inducing gasping awe) generator system in the event of power disruption.

Also, there are state of the art and not quite so state of the art fire suppression systems. The older waterless fire suppression system was known as Halon. It was introduced in 1973 and was one of the first gaseous fire suppression agents. These systems are still around in some places, though not too much anymore considering it was banned in 1994, as it is an ozone depleting substance and requires a breathing apparatus (gas mask) when it is released in high concentrations.

We definitely don’t use Halon at SingleHop. We take pride in using a data center that is as up to date as possible and environmentally friendly. We use a gaseous fire suppressant known as FM-200 (Heptafluoropropane), which looks like this:

And:

This compound prevents this:

FM-200 is a great fire suppression agent used in more than 70 countries. FM-200 is insanely fast at suppressing fire, often in 10 seconds or less, and can stop ordinary combustible, electrical, and flammable liquid fires before they cause significant damage that make buildings look like this:

FM-200 is the fastest fire protection available, meaning less damage, lower repair costs, less disruption, and, most importantly, the protection of human life.

FM-200 can also be safely stored and used where people are present. It doesn’t require a gas mask like Halon. It’s stored in cylinders as a liquid and pressurized with nitrogen, meaning that it saves huge amounts of storage space.

To read about the consequences of data center fires and lack of adequate fire prevention mechanisms, check out these articles: