Kittens in the data center. Who agrees?
Do you think there are pillows in a modern data center? We answer: yes, and a lot! And they are not needed at all so that tired engineers and technicians or even a cat can take a nap on them (although where does the cat come from in the data center, right?). These pillows are responsible for fire safety in the building. Cloud4Y tells what's what.
Each data center is built with the expectation of ensuring maximum security of equipment and stored data. Information must be available to customers, no matter what happens inside the data center. Therefore, even at the design stage, a lot of time is devoted to the creation of reliable security and fire fighting. Ideally, everything in a data center should be fireproof. So the doors, walls, floor and ceiling are made of refractory materials. Theoretically, they are able to prevent the spread of fire from the room where the fire occurred.
In practice, no. And all because of network equipment and cables. Tens of kilometers of cable, through which current flows, connect all kinds of equipment. How is the cable pulled? Through cable channels passing through large holes in the floor and walls. And since there are holes, then there is a loophole for fire.
Yes, it is impossible to effectively close them with concrete mortar or other heavy refractory material. New cables may be added to these cable trunks on a regular basis. And if you fill the hole with concrete, then you will have to pick everything back at an accelerated pace. This is lost time, additional financial costs, as well as a big risk that someone accidentally cuts a particularly important cable. And according to the law of meanness, this is exactly what will happen, verified.
There are also fire putty and composite panels (sheets, as they are sometimes called). They are also effective, but still require additional effort during installation and dismantling.
So it is much more efficient to use other refractory materials that can be easily transported, quickly changed and shifted. They were intumescent refractory pillows.
Such a pillow made of fine-mesh, dense and mechanically strong fiberglass with a special filler can be stored indefinitely in a warehouse (dry and warm) until needed. It does not contain mineral fibers, it is resistant to atmospheric corrosion and moisture. Some manufacturers guarantee that their pillow can last for a long time in damp, unventilated areas.
Theory Practice
Three more photos
Fire-resistant pillows for data centers are small, lightweight bricks that are convenient to wrap around highways, completely closing the hole. By placing them tightly between the cables and the wall, good fire resistance can be achieved. The secret is that during a fire, pillows increase in size, several times their original volume. In this way, an effective seal around engineering passages is achieved. Fire-resistant pillows are capable to resist fire till 4 o'clock. It's a lot. In 4 hours, the data center fire system must cope with any fire.
The advantage of these pads is that they offer a dry, clean and easy-to-install solution. And this is a decisive factor for such an important object as a data center. Also, since the equipment in the data center is regularly upgraded, the ability to quickly run additional cables through the wall without destroying it less than completely is highly valued. So without pillows in the data center in any way.
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Source: habr.com