Fire is a potential threat to any server room or data centre, and to combat this, we offer a wide range of fully integrated fire detection and suppression systems, designed to provide early warnings against the risk of fire and minimise the levels of damage should a fire ignite.
We undertake a detailed risk analysis of your data centre or server room, evaluating several key factors: early fire detection, fire fighting effectiveness, potential hazards to occupants, potential damage to sensitive equipment or property, and the impact on the environment. We carefully consider each of these factors before establishing the combination of fire detection and suppression systems to provide the optimum degree of protection.
VESDA (Very Early Smoke Detection Apparatus)
The world's leading high sensitivity air sampling smoke detection system works by continually sampling the air in the data centre using laser technology to detect the presence of very small amounts of smoke – alerting your data centre manager or IT team automatically and providing time to tackle the issue before serious damage is caused. To avoid false alarms, the system is adjusted to take account of the normal specific atmospheric conditions in your server room, and the laser technology can detect the difference between smoke and dust particles.
Gaseous fire suppression systems – fast, clean and safe
Almost all fires are extinguished in less than 60 seconds when the oxygen concentration falls below 15%, so gas extinguishing agents are used to provide a fast, clean data centre fire suppression solution. Our detailed evaluation means that we will recommend the optimal system for your specific requirements. Our fire protection systems include IG55, Nitrogen and FM200 gaseous fire suppression systems, or CO2 (for unmanned power sub-stations). All our fire suppression systems are odourless and colourless, and are environmentally friendly with zero ozone depletion and zero global warming potential. Once the fire is extinguished, the gas is removed from the server room through a fire rate and gas tight extraction unit operated by a key switch on the outside of the room.
Integrity testing to prevent re-ignition
Most fire suppression systems are only as good as the enclosure they are used in. It is vitally important to ensure that the protected enclosure can maintain the fire suppression agent at the highest level for 10 minutes following a discharge to prevent re-ignition. To ensure that this is the case, we carry out a room integrity test in accordance with the requirements of the US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Enclosure Integrity Procedure, and BS ISO 14520:2000 Part 1.