Its a 24/7 world out there now. Business is now in the business of doing business on the Web. Clients demand better than 99.9% uptime, and their ecommerce sites must be available for world wide access all the time.

Fire in a web hosting facility means disaster for businesses dependent on revenue streams from ecommerce. It can also mean lawsuits, tarnished reputations, or bankruptcy for a poorly protected web hosting facility. Its a statistical fact--most businesses fail after suffering a catastrophic fire. But it doesn't happen to be. You can be prepared to avoid disaster before it strikes.

Fire Protection Strategies for Web Hosting Facilities

The primary objective of fire protection for web hosting facilities is to prevent downtime. A two fold strategy works best. Fire must be detected rapidly, even before visible smoke is present in the equipment rooms or vaults, and fire must be extinguished rapidly and automatically.

Step 1: Rapid Detection

Ordinary spot type ionization and photoelectric detectors are simply too slow to respond to fire to be the first line of fire detection in a web hosting facility. Much more rapid, and over 1,000 times more sensitive to products of combustion, air sampling fire detection is the preferred choice. The air sampling fire detection system will often detect fire even before visible smoke is present in the equipment room. Some systems, such as the VESDA Laser Plus System, offer enhanced features for more security.

Step 2: Automatic Fire Suppression

In selecting a fire suppression system for a web hosting facility, it is important to choose a non-water based system such as Inergen or FM200. These fire suppression system gasses are truly three dimensional and thus penetrate the smallest of openings to bring rapid fire suppression. Because they discharge as a gas, they leave no residue, do not cause shorts in electrical equipment, and require virtually no clean up after discharge. Downtime is reduced to a minimum.

Two Agents to Choose From

Both FM200 and Inergen will extinguish fire equally well. Your choice depends largely on several considerations:

• Inergen Systems Pros and Cons
  • Rapid fire suppression
  • Inexpensive recharge cost
  • Requires more floor space for cylinder storage
• FM200 Systems Pros and Cons
  • Rapid fire suppression
  • Recharge costs exceed Inergen recharge costs
  • Requires little floor space for cylinder storage. Agent containers can mount on walls and ceiling.

For more information on Inergen, click here. For more information on FM200, click here.