Author Reference: Lango, B. (2017). How to protect server rooms from fire risks in the Kenyan environment. Intel Fire Group of Companies Blog. Nairobi, Kenya. October 02, 2016.
If the current fire risks audit reports in Kenya were to be reviewed then some of the recommendations advised by some of the fire risk auditors on server rooms can not only be alarming but also calls on the authenticity of the risk assessor’s knowledge on the same. A review by the one famous “Dr. Matiangi” at the submission center can lead to mass withdrawal of risk assessors practicing licenses. The online dictionary defines a server room as where all the computer servers are housed and related to workstations where people sit and program that are usually located elsewhere. Further many authors in technology and communication field define this as a room, usually air conditioned and specifically devoted to the continuous operations of computer servers. These definitions bring out a picture that server rooms are: one, devoted to continuous operations of computer servers; and two, that they are usually air-conditioned. In Kenya, some of the rooms referred to as server rooms do not meet the qualification of these definitions and the ones that meet the conditional definitions have to a greater extent ignored the measures to put in place to mitigate against fire risks.
In Kenya there are no laws or regulations that specifically advise on the protection of server rooms from fire risks. The fire risk regulation rules legal notice no. 59 of 2007 which is adversely quoted by many fire risk assessors does not specifically mention server room but generalizes workplaces and is more leaned towards a manufacturing setting than a modern white color workplace with a focus on service provision. Sections 28 and 29 of the same regulations that focus on fire detection and firefighting appliances respectively are too generalized to give a clear indication on server room requirements. The US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has established a standardization that solely focuses on fire protection of information technology equipment. NFPA 75 which is recognized as an international standard in many countries Kenya included and also recommended by Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) should be used by companies and organizations to ensure their server rooms comply with fire protection standards. The NFPA 75 if implemented wholly by organizations for their server rooms will address issues relating to: fire threat to the server room, its occupants, and the entire premises; economic loss that may be as a result of loss of vital records and functions of the server room; and finally, business interruption.
Basic fire protection systems for server rooms
The implementation of a comprehensive fire protection system for not-so heavily loaded server rooms in some companies may be a tall order. This may even be more disagreeable with the powers controlling the economic muscles of the company if the fire protection system cost is much more than what is referred to as the server room and its components. In this kind of scenario therefore many fire risk assessors and advisers have been giving the more familiar recommendation of installation of an automatic dry powder suppression system and especially the easy to install 9kg automatic dry powder fire extinguisher. NFPA 75 recommends that the ideal system for the server room would be one which incorporates a clean gas suppression system as this will be friendlier to the server hardware. Therefore for purposes of effective fire protection for server rooms the ideal system would be that of an inert gas suppression system. In cases where the company or the organization is not able to financially afford the auto inert gas suppression system then the use of CO2 fire extinguishers is recommended at the server room. Even though this poses the problem of being used only when the staffs are around the use of ionized smoke detection system should be implemented to act as early warning system. The server room should also be designed in such a way that it has reasonable enclosure to prevent the rapid dissipation of the inert gas in use either auto or manual.
In Kenya there are no laws or regulations that specifically advise on the protection of server rooms from fire risks. The fire risk regulation rules legal notice no. 59 of 2007 which is adversely quoted by many fire risk assessors does not specifically mention server room but generalizes workplaces and is more leaned towards a manufacturing setting than a modern white color workplace with a focus on service provision. Sections 28 and 29 of the same regulations that focus on fire detection and firefighting appliances respectively are too generalized to give a clear indication on server room requirements. The US National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has established a standardization that solely focuses on fire protection of information technology equipment. NFPA 75 which is recognized as an international standard in many countries Kenya included and also recommended by Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) should be used by companies and organizations to ensure their server rooms comply with fire protection standards. The NFPA 75 if implemented wholly by organizations for their server rooms will address issues relating to: fire threat to the server room, its occupants, and the entire premises; economic loss that may be as a result of loss of vital records and functions of the server room; and finally, business interruption.
Basic fire protection systems for server rooms
The implementation of a comprehensive fire protection system for not-so heavily loaded server rooms in some companies may be a tall order. This may even be more disagreeable with the powers controlling the economic muscles of the company if the fire protection system cost is much more than what is referred to as the server room and its components. In this kind of scenario therefore many fire risk assessors and advisers have been giving the more familiar recommendation of installation of an automatic dry powder suppression system and especially the easy to install 9kg automatic dry powder fire extinguisher. NFPA 75 recommends that the ideal system for the server room would be one which incorporates a clean gas suppression system as this will be friendlier to the server hardware. Therefore for purposes of effective fire protection for server rooms the ideal system would be that of an inert gas suppression system. In cases where the company or the organization is not able to financially afford the auto inert gas suppression system then the use of CO2 fire extinguishers is recommended at the server room. Even though this poses the problem of being used only when the staffs are around the use of ionized smoke detection system should be implemented to act as early warning system. The server room should also be designed in such a way that it has reasonable enclosure to prevent the rapid dissipation of the inert gas in use either auto or manual.
SERVER ROOMS ARE DIVINE AREAS WITHIN THE WORKPLACE AND STORES THE PRESENT AND
FUTURE REFLECTIONS.The writer is a PhD Generalist in Service Delivery and Project Management.
Contact: benard.lango@gmail.com
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