Computer rooms

Fine water spray systems may be potentially superior to CO9 apphcations and may replace halon environments such as telephone central offices and computer rooms. In the fine spray dehveiy system, water is delivered at relatively high pressure (above 100 psi [0.689 MPa]) or by air atomization to generate droplets significantly smaUer than those generated by sprinklers. Water flow from a fine spray nozzle potentially extinguishes the fire faster than a sprinkler because the droplets are smaUer and vaporize more quickly. Preliminaiy information indicates that the smaller the droplet size, the lower the water flow requirements and the less chance of water damage. 

For many applications, filters with an average arrestance of 80 per cent against Eurovent 4/5 will serve, but in situations that are more critical and, for example, in the outside air intake of computer rooms or laboratories 80 per cent average efficiency would be chosen. 

The necessary skills should be on-site to attend to any minor faults but must not be allowed to alter settings from one test to another, except as required by the test procedure. Dummy loads should be ready for use. If sensitive equipment is to be present (as might be the case in upgrading computer room plant) then the interested parties must agree limits previously. This may also apply to parts of the plant itself such as humidity-detecting elements. The latter can be protected physically. The job specification should state which parts of the procedure apply (if not all). 

To remove impurities which may be harmful to a process, e.g. fine dust in a computer room, bacteria in a pharmaceutical packing room... 

Such units may use chilled water or direct-expansion refrigerant, and will have the air filter at the top. It may not be possible to introduce outside air through it, so the room will have a pressurized fresh air supply, which will be filtered to remove fine dusts which may affect the computers. Computer room units work with a very high sensible heat ratio of 0.95 or more, so they have large coils to keep the ADP up near the dew point of the room air. Most will have an inbuilt steam humidifier to replace any moisture which is removed on the coil. 

A small fire in a computer room, a telephone exchange, or an assembly plant for communication satellites can cause enormous damage because of minute amounts of corrosion on circuit elements. Furthermore, if either water or a halogenated agent is used to control the... 

Does the computer room have limited access (e.g., are the servers physically/ logically secure) 2. Are there provisions for power backup 3. Is there a disaster recovery plan and is it periodically tested 4. Is there environmental monitoring 5. Are there off-site back-up facilities for key documents and software Is it readily retrievable ... 

Are there SOPs or other procedural documentation for the computer room security, back-up/recovery and disaster recovery ... 

After a few minutes of being actually involved a few feet from a train wreck, I left the computer room and went down the hall towards the end door to the parking lot. Opening the door where the wreck occurred, my car was parked right outside the door. Suddenly, a smell almost floored me. This black asphalt, smoke, burning, stinking smell just hit me I... 

Control room, computer room, or combined control/computer room from adjacent areas... 

Smoke detectors are primarily used where smoldering fires can be expected and where electrical equipment is located indoors. Examples of their use are in offices and sleeping quarters, computer rooms, control rooms, electrical switchgear rooms, etc. Their response is typically faster than that of heat detection devices. Smoke detectors are more susceptible to false alarms and usually multiple detectors are required to be in alarm before an extinguishing system is activated. 

If feasible, raised panel computer-room type floors should not be used. Where raised floors must be used to accommodate wiring and cables, they should be constructed entirely of noncombustible materials and provided with floor panels easily removable by hand. Power distribution in the subfloor space should be in conduit. Redundant data highway cables should be run as remotely from each other as possible and not mixed with power cables. 

The distributed control system (DCS) hardware areas are often referred to as "process computer rooms." I/O Rooms contain the incoming and outgoing wiring, cables and data highway links, and often small transformers and other related electrical equipment. Often, additional space is needed for a master process engineering computer terminal/work station for process control system changes and for critical safety instrumented systems (SIS) for interlocks and emergency shutdowns. 

Computer rooms considered in this section are those installations of substantial size and importance providing primarily data processing and network support service for multiple large process units or for an entire plant site. These installations are typically much larger than ones for an individual processing facility s dedicated process control computer. 

Fire protection options for computer rooms include ... 

If a sprinkler system is installed in a computer room or similar area, provisions must be made to automatically de-energize all electrical power to the room and equipment, except power to lighting, in the event of sprinkler operation. Ensure that de-energizing activity leads to a fail-safe condition. Preferably, this should take place prior to water application to minimize damage to exposed electronic circuits. This can be accomplished automatically by smoke detection systems. Manual activation is tolerable for constantly attended locations. Where automatic sprinklers are installed in areas containing minimal combustibles as described above, a sprinkler density of 0.10 gpm/ft (0.38 Ipm/m ) should be provided. Refer to NPEA 75. 

Table I. Measured and Computed Room Temperature Characteristic Ratio and Temperature Coefficients for Cellulosic and Amylosic Chains...

System access security and physical security. Focus primarily on the computer room and any related workstations. 

Physical security primarily the computer room. Access security... 

It was some kind of computer room rows of terminals sparsely personalised with pictures, Postlt notes and the occasional cuddly-toy mascot. The squad of six soldiers was an unusual addition for such an apparently conventional office. 

Computer Room. Computer rooms are usually constructed according to standard requirements of the major computer manufacturers. The details of the particular specifications for the computer room should be outlined for environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, line voltage and radio frequency interference). Consideration should be given to the differences in requirements for large computer rooms with multiple systems and for systems in laboratory areas. Each system should have a set of operating manuals and historical logs for 1) hardware, 2) software, 3) critical events, 4)... 

Putting out fires in offices, computer rooms, or museums without destroying the entire inventory has been a challenge after the phase-out of halons. 3M has now come up with fluorinated ketone, which has been included in Time Magazine s most amazing inventions of 2004 . 

---