Do I have to put the clean agent tanks in my data room?
Networks and Servers are the backbone of an organization. If you had to complete all transactions manually for a week, how would your business and customers cope? Server rooms typically house the most concentrated cluster of expensive assets. Your clean agent tanks don’t have to be in the same room to work properly.
No, you can store them in a neighboring space.
Space in your server room is valuable, you want to utilize the protected space in your server room for the necessary electronic hardware. This is an advantage of clean agent suppression systems, as you can have the chemical agent tanks stored in a neighboring space, such as a supply closet, instead of inside the server room itself.
Clean Agent Systems are the best method of fire protection for IT rooms as they provide protection which, when activated, will not cause damage to your equipment as water from a traditional sprinkler will. If water on your expensive electronic equipment wasn’t bad enough, the water sitting in sprinkler pipes is not clear, clean water like you see in the movies. Typically, it is dirty water pouring over your electronics.
Before you store your clean agent tanks outside your server room, understand the advantages of having them inside your server room.
You need to be aware that storing the clean agent tanks in a neighboring space means you need to be diligent in your pipe inspections. If you have a leak in the pipes between your tanks and the server room, you may lose too much agent at discharge to suppress the fire. While your Life Safety Partner can inspect the pipes and test them each year during your annual inspections, problems can crop up in between inspections. If the tanks are stored in your IT room, then a leak is not as problematic since the agent is still ending up in the IT room where the fire is occurring.
A1 is a leading expert on the latest technology in life safety. To find out more information or to ask a question, click here or call us at 1-800-859-6198.