A typical data center with the amount of plastics in the equipment, various paper products, furnishings, etc. can easily exceed light hazard. So you need to know what all is going in the area.
Then add data storage especially if it's 9-track mag tape on movable or fixed racks or something similar and you have even more to deal with. Check out NFPA 75 to start with, that will lead back to NFPA 13, or NFPA 2001, or other standards depending on the method of protection you decide upon. You can also look at FMDS 5-32. There are code issues with the location and ventilation of battery charging systems, especially if they are lead-acid batteries, gel-cell or glass mat batteries are not as big an issue but still need to be addressed from a building code separation and mechanical standpoint. Of the data centers I've done lately none have been less than 0.15 density. 0.20 was the highest as required by the underwriter. There have been wet systems, FM-200, FM-200/wet, single and double interlocked pre-action systems. Each was specifically dictated by the owner or underwriter. If I didn't have an owner or underwriter with a preference I'd recommend automatic wet, with area smoke detection cross zoning both photoelectric and ionization detectors. The smokes give an early warning to an event giving occupants a chance to rectify the situation manually before the sprinklers go off. Provide portable CO2 fire extinguishers per NFPA 10. If a pre-action was required I wouldn't waste the time going with more than single interlock. The delay in operation of the system could result in additional unrecoverable damage. Last choice would be FM-200 BUT with automatic wet sprinklers installed as backup. Craig L. Prahl, CET Fire Protection Group Mechanical Department CH2MHILL Lockwood Greene 1500 International Drive PO Box 491, Spartanburg, SC 29304-0491 Direct - 864.599.4102 Fax - 864.599.8439 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.ch2m.com -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joe Burtell Sent: Tuesday, June 03, 2008 10:29 AM To: SprinklerFORUM Subject: Data Center Can anyone point me in the right direction for design criteria for a data center? All we know so far is I have data storage and battery racks about 7' tall. This room is roughly 15,000 sq. ft. Best regards, Joe Burtell, SET, CFPS Burtell Fire Protection, Inc. Phone: 406.652.7697 Fax: 406.652.7743 Cell: 406.861.4507 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web Site: http://www.burtellfire.com _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field) _______________________________________________ Sprinklerforum mailing list [email protected] http://lists.firesprinkler.org/mailman/listinfo/sprinklerforum To Unsubscribe, send an email to:[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Put the word unsubscribe in the subject field)
