Data centers are today's high-value assets; here's how to protect them from fire

The National Fire Protection Assocation (NFPA) has partnered with mutual insurance provider FM Global to help data centers mitigate fire concerns, a problem that costs companies an average of $7,900 per minute when it occurs.

The results of the research, released this month by FM Global, yielded new data on how smoke flows through open-air spaces, detailing where to place smoke detectors in data centers for maximum effectiveness.

“To date, optimization of smoke detector placement in high airflow environments such as data centers has not been possible due to limited analysis on the relationship between smoke transport and smoke detector response,” said the report.

More than 100 experiments went into the research in an effort to better understand smoke flow and develop solutions that could help data centers improve resiliency against future fires.

“Even a small fire within a data center can result in a significant loss of information,” said Kathleen Almand, executive director of FPRF. “The best way to conduct fire prevention and detection research is to run well-designed, full-scale tests, and FM Global has the facilities, science and engineering expertise to do that.”

The experiments involved placing nine clusters of smoke detectors at three locations on the subfloor of a mock data center constructed at FM Global's research campus in West Glocester, RI. Each of the nine detectors included an aspirated smoke detector, which can detect smoke particles in the air before a fire happens, and two spot smoke detectors, the most common residential and commercial smoke alarm.

“Last year, data center fires at client facilities resulted in average losses of $17 million,” said Dr. Louis Gritzo, vice president, manager of research for FM Global. “Our belief is that the majority of loss is preventable through engineering and research. These unique and novel experiments will help make our clients' data centers more resilient and less prone to business interruption.”