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Comment by k_sze | Hacker News Reader

I sent this story to my colleagues and one of them asked "where is the FM200?"

I don't really know how FM200 systems work in data centres, but I'm guessing that if the fire didn't start from within the actual server room, FM200 might not save you? e.g. if a fire started elsewhere and went out of control, it would be able to burn through the walls/ceiling/floor of the server room, in which case no amount of FM200 gas can save you, right?

Another possibility, of course, is that the FM200 system simply failed to trigger even though the fire started from within the server room.

There is no published investigation details about this incident yet, I believe. Can somebody chime in about past incidents where FM200 failed to save the day?

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I think most of these gases are or will eventually be banned in Europe because of their impact on the environment. I've seen newer datacenters use water mist sprays.

Nitrogen makes up 78% of the atmosphere, so I doubt it will be banned. Most datacenters don't actually use halocarbons despite the common "FM200" name.

How... what. What if the fire is electrical? You can't just go "well the triple interlocked electrical isolation will trip and cut the current" if a random fully-charged UPS decides to get angry...

You might be thinking of Halons, which are CFCs that depletes the ozone layer? They are mostly phased out worldwide but existing installations might still be in use.

FM200 is something else that is often used in modern builds (not just datacenters).

It seems that HFC are being phased out too: https://ec.europa.eu/clima/policies/f-gas/legislation_en

I've heard that one. I thought it mostly affects refrigerants, but I didn't notice that FM200 is also an HFC. There are other fire suppression gasses with a low global warming potential, which probably can still be used in the future.

Apparently they don't use gas at all.

https://lafibre.info/ovh-datacenter/ovh-et-la-protection-inc...

Ah, so it's possible that they also used a water sprinkler system at SBG2. But still, I wonder how the fire protection system (water sprinkler, FM200, or otherwise) not save SBG2?

It doesn't really surprise me that the machines are dead, but the whole place being destroyed is much more surreal.

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