another one in the "School Daze" saga
(for previous, see: www.b3ta.com/questions/badmanagement/post751369)

Of all the things I've seen in my nigh-on 21 years on this earth this is going to be the worst.

As mentioned before we are getting a new school with servers and IT network. We will be having a main server room with all the servers, HP Blade enclosures, 60% of the switching equpiment, backup servers, storage NAS, Buidling Management, CCTV and Telephone servers as well as UPSs for the whole lot. Total worth is about £100,000 and if destoryed would cripple the school.

Guess what fire suppression system we've got?

Sprinklers. Mo-foing sprinklers in a server room "to comply with regulations".

Apparently they'll only come on if the room gets to a certain temperature but no-one know what temperature so if the air con goes off over the weekend we could come in monday morning to find the servers have had a nice bath all weekend. No-one also knows if there is a time delay so when the kids set the fire alrm off (an they will) if there is a time delay or the fire had to be confirmed before the sprinklers come on.

What's wrong with gas ffs?
(tb2571989 dies at precisely, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 9:02, 13 replies)

Dunno what regulations
those are then, it certainly isn't the building regulations.
(Psymon_Spark Jesus Saves! The rest of you take 4d6 damage, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 9:23, closed)

I'm
going to have to contact someone locally...the contractors probably did it to get a bit more money out of us.
(tb2571989 dies at precisely, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 9:59, closed)

Sprinklers come on when there's a fire underneath them
It melts something in the sprinkler which then lets water out

All the sprinklers coming on because someone set off the fire alarm is pure Hollywood
( le brian, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 9:51, closed)

ok
well good to know...still think it's a bad idea tho.
(tb2571989 dies at precisely, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 10:00, closed)

Here's what I know about some sprinklers: The first sprinkler is set off by heat.
The rest of the system detects the pressure drop, and massively cranks up the water pressure to make all the other sprinklers pop. It's not inconcievable that a system could set them all off in this manner for a different reason, however unlikely for a manual alarm activation.

Fill the sprinkler system with sand, Indiana Jones Firefighting, safe for electronics.
(Arsenic, Fri 13 Jul, 2:73 and, Sun 13 Jun 2010, 15:52, closed)

You can't have gas
because if anyone is in the room when it's set off, they'll suffocate. Don't know why you have to have sprinklers though.
(Petite chien is going to do science to it, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 10:04, closed)

if
any of the kids are in there, no loss. Perhaps the access control would kick in and if anybody was in the room it wouldn't activate.
(tb2571989 dies at precisely, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 12:56, closed)

Generally
Gas fire suppression systems will have a siren and a big flashing light for a minute or so before going off.
(razakel, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 18:27, closed)

or
this /\
(tb2571989 dies at precisely, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 19:04, closed)

different gas systems
it used to be haylon that they used, but they got all health and safety on that since you had to have masks and breathing apparatus.

the newer systems increase the amount of CO2 in the room so that any naked flames are extinguished, but you can still breathe in them.

not sure how much they cost mind.
( flapmeister knows where your mum lives, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 12:54, closed)

A bucket of sand
is what you need.
( stopmeandslapme Cometh the hour, cometh your mum, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 10:06, closed)

this
was suggested to me. twice ^_^
(tb2571989 dies at precisely, Fri 11 Jun 2010, 12:56, closed)

Sounds like the server room at my last IT job
(slight repostage here)
It was in the foyer and surrounded by glass so it looked EXCELLENT for arriving clients.
In fact the whole front bank of servers were the newest and best, with matching monitors all pouring down the Matrix screensaver.
It really did look cool.
But... The UPS was plugged in so the lights were on, but nothing was actually plugged in to *it*. All the (working) servers, monitors computers etc were running off two powerboards, themselves connected to a double adapter plugged discreetly under the floorboards. At least 50 percent of the equipment in the room wasn't working at all, it was purchased at dumps, cleaned up and put in to look good (there was even an old Silicon Graphics box on one rack that caused a few double takes from anyone who knew what they were looking at). the airconditioning water tank was in the ceiling above the racks - and it leaked - so there was a plastic bucket on top of the highest server we had to empty every morning (someone had to come in on weekends to do it). They all ran illegal copies of the software we'd charged clients for, the "auto back-up" server (for so it was labelled) was in fact the office itunes jukebox and none of the cabling was marked so only the guy who set it up knew how to change anything at all.
Overheating problems? Oh yes. It was basically a sealed box with about 20 working servers in it and no aircon. Any security was completely compromised by the fact you had to wedge the door open to stop them all melting.
When this was pointed out by an incoming sysad, who did an audit of the room and noted it was all way below what was promised in various contracts, the MD shrugged and walked off.
( difficultchild, Tue 15 Jun 2010, 1:03, closed)