Louisiana data center integrates smoke detectors with sprinkler systems to protect critical equipment

St. Charles, IL: Part of the National Cyber Research Park in Bossier City, Louisiana, the Cyber Innovation Center is a state-of-the-art facility focused on accelerating technology transfer and developing the necessary workforce to meet growing cyber demands. To protect its server room and data, the center elected to use the System Sensor FAAST aspirating smoke detectors for early detection of fires. The following is excerpted from the case study:

 For this 5,400-square-foot server room, Fire Tech Systems elected to integrate System Sensor's FAAST Fire Alarm Aspiration Sensing Technology® with a pre-action sprinkler system to give them the earliest detection possible. The sprinkler system is a double interlock system that takes two actions for activation: First, there must be smoke to trip the detectors for the pipes to charge with water. Second, heat from a fire is needed to fuse any one of the sprinkler heads, and only then will water discharge.

 "To detect smoke for the first trip, we needed a more advanced early warning detection system, and that system is FAAST," said Ronald Case, senior project manager for Fire Tech Systems Inc. in Shreveport, La.

 "The [hot aisle/cold aisle] design [of the server room] involves blowing cold air through the ceiling vents into the area where the hard drives and racks are located. The air is then pulled through the racks, cooling them, and then into the hot aisles where it rises through the ceiling and is recirculated," Case continues. "So, it's basically high flow, high air movement. And FAAST can be programmed to adjust to that high air flow."