Digital infrastructure specialists DgtlInfra explains data centre fire risks, consequences and causes, with 19 examples of major data centre fires over the last decade. Outages of data centres can cost 500 000 US$/hour, and can also take out local community internet access, data loss, as well as loss of expensive installations. Data centres contain electronic equipment, data and power cables, cabinets, insulation, UPS (uninterruptable power supply) batteries, storage material, furniture, all of which include potentially flammable materials, and fires can be caused by overheating, electrical failures, power surges or failure and thermal runaway of batteries, or human error. The fire which totally destroyed the Maxnod data centre fire, France, 2022 (making your pinfa Newsletter author’s email inaccessible for nearly a week), was caused by batteries of the site’s solar PV panels. Other examples summarised, with photos, involved companies including Google, Apple, BT, Samsung, Comcast, OVH (photo), AT&T …
“Data Center Fires: A Detailed Breakdown with 19 Examples”, M. Zhang, DgtlInfra, 25th May 2023 https://dgtlinfra.com/data-center-fires/