one of the problems with higher is that people trapped below would be subject to immersion in liquid acid from the run down and people above from the burning fumes, not a good choice. Option 3 for large network carriers, large data centers that are in non flood plains or high storm zones. "Rowland, Alan D" wrote:

Umm...

Just my 2¢, but I would think the higher, the better for the very reasons you state. The higher up the battery room, the less staff have to funnel through this "danger zone" to evacuate the building. Also, in most fires, fumes tend to rise. So again, the higher the battery room, the less floors are above this danger zone.

Of course the best solution (but not practical in most real worlds) would be to have the battery room isolated in a halon equipped bunker. "Pick your risks and mitigate those within commercial reason."

YMMV

End of non-operational content.

Al Rowland

-----Original Message----- From: Henry R. Linneweh [mailto:linneweh@concentric.net] Sent: Thursday, March 30, 2000 2:02 PM To: Sean Donelan Cc: nanog@merit.edu; ssprunk@cisco.com Subject: Re: Arlington and Fort Worth, Texas

This is disturbing, I think that people, environment and property are the crux of importance in the order stated.

Above the 3rd floor is a risk to human life and therefore unacceptable, being A First Responder Operational (FRO) I can clearly see this as a serious risk, technical details of burning acid fumes omitted.

Sean Donelan wrote:

...

On Thu, 30 March 2000, "Stephen Sprunk" wrote:

...

Maybe this is a facet of natural disasters rarely afflicting downtown areas around here...

Maybe an occasional cattle stampede through downtown Dallas ...

...

I've noticed that every telco colo facility I've been in around downtown Dallas has the same design... All are in high-rise facilities, on the 10th-30th floors. All have the battery and A/C rooms around the elevator shafts at the center of the floor plan, surrounded by all the equipment racks/cages around the outside facing the windows.

Gravity is a tough law to break. Batteries and mechanical equipment are heavy, and must go where the floor is strongest. Which tends to be the core of the building. As always consult a licensed structural engineer.

Protecting against an airplane crashing into the side of the building is hard (although the Empire State building survived). Pick your risks and mitigate those within commercial reason. Lloyds of London exists for the rest. Sometimes the best commercial solution is putting your equipment around the outside. You loose one rack of routers to wayward tree, a few customers are down. Loose your electrical plant, and everyone is S.O.L. Triage is never a pleasant experience.

Another note about battery rooms in high-rise buildings. There is/was a proposal before the NFPA to prohibit battery rooms above the third floor in high-rise structures after the L.A. CO fire. I haven't been keeping close watch on it, but Bellcore/Telcordia was fighting it tooth&nail.

-- Thank you; |--------------------------------------------| | Thinking is a learned process so is UNIX | |--------------------------------------------| Henry R. Linneweh

-- Thank you; |--------------------------------------------| | Thinking is a learned process so is UNIX | |--------------------------------------------| Henry R. Linneweh