MUBEA - Decentralized security in the smallest of spaces

What to do when it burns? Extinguishing! Sometimes that sounds easier than it might be. The classic smoke detector, the fire extinguisher on the wall, the sprinkler system installed in the ceiling: they are not always the most effective protection. In fact, they are even the wrong one in special cases. If, for example, the fire is to be extinguished in a data center, the extinguishing water will at the latest do what the fire failed and bring IT to its knees. The fire protection of a data center presents the operator with significantly greater challenges than the usual fire protection of a building. Mubea did not want to take any risks with their new data center in Daaden. Especially since, due to the space available, only a gas-water connection room came into question as a data center. With the experience and products of proRZ and its sister company RZproducts, they nevertheless built what is currently the most fire-resistant data center in the world.

Mubea. Behind this is Muhr und Bender KG, based in Attendorn, a global partner to the automotive industry and lightweight construction specialist for highly stressable spring components. The company is represented at a total of four locations in Germany. The IT infrastructure should also be distributed across the locations. The aim was to provide server rooms in-house in order to optimally secure the IT hardware and data. While two large data centers have been set up elsewhere, the company at the Daaden / Weitefeld site with more than 1,000 employees had to reschedule. There, at the headquarters of Mubea KG Weitefeld, only the 14 square meters of a gas-water connection room were available to the new data center. “Now a data center has to be much more secure in terms of fire protection anyway. There are, for example, early fire detections that detect a fire as early as the development phase.

However, if extinguishing water is used, IT is directly threatened. In the event of a fire, IT infrastructures should always be protected by fire extinguishing systems that use special extinguishing gases. And the walls also play a role. Very few people know that, for example, walls made of plasterboard or concrete contain crystalline bound water, which in the event of a fire can lead to high humidity and thus ironically to water damage. We were therefore looking for a solution that not only fits flexibly into the small space. It should take all these components into account, protect our IT from physical dangers and, especially because of the gas lines running through it, offer maximum security for our IT, ”explains Sascha Langenbach. As a system administrator at Mubea in Daaden, he was commissioned to take care of the implementation of the project, says Langenbach.

Individual companies were invited to present their concepts. At the end of the pitch, proRZ Rechenzentrumsbau GmbH from Wallmenroth prevailed against the competition. “The company made an experienced and professional impression from the start. For example, the proRZ was the only one to note that for a floor plinth that we wanted in the data center, due to the floor covering, we had to pay attention to the weight distribution, ”says Langenbach. As an independent specialist planning company, proRZ has many years of extensive practical experience in IT and building physics. The range of services includes consulting, planning and implementation of data centers and server rooms of all sizes,

which is why the company offers individual solutions and supports its customers in the areas of IT availability, security, operating cost optimization, energy efficiency and data center certifications. In cooperation with its sister company RZproducts, it also provides the necessary products at short notice. The analysis of the current situation at Mubea showed that a mini data center is the most flexible, space-saving and most secure solution. Therefore Mubea decided in favor of the "DC-ITSafe". It is a double-door, modular compact data center on less than two square meters. By installing the 19 inch components horizontally and vertically, the rack can accommodate up to 62 height units - 50 horizontally, 12 vertically.

42 of them are in use at Mubea. Langenbach: “The air conditioning is integrated. There are also predefined cold and warm areas. The Mini Data Center is now completely closed. This means that no smoke gets inside. But the video on the flaming convinced us. ”Because: The DC-ITSafe is currently proven to be the world's most fire-resistant mini data center. During a test by the independent fire protection competence center MPA Dresden, the safe was exposed to fire from five sides and withstood temperatures between 900 and 1,000 degrees Celsius. Thus, the DC-ITSafe including all components and cable bulkheads EI90 is fire-resistant according to EN 1363-1 and is the only compact data center in the world that fulfills the limit values ​​according to EN 1047-2 for over 40 minutes.

In addition, the data center is connected to a fire protection system. In the event of a fire, this automatically sends an alarm to the fire brigade. Thanks to intelligent monitoring, the system also warns Mubea employees if defined limit values ​​within the DC IT Safe are exceeded. The "MonIToring-Alarm.sys" monitors and logs both the individual IT infrastructure components with regard to temperature, humidity, fire and smoke gas, as well as the doors and thus access and informs the company's internal fire protection ­ be ­ responsible ­ for ­ the ­ data ­ center. Multiple transmission paths for data transmission via LAN, ISDN, analog telephone interface or GPRS can be set here. This enables quick reactions to any malfunctions in the data center and minimizes downtimes. Should a fire arise within the mini data center, the integrated 19 ”fire alarm and extinguishing system fights the fire independently with the extinguishing agent Novec 1230.“ We can manage our IT in-house, completely securely and, above all, autonomously, as desired. In the end, our team only needed a brief introduction to the DC IT Safe. The safe can also withstand other significant physical hazards, for example. In addition to protection against fire, gas or explosion, these also include protection against extinguishing water, vandalism or, for example, eavesdropping or radiation. The swing bolt technology that cannot be levered out and the self-locking doors also increase protection against break-ins. All in all, the situation is resolved much more than satisfactorily, ”says Langebach.

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