Henan Flood has impact on data center. How to protect data center respond to the flood
The northern area has heavy rainfall this year, and preparations should be made for data center in order to survive in the floods safely.
Since the 17th, Henan has experienced extreme rainfall, with precipitation in some areas reaching an average annual rainfall (641 mm). Extremely heavy rains have caused floods in Zhengzhou, and traffic and communications have been severely affected, affecting the hearts of the people across the country.
Some companies have stated that their data centers have been affected by the flood:
1 Haiteng Zhengzhou BGP Computer Room
On the 20th, Haiteng Zhengzhou BGP computer room issued an emergency notice stating that due to the recent heavy rains in Zhengzhou City, the Zhengzhou Municipal Government has adopted a first-level emergency response. The roads in the city have serious water accumulation and public infrastructure such as transportation, power supply and communication has been greatly affected. . Several areas have power outages. The power interruption was more than one hour in the area where the data center is located. The machine room is currently loaded by diesel engines. The nearby petrol station is temporarily unable to supply oil to the machine room due to the accumulation of water on the road. The oil storage capacity is limited. Considering the uncontrollable factors of oil supply and utility power recovery, it is recommended that users make emergency backups of data or ensure that the hardware is shut down abnormally. In case of failure, you can shut down remotely first. Our company has initiated an emergency response and will report the progress in time. If you have any other questions, please feel free to call the customer service hotline.
The official website of Haiteng Data, which belongs to the Haiteng Zhengzhou BGP computer room, is also inaccessible, indicating that the connection to the original site has failed.
2. Henan Mobile Hub Machine Room
Henan Mobile issued an emergency reminder: Some areas in Henan are affected by extreme weather, and the hub manchine room is out of power. Currently, mobile services cannot be handled normally. During this period, we will provide you with delayed shutdown services. Thanks for the understanding.
3. Western Digital Zhengzhou Area
On July 21, some users said that they had received a notice from Western Digital Zhengzhou Area that machine room service has stopped. The notice stated that due to successive heavy rains in the BGP computer room of Zhengzhou City in central China, the Zhengzhou Municipal Government has taken a first-level emergency response. The roads in the city have serious water accumulation, and public infrastructure such as transportation, power supply and communication has been significantly affected. Several areas have power outages. The power interruption was more than two hours in the area where the data center is located. At present, the engine room is loaded by diesel engines. The nearby petrol station cannot supply oil to the engine room due to the accumulation of water on the road. The storage of oil is limited. Considering the uncontrollable factors of the oil supply and the recovery of the utility power, there will be power interruption later, our company is considering users data security, service will be temporarily suspended. Thanks for the understanding!
4. Jinjiang Literature City Remote Backbone Machine Room
The well-known online literature website Jinjiang Literature City stated on its official Weibo Account that the remote backbone machine room where Jinjiang Literature City’s main website business is located is in Zhengzhou. Currently, the machine room is out of power due to heavy rain (a large-scale power outage has occurred in Zhengzhou, and machine room area has been out of power for 2 hours). It is temporarily relying on standby generators for power supply, some lines may be unstable. The machine room staffs and website technicians are in rush repairs, and we also keep contact with the machine room. If you can’t access Jinjiang temporarily, you can restart the device and retry. We apologize for the inconvenience~ I hope Zhengzhou will be safe and the rainstorm can stop soon!
5. Henan Property Rights Exchange Center Machine Room
Henan Provincial Property Rights Exchange Center issued an emergency notice: According to the "Emergency Notice of Zhengzhou City Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters on Improving Flood Prevention Emergency Response to Level I", due to continuous heavy rainfall, the area where the Henan Provincial Property Rights Exchange Center is located was out of power. In order to ensure the safety of equipment, The central machine room has cut off the power supply and suspended all services including online channels. We apologize for any inconvenience, and we will publish the notice immediately when situation back to normal.
In the rainy season, how should the data center respond to the flood?
The first is the construction of the data center. In addition to the economic environment, policy environment, convenient transportation, supporting facilities and other factors, the geographical conditions should also be carefully considered. Select a location with a higher terrain and good drainage to reduce stagnant water.
In addition, from Typhoon Mangkhut to the current flood, natural disasters accounted for a considerable proportion of the causes of data center failures, and their influence far exceeded ordinary failures. Therefore, the data center should establish a complete emergency response plan for natural disasters, regularly check emergency supplies, organize drills, and be prepared.
To prevent from floods, what should the data center do in daily operation and maintenance?
Daily operation and maintenance shall check the waterproofing works, drainage facilities, emergency supplies, water leakage alarms, etc. of the data center and surrounding areas, specifically as the followings:
1) Routine inspections should check the building roof, mezzanine, walls, doors and windows, etc. for obvious damage and cracks, focus on the joint splicing area, and regularly remove the debris on the rainwater grate to ensure that the drainage pipeline is unblocked;
2) Daily inspections should check water source areas such as refrigeration water system pipes, air-conditioning rooms, condensate pipes, fire pipes, emergency fire water tanks, underground pump rooms, drainage pipes, etc., and clean up the debris in the drainage ditch in time;
3) Regularly check whether the emergency reserve materials are sufficient, including equipment spare parts, waterproof plastic sheets, sandbags, buckets, drain pumps, hoses, towels, rain gear, etc.;
4) Check the reliability of the water leakage alarm, and maintain the response time and accuracy of the regular test of the leakage rope in important areas;
5) In the area where the air conditioner is directly placed in the facility room, install transparent water barriers or waterproof jackets for vulnerable points such as water pipe pressure gauges and valves to avoid direct water splashing on key equipment due to poor sealing;
6) The conditional "center" can install a waterproof tray on the top of the battery rack in the battery room with higher risk to avoid water stains from leaking to the battery and causing short circuit.
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