Originally Posted by
Heidhurtin
Whereas I have spent the last 2 years disconnecting these "big red switches" whenever I find one in any of my DC's (usually in the smaller installations). There are gas suppression systems to take care of any fire situation and automatic disconnection of electrical supplies to cater for any electrical fault (down to individual circuit level).
There is simply no need for a master cut off switch to kill the whole hall. It's not as if there are big mechanical nasties whirling around and looking to cause injury to the unwary (think workshop or factory) which certainly need some form of emergency manual intervention capability.
Gas suppresion may take care of a fire but what if somebody is electrocuted in the dc. The police will come and demand all power turned off, then stick police-tape around the place and investigate it for a couple of days. Not helped by that many older raised floors are of metal. Where you planning to drag the poor soul outside before you called the emergency services?
And what about fires above or below, where the building is not only used to house computers. Certain fires demand water and the fire brigade won't touch the place if power is still on. A whole warehouse recently burned for days in Norway partially because the fire brigade wouldn't set a foot on the roof since it was covered in solar panels and they couldn't be sure there where no live currents.