Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/31501
22 MARKET TRENDS www.securitysystemsnews.com APRIL 2011 SECURITY SYSTEMS NEWS PROTECTING HIGH-TECH DATA CENTERS S By Matt Wickenheiser ociety has become increasing- ly digital: From teens texting to professionals working in the cloud, from Facebook updates to the latest Twitter tweets, we are in a data-driven world. All that data has to be managed somewhere, and companies are responding to ever-growing digital demand by building more and more data centers. And that construction represents a growing vertical market for security professionals who can install advanced fire detection and suppression systems, according to experts who spoke to Security Systems News. “Over the past three, four years it seems to have blossomed exponen- tially as data centers become larger and more critical in our economy,” said Steven Joseph, director of mar- ket development for the Americas at Xtralis, which makes very early warning aspirating smoke detection systems. “In terms of where we’re growing as a community, we’re just more reliant on data and the storage of data.” Mike Ramey and Marty Smith, the operations manager and president and CEO of Alarm Tech Solutions LLC, respectively, said they’ve seen a real pick-up in data center work in the D.C./Baltimore/Northern Virginia market they serve. Data centers are currently about 10 per- cent of their business, Smith said. They’re working on new data centers and on putting new technology into old centers, as well. The security firm had done a lot of work in data centers back during the dot-com boom, said Smith. But the bust followed the boom, and data center work dried up, he said. “They say things are cyclic. In some respects, this is not different. We did little data center work,” said Smith. Then, all of a sudden, when everybody’s got a smart phone and Facebook, it took off. All of a sud- den, everybody’s doing data center work again.” There’s good reasons that increased numbers of data centers mean a boost in fire system work. “You think about the information and the investment and the time you would lose if one of those systems would go down,” said Jeff Netland, VP of engineering at Honeywell Fire Systems. “They want early detection, and they want good detection.” It’s not just the equipment itself that has the value, but the actual financial and business loss of an outage due to fire. “Having an incident take down a data center can be quite horrendous in terms of cost,” said Joseph. “One estimate put it at $6.5 million per hour of downtime for a financial brokerage house.” To put out any fires, integrators use either pre-action, clean agent, wet sprinklers or a combination VB-M40 • 20x Optical Zoom Lens • On-board Video Analytics • Improved Auto Focus System Ideal for Low-Light Environments • H.264/MJPEG and ONVIF v1.02 Canon’s New 1.3 Megapixel IP Security Cameras Deliver Low-Light Performance, Video Analytics, and Much More. Canon’s IP Security Cameras have always leveraged the Company’s global leadership in advanced optics and imaging technologies. Now Canon’s three new 1.3 Megapixel IP Security Cameras take that advantage to a whole new level with a range of features and benefi ts that go beyond the competition. Canon’s new VB-M40, VB-M600VE and VB-M600D IP Security Cameras are ONVIF version 1.02 conformant products making them easier to integrate into video management systems. With these new products Canon has combined brilliant low-light color imaging capabilities, on-board video analytics and easy integration and installation to set a new standard in high resolution IP video security camera performance. of those systems, said Smith. But it’s the actual detection that’s key. Broadly speaking, data center owners don’t want a fire to get to the point where wet sprinklers are needed, noted Ramey. “In a worst case scenario, a fire builds, it trips, and an agent system is a one-shot deal. What if it can’t handle the fire? Next is the wet sys- tem,” he said. “No one in IT wants a wet system going off—ever.” There are various detection sys- tems now being used. Mac Mottley, CEO of axonX, a subsidiary of Fike, said he’s not doing much work in data centers currently, but he’s look- ing to break into that vertical. AxonX makes security cameras embedded with flame and smoke algorithms that can detect smoke before it’s visible to the human eye, said Mottley. “It can track very faint patterns, minute changes in pixels,” said Mottley. Netland said aspirating systems are popular because they sample the air continuously and provide advanced detec- tion. More and more, said Netland, there will be tighter integration between aspirating systems Mike Ramey Eng neered VB-M600D • Easy Set-Up PTRZ Tool • 101° Wide Angle Lens • On-board Video Analytics • H.264/MJPEG and ONVIF v1.02 VB-M600VE • Easy Set-up PTRZ Tool • Outdoor IP66 Rated • Vandal Resistant Dome • On-board Video Analytics • H.264/MJPEG and ONVIF v1.02 For product info visit www.usa.canon.com/ipsecuritycameras or call 1-800-OK-CANON