Lote Notes July 2020 — Lote Consulting

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Lote Notes July 2020

Lote Notes Jul 2020

July 2020, Vol 001, Issue 03

Lote Notes | Fire Safety and Security in Practice

“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.”

Robert Jordan’s words from 'The Fires of Heaven' ring painfully true in these times: many willows have been bending and oaks breaking in this gale. Even some bending willows have unfortunately been blown away entirely.

Analogies aside, COVID-19 and its associated economic pressures have forced businesses to increase their agility and proactivity in order to survive. This is especially true for smaller businesses, or those in certain industries that rely on freedom of movement or non-essential expenditure. The May Special-Edition of Lote Notes focussed heavily on resources to assist businesses with becoming hardier in the face of these struggles.

In this issue, we will shift our focus somewhat back to more regular topics such as industry changes and emerging technologies.

This issue of Lote Notes focuses on data centres, facilities that have become a critical part of modern business and computing, as well as national infrastructure. How are data centres best kept safe from fire and security threats? Additionally, re-investigating aged care – how has COVID-19 affected the industry, and what role do fire safety and security consultancy experts still play in meeting industry goals? Find out within.

Best Wishes & Stay Safe
Dr Amer Magrabi
Managing Director - Lote Consulting | Fire Safety & Security
Making the world safe and secure

Securing a Data Centre | Why a specialist security approach is a project imperative

By Dr Maher Magrabi

Data centre security can be defined as the operational practices and technologies that are employed to safeguard the data centre from external threats and vulnerabilities. The growth of Cloud Computing, Software as a Service, and Platforms as a Service has driven the growth of physical data centres. Being a physical asset, on-shore data centres are also a critical component in national infrastructure. Data centres are the physical facility that houses Information Technology (IT) infrastructure comprising computing, storage, networking, and power resources. As these data centres store sensitive and/or proprietary information that may include customer data and valuable intellectual property, cyber and physical security is paramount to its operation. This article will focus on physical elements of data centre security.

Read More Here

Fire Safety in Data Centres

By Christopher Koch

The reliance on cloud-based data storage and increasing demand for supplying energy from alternative sources has seen a dramatic increase in the use of Lithium-Ion battery based Energy Storage Systems (ESS). One common application for ESS are data centres to help cater for the increased demand for cloud-based data storage. One of the fundamental requirements of a cloud-based data centre is business continuity via zero downtime requirements. ESS are mandatory, to provide continuous data centre operation during a power outage. Lithium-Ion based ESS are prone to thermal runaway leading to the production of flammable gases and subsequent uncontrollable combustion. The additional ESS fire risks are not readily covered by the Deemed-to-Satisfy (DtS) provisions of the Building Code of Australia (BCA), Furthermore, ESS trigger the application of BCA Clause E1.10 - Provision for Special Hazards which prescribes that additional provision must be made if special problems of fighting fire could arise because of the nature or quantity of materials stored, displayed or used in a building or on the allotment; or the location of the building in relation to a water supply for fire-fighting purposes.