[geeks] Fire protection for home server rooms

[James]

> One of my concerns with all my operational hardware
> has been fire protection, Esp.  given the age that
> some of my systems are now getting to. (e.g.
> DECstation 2100).
>
> My only close calls have been from an old TV and a
> VT320
> that both decided start pouring smoke at some point.
>
> Now, I do take some precautions. I have no "clone"
> quality hardware, and that applies to monitors as well
> as  cases. Also, all monitors are turned off when I
> leave the building or go off to sleep.
> But what thoughts do others have on this?

I find monitors and terminals to be the most likely problems from
experience. Supression can be a problem, commercial systems are licensed and
require respirator kits if the area is too large to evacuate quickly. An
environment that has been modified to no longer support combustion will also
no longer support human life. The best thing you can do is keep anything
flamable away from your equipment and use smoke detectors.

I just had an idea, they make smoke alarms with an "exit light". A simple
circuit could be designed to detect this "exit light" and trip a relay to
kill all power in the room.