Never push the Big Red Button

Wed Sep 15 23:49:10 UTC 2021

Indeed. Few sounds in the data center haunt me quite as much as a sensation
that the decibel level has just decreased significantly.

On Wed, Sep 15, 2021, 4:14 PM Keith Stokes <keiths at salonbiz.com> wrote:

> The bigger thing to notice is the *lack* of noise as every server, switch
> and storage system spins down.
>
> ---
>
> Keith Stokes
>
>
>
> On Sep 15, 2021, at 3:50 PM, Stephen Satchell <list at satchell.net> wrote:
>
> In the data centers I've worked in over the decades, those Big Red Buttons
> would activate a normally-closed contactor in a breaker panel. When pushed,
> the contactor would open, and turn off all the circults in said breaker
> panel.  Not affected are lights, convenience outlets, door locks, and other
> non-data loads.  Resetting the contactor to the working position was done
> after throwing all the breakers to the off position, and then turn on each
> breaker, one at a time.
>
> The only noise that I have ever heard when the Big Red Button was pushed
> was the loud BANG as the contactor operated.  You hear a similar bang in
> movies in scenes where lights in a large area are turned on and off.
>
> Nothing like the BANG of a 600-amp 3-phase breaker tripping -- experienced
> that at University of Illinois Center for Advanced Computation.  You
> immediately look for the person holding a gun.
>
>
>
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