Re:Trello is running on a diesel generator and may go down a...
by X-Istence on Tuesday October 30, 2012 @09:39PM
(#4720711)
The fuel is stored in the basement of the datacenter. That flooded, taking the pump that was supposed to pump up the fuel stored in the basement to the 17th floor.
This has nothing to do with buying a pump, that was already there, this has to do with the fact that the diesel tanks and the pumps for them are under water.
In the future I hope they put the pumps on higher floors, and make sure the fuel tanks are completely sealed, so even if the tanks are flooded the pump can keep pumping fuel out of it.
I suspect this is good advice, but the image that popped into my head was an elevated generator, a ground-level tank, and an electric pump reliant on either mains or generator power. "It's always worked during our monthly tests!" Whoops!
Probably the elevated generator should be installed with at least a small gravity-fed tank, easily refilled once the pump is operating. I doubt anyone wants a giant fuel depot anywhere inside or on the roof of the building.
Keep in mind that for heights taller than 3 floors (and practically, the limit is shorter than that), pumps have to be located on the same level as the fuel supply because the atmospheric column only has so much mass. Pumps and their electrical inputs should probably be installed with waterproofing if flooding is considered likely.