OVHcloud’s SBG1 datacenter is a write-off after all

OVHcloud’s SBG1 datacenter is a write-off after all

OVHcloud has decided not to restart its SBG1 datacenter. The datacenter is too damaged to allow this. However, several intact servers will be moved to other datacenters.

OVG director Octave Klaba announced this on Twitter. After investigating datacenter SBG1, he has come to the conclusion that restarting the data centre is not feasible. However, this does not mean that all data in the datacenter is lost.

Intact servers will be moved

The servers in rooms 61A/D and 62A/D will be moved to datacenter SBG4. They should be back online around March 28. The servers in room 61E/62E will be moved to Croix for cleaning and then restarted in RBX or GRA. They should be back on the air on 26 March.

Currently, OVH is already working hard to restart the servers in SBG3. Many services are already up and running. The company plans to turn on all servers in datacenter SBG4 next Wednesday, 24 March.

Smoking battery

The reason that OVH is writing off SBG1, after all, is because there was new smoke coming from an unused room in the datacenter. This smoke came from a battery that was not connected. The battery did not cause a fire, but it did lead to a temporary suspension of operations in Strasbourg. The batteries were likely damaged by the fire, but that does not make it any less striking that the smoke did not develop until ten days later. Upon further investigation, OVH decided not to restart SBG1.

UPS under maintenance the day before the fire

Earlier this month, a fire started in OVH’s SBG2 datacenter in Strasbourg. As a result, this datacenter burnt down completely, and the neighbouring datacenter SBG1 suffered considerable damage. The fire was probably caused by a faulty UPS, which had been serviced the day before the fire. OVH has since shared an overview of the lost data and which data can still be saved.