FROM: Data Center Manager
TO: Rebop Pakulah, Acme Engineering Company
RE: Burning Smell in the server room in the US office.
Dear Rebop Pakulah,
I understand that you are having concerns with smoke getting into the server room. You may want to consider one or both of the following as a solution to address your concerns about damaging the backup tapes
1. Set up storage off-site
2. Change your Data Center policy and physical security
By switching to an offsite storage area, this eliminates the whole problem. There is also an added benefit of having storage off-site as a backup plan. Should anything happen at the current location, all the data will be down and cannot be retrieved until it is backed up and running. The onsite storage would eliminate this possibility from happening. If you should consider changing the Data Center policy you should state that only work related activities are allowed on the premises and stipulate what those activities are, as such other activities could cause harm to the lifecycle of hardware, etc., and is not allowed. If you do want to allow the barbequing, then having better ventilation and security features to stop the smoke should be put in place.
Choosing one or more of these options will more than address your concern. I would start with an offsite storage area and then move to changing the Data Center policy as you desire. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to email me, I will be more than happy to help.
Sincerely,
Data Center Manager