A data center fire quickly becomes a business interruption problem
When OVHcloud's Strasbourg data center burned in 2021, tens of thousands of customers lost access to services and data. The financial losses were severe, and operators continue to face more scrutiny from insurers around battery rooms, electrical infrastructure, and fire risk.
$9,000/min
average cost of data center downtime — Fortune 1000 companies can lose up to $1 million per hour
$24.2B
projected global data center insurance premiums by 2030 — more than double current levels, driven by fire and physical risk
Where a small heat problem turns into downtime, data loss, and insurance exposure
Most data center fires start as heat in places nobody is watching continuously. If the first alert comes from smoke detection or a clean agent release, the event is already expensive.
UPS battery thermal runaway
UPS battery rooms deserve constant attention, especially in facilities running lithium-ion or aging VRLA systems. A single cell can go into runaway and spread across a string if the heat is not caught early. Avian helps teams see abnormal battery-room heat before it becomes smoke, suppression discharge, or permanent damage.
Electrical panel and switchgear faults
Loose connections, overloaded breakers, and aging switchgear generate heat long before they trip or arc. Electrical failures are among the most common sources of data center fires and are particularly dangerous because faults develop slowly in rooms that are not continuously watched by personnel.
Cooling system failures and hot-aisle overheating
A failed CRAC unit or blocked airflow path can send rack temperatures climbing in minutes. High-density AI and GPU clusters operate at power densities that leave almost no margin for cooling excursions. Avian provides continuous thermal coverage of hot aisles and cooling infrastructure so anomalies are caught before equipment shuts down or ignites.
Fire suppression discharge — the hidden outage risk
A clean-agent release can take equipment offline even when the fire stays limited. Earlier thermal confirmation gives operators another chance to verify the event before the room is discharged.
Where a small heat problem turns into downtime, data loss, and insurance exposure
Most data center fires start as heat in places nobody is watching continuously. If the first alert comes from smoke detection or a clean agent release, the event is already expensive.
UPS battery thermal runaway
UPS battery rooms deserve constant attention, especially in facilities running lithium-ion or aging VRLA systems. A single cell can go into runaway and spread across a string if the heat is not caught early. Avian helps teams see abnormal battery-room heat before it becomes smoke, suppression discharge, or permanent damage.
Electrical panel and switchgear faults
Loose connections, overloaded breakers, and aging switchgear generate heat long before they trip or arc. Electrical failures are among the most common sources of data center fires and are particularly dangerous because faults develop slowly in rooms that are not continuously watched by personnel.
Cooling system failures and hot-aisle overheating
A failed CRAC unit or blocked airflow path can send rack temperatures climbing in minutes. High-density AI and GPU clusters operate at power densities that leave almost no margin for cooling excursions. Avian provides continuous thermal coverage of hot aisles and cooling infrastructure so anomalies are caught before equipment shuts down or ignites.
Fire suppression discharge — the hidden outage risk
A clean-agent release can take equipment offline even when the fire stays limited. Earlier thermal confirmation gives operators another chance to verify the event before the room is discharged.
From the field
Recent case studies
Why AVIAN Is Different
"We already have thermal cameras."
Why Spot Monitoring Is Not Enough for Industrial Thermal Safety
"We already have FLIR."
FLIR vs. AVIAN: What You Actually Need for Industrial Thermal Monitoring
If you're looking into thermal monitoring for your facility, you've probably come across FLIR. They're the biggest name in thermal imaging, and for good reason. They make excellent cameras.
Our Data Center Package
One system covering the rooms and equipment where data center heat problems start
Built for operators who need earlier warning on battery heat, electrical faults, and cooling problems, with thermal records that are useful for internal review, insurers, and auditors.
Coverage
Cover UPS rooms, electrical panels, battery strings, and server halls across the facility
Thermal cameras are positioned across UPS battery rooms, switchgear, PDUs, hot aisles, and cooling infrastructure — focused on the zones where thermal events start, not just where smoke is eventually detected.
Detection
Catch battery thermal trends and electrical hot spots before smoke detectors or suppression systems activate
Avian tracks thermal behavior across your critical infrastructure so a rising battery temperature, stressed panel, or cooling problem is flagged while your team can still investigate it without taking the room offline.
Response
Give operations and risk teams clear thermal evidence they can act on
Alerts can be routed quickly, events can be documented clearly, and coverage can be tuned over time so operators, facilities teams, and insurers have a reliable record of what happened and when.