On the 16th, it was learned that one computer room on the second floor of the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) building, where batteries and servers are placed in the same space, is still operating, even though a fire there caused the government's IT systems to crash. The computer room where the fire broke out at the NIRS building also had batteries and servers placed in the same space. In this setup, if a battery catches fire, it can spread to the servers and stored data can be lost.
There are a total of nine computer rooms in the NIRS building where servers storing administrative data are placed. There are two each from the second to fourth floors, and three on the fifth floor. The computer room where the fire broke out 4th was room 7-1 on the fifth floor. There, batteries and servers were operating without being separated in the same space. Because of this, the fire that started on the batteries spread to the servers and the data was lost.
There are two more computer rooms where batteries and servers are placed in the same space. Room 7 on the fifth floor of the building was shut down after the fire broke out in the adjacent room 7-1.
However, room 2 on the second floor is still operating with batteries and servers placed in the same space. It runs the Post Office financial products mall and "level 2" systems such as insurance and deposits. In the grading system classified by how closely the services are tied to people's daily lives, these are the next most critical after level 1.
Room 2 currently has 88 batteries. If it has the same layout as room 7-1 where the fire occurred, the distance between the batteries and servers would be only 60 cm. The government applies guidance to private data centers that says, "As a rule, install lithium battery rooms in compartments separated from other electrical equipment, and secure spacing between batteries." This is to minimize damage to servers in the event of a battery fire.
Gong Ha-seong, a professor in the Department of Fire and Disaster Prevention at Woosuk University, said, "It is a problem that a battery-server coexisting configuration remains inside the NIRS building," and added, "Fires can recur at any time, so separation should be expedited."