How Do Data Centers Connect to the Internet?
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Bonding (or grounding) is a system of protective measures, which is implemented to prevent electric shocks when touching metal parts of energy-powered equipment. The whole structure consists of a metal circuit, a protect bus, and a ground wire. Network hardware is connected to PDUs and constantly powered to perform smoothly. Thus, network server rack requires obligatory bonding to protect the maintenance staff.
Data center equipment grounding is used worldwide, in all spheres, since it is the best way to secure humans’ lives from sudden death. Bonding is found not only in industrial facilities but also in domestic households. Washing machines, bath tubes, refrigerators are grounded in living apartments. This text will cover network rack grounding, the stages of bonding, and the main requirements for how to ground a network rack.
Should you ground your server rack? Absolutely. The main purpose of grounding data racks is to secure people from the harmful influence of electric circuits and prevent health problems, death in the case of serious damage to telecommunication systems.
Bonding is a reliable way to guarantee the protection of employees when maintaining telecommunication systems, server rooms. It is essential to understand and implement proper server room bonding requirements to maintain safety and operational efficiency in any environment where electrical systems are used.
The TIA and ANSI, international institutions for standardization, certification, standardize the requirements for manufacturers to produce physical machines in accordance with the set rules. The ANSI/TIA-942 standard is aimed at regulating the maintenance of network systems and data centers.
How are large metal equipment racks grounded? In order to pass certification, a data center should comply with this standard. It provides certificates on 4 rating level. According to data rack grounding standards, Level 1 is characterized by minimal protection against emergencies and has basic bonding requirements. On the contrary, Level 4 sets the highest requirements since this standard is issued to healthcare institutions, financial organizations, and other major facilities. In this case, independent powering systems, distribution lines are built to guarantee a fault-tolerant infrastructure.
The four rated levels of ANSI/TIA-942 are as follows:
Basic site infrastructure with limited protection against physical events. Minimal requirements for network rack earthing, and does not necessitate bonding.
Redundant site infrastructure capacity components, providing improved protection over Level 1. It includes basic equipment rack grounding to enhance safety and reliability.
Concurrently maintainable site infrastructure, allowing maintenance on any of the capacity components without disrupting the critical load.
Fault-tolerant site infrastructure, providing the highest level of protection. This level is often required for mission-critical environments like healthcare, financial institutions, with extensive earthing and independent power systems to prevent failures.
Setting data cabinet earthing requirements allows manufacturers to produce components that comply with international specifications and can be used worldwide. For manufacturers, it means a presence on the world market and the distribution of products in different markets. Compliance with these standards ensures that earthing data cabinets is performed correctly, providing safety and reliability for the end-users.
To ground a server rack, identify the grounding point, which is typically a metal stud or terminal on the rack’s frame or chassis. This earthing point serves as a common reference for earthing various components within the rack, including servers, switches, power supplies, and other devices. By connecting these components to the grounding point, any excess electrical charge or potential difference is safely directed into the ground, minimizing the risk of electrical hazards.
Equipment rack grounding involves connecting the point to a system. This system provides a path of least resistance for electrical currents to dissipate safely into the ground. Proper grounding of the data rack is crucial to ensure the safety of personnel and equipment and to comply with electrical codes and regulations.
Data centers consume 30 times more power than any office. Thus, it is important to guarantee the highest level of safety conditions. So, the installation of a grounded rack will be a good solution in any case.
Data center grounding stages include
The implementation of these tricks will help set up a reliable and 100% secure system that will protect workers and equipment, prolonging the lifetime of your network system and ensuring its smooth functioning.
Server racks and cabinets distributed by Sysrack come pre-grounded, simplifying the initial setup. However, ongoing maintenance and checks are necessary to ensure the bonding remains effective over time. Purchasing a pre-grounded data cabinet from Sysrack can provide a secure and reliable solution that requires less effort to set up.
Regardless of what type of facility you have (be it an office, a commercial building, an industrial plant, or whatever), all components (both machinery and furniture) need protection. No one and nothing can guarantee 100% security without arranging a bonding system. Bonding is widely used in both domestic, industrial spheres. Yet, in system administration, it is highly required since IT equipment is vulnerable to changes, which can cause datum loss, provide a harmful effect not only on physical devices but also on human health and life.
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Not grounding a network rack can result in various risks, including electrostatic discharge (ESD) that can damage sensitive electronic components, potential electric shocks to technicians working on the rack, and increased risk of equipment malfunction or failure due to electrical interference.
To determine if your server rack is properly bonded, you can use an electrical multimeter to measure resistance between the rack’s earth connection and a known ground point. If the resistance is low (close to zero ohms), it suggests that the rack is effectively grounded. Regular inspections of connections and cables for wear and tear are also crucial.
When connecting servers and equipment to a grounded rack, ensure that grounding cables are not overly stretched or under strain, avoid daisy-chaining multiple devices to a single ground point, and always follow manufacturer’s guidelines for proper grounding equipment rack.
Yes, there are different bonding methods for data racks. These methods include using earthing bars, strips, and direct earthing cables. The choice of method depends on the rack design, the type of equipment being used, the configuration of the data center, local electrical codes.