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Power room close to server room
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| Hello All:
I have a question that maybe this group can awnser for me.
I plan to install a server room in a new building in the near future.
My main location however is 10 ft away from the building power breaker.
The question being will the high level of voltage affect the servers i
plan to install.
Thanks
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| gfretwell@aol.com 2006-05-23, 2:21 pm |
| On 23 May 2006 07:37:22 -0700, "b" <brianj7675@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Hello All:
>
>I have a question that maybe this group can awnser for me.
>I plan to install a server room in a new building in the near future.
>My main location however is 10 ft away from the building power breaker.
>The question being will the high level of voltage affect the servers i
>plan to install.
>
>Thanks
No, just use decent surge/transient protection on the power to the
servers.
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"b" <brianj7675@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1148395042.757992.121550@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
> Hello All:
>
> I have a question that maybe this group can awnser for me.
> I plan to install a server room in a new building in the near future.
> My main location however is 10 ft away from the building power breaker.
> The question being will the high level of voltage affect the servers i
> plan to install.
>
> Thanks
Your kidding, high level of voltage? define please.
Server rooms are typically fed from PDU's. Do you know what they are and/or
how they work?
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| Beachcomber 2006-05-24, 12:21 am |
| On Tue, 23 May 2006 17:07:05 -0700, "SQLit" <sqlit@qwest.net> wrote:
>
>"b" <brianj7675@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>news:1148395042.757992.121550@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com...
>
>Your kidding, high level of voltage? define please.
>
>Server rooms are typically fed from PDU's. Do you know what they are and/or
>how they work?
>
>
>
Service equipment areas typically may have elevated levels of EMF's
(electro-magnetic fields) which are difficult to shield against. The
level might be comparable to standing under power lines or slightly
greater depending upon the loading.
Also, unless there is some sort of open switchboard, the electric
field component, is well shielded and effectively minimized to almost
zero.
Neither of these components associated with AC current should cause
any problems with servers being in close proximity.
If you are worried about your hard drives becoming erased, it is
highly unlikely that you would suffer any ill effects, from these low
level EMF's. Erasure levels need to be many orders of magnetic
greater field strength and concentrated such as with a commercial tape
degausser.
Beachcomber
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| Concepts that every server room should address are demonstrated by
Montandon and Rubinstein in their 4 Nov 1998 paper entitled "Some
Observations on the Protection of Buildings Against the Induced Effects
of Lighning" in IEEE Transactions on Electromagnetic Compatibility.
The same techniques used to make a direct strike to building (or
incoming utlities) irrelevant also make other lesser problems (such as
nearby fields) irrelevant. Figures demonstrate how to run cables
between various server room components AND how all incoming cables
should be routed. As Sun Microsystem Planning Guides discuss, your
connection must include low impedance (not just low resistance)
grounding to avoid voltage differences within the room. That means
routing of power and of signal cables.
Many electricians understand low resistance but have little idea what
is low impedance.
Not only must a server room suffer no damage from a direct to
building or utility lightning strike. The server should even operate
without noise induced interruptions. How the room is installed - good
construction practices - makes even noise problems irrelevant.
b wrote:
> I have a question that maybe this group can awnser for me.
> I plan to install a server room in a new building in the near future.
> My main location however is 10 ft away from the building power breaker.
> The question being will the high level of voltage affect the servers i
> plan to install.
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| SQLit 2006-05-24, 11:21 pm |
| snipped
> Many electricians understand low resistance but have little idea what
> is low impedance.
>
> Not only must a server room suffer no damage from a direct to
> building or utility lightning strike. The server should even operate
> without noise induced interruptions. How the room is installed - good
> construction practices - makes even noise problems irrelevant.
>
Sure would like to see a design that can handle a building lightning strike.
Last one I worked in every wire in the building as well as 90% of conduit
was toast. There was an installed U.L. listed lightning protection system.
This was 20 years ago, all I remember was replacing all of the electrical
conduit and wiring. Even today's with modern surge protection devices and
constant voltage transformers, I do not think a server room would survive a
building hit.
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| Much appreciate the information. The server room is about ten feet from
the buildings' main power supply.
>From the discussion it appears that it should be ok.
Thanks
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| It is routine even before WWII to suffer direct strikes and not
suffer damage. A telephone switching computer connects to overhead
wires everywhere in town. Do they replace that $multi-million computer
every year? Of course not. Electronics atop the Empire State Building
would suffer about 25 direct strikes every year without damage - even
before WWII. Technology is that old and that well proven.
We only do same with even better devices.
Modern surge protector devices and constant voltage transformer
implies a protector will somehow stop, block, or absorb. Not for one
minute. Well proven protection is not even about protectors nor is it
about stopping or absorbing surges. Well proven protection is about
earthing - shunting - diverting. The protector is not protection.
Earthing is the protection. A protector is sometimes used to make that
connection to earth. Sometimes a wire does same earthing connection.
That is all that a protector does - make a temporary connection to
protection.
Meanwhile where some install protectors to stop or block surges, then
damage results. Of course. Many are sold on myths so often promoted
on retail store shelves: that shunt mode protectors somehow stop
surges.
It is routine for emergency response centers to suffer direct strikes
and not suffer interruptions - as well as no damage. Server rooms are
supposed to be installed to do same. Direct lightning strikes earthed
without damage is routine when facility is properly installed. Why
does the telco not replace its switching computer every year?
Protection from direct lightning strikes must be routine to achieve
service that is routine in every town. Server room must do same.
BTW, UL does not mean the protector works. UL only means a protector
does not threaten human life. In fact, a protector gets UL approval
even if protector totally fails during testing. This because UL
approval says nothing about transistor protection. Whether protector
works is irrelevant to UL approval. But some retailers may hype that
UL approval to promote a myth that UL says protector does something
effective.
Citing a *UL protector* is a misguided assumption that the protector
provides protection. We install effective protectors where a direct,
hardwire connection cannot be made to earth. Earthing - not the
protector with or without a UL label - is protection.
Where humans assume the protector is protection, the when damage
occurs, the same human will then assume nothing can protect from direct
lightning strikes. This assumption in direct contradiction to 1930s
science papers. The technology is that old and that well proven - and
still not installed in so many post 2000 buildings due to human
ignorance.
SQLit wrote:
> Sure would like to see a design that can handle a building lightning strike.
> Last one I worked in every wire in the building as well as 90% of conduit
> was toast. There was an installed U.L. listed lightning protection system.
> This was 20 years ago, all I remember was replacing all of the electrical
> conduit and wiring. Even today's with modern surge protection devices and
> constant voltage transformers, I do not think a server room would survive a
> building hit.
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b wrote:
> Hello All:
>
> I have a question that maybe this group can awnser for me.
> I plan to install a server room in a new building in the near future.
> My main location however is 10 ft away from the building power breaker.
> The question being will the high level of voltage affect the servers i
> plan to install.
>
> Thanks
I don't mean to be harsh but you are not qualifed to install this
"server room". Literally, you don't have even the basic fundamental
knowledge to do it. Have someone qualified do this and it will be
safer, and possibly more reliable which is what a server room is
typically all about.
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| Of more concern is how the incoming wiring (and other electrical
conductors) enters a server facility. This Orange County emergency
response center suffered unnecessary interruptions due to lightning.
They addressed building earthing and bonding to eliminate interruptions
from lightning strikes. You can do it now at little cost or do it
later as an afterthought at much higher costs:
http://www.psihq.com/AllCopper.htm
Distance to power room is not a problem. How all communication and
power connections are made through that power room can affect facility
reliability.
b wrote:[color=darkred]
> Much appreciate the information. The server room is about ten feet from
> the buildings' main power supply.
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| Tomi Holger Engdahl 2006-05-29, 9:21 am |
| "b" <brianj7675@yahoo.com> writes:
> Hello All:
>
> I have a question that maybe this group can awnser for me.
> I plan to install a server room in a new building in the near future.
> My main location however is 10 ft away from the building power breaker.
> The question being will the high level of voltage affect the servers i
> plan to install.
Usually the voltages on the building power breaker are not the problem
on such situation.
What could be problem could be the magnetic fields from the high power
carrying cables and power rails in the power breaker panel.
Typically the magnetic fields are not strong enough to harm
hard disks etc.. that are inside the PCs. But the magnetic
field could be string enough to make traditional CRT display
unuseable (typically image shaking etc. problems).
I have seen that personally happen around 15 years ago on one
site where the house main distribution panel (230V/400V AC power
at few hundred amperes) was on the other side of one of the
wall in computer room. The monitors near that wall had very
much shaking images in them, point of text being unreadable
on screen. Installing some iron or steel plates (few mm thick
if I remember right) on the computer room wall helped situation
somewhat, but did not completely cure the problem.
Moving the monitors to other location (few meters away)
and doing operation with help of KVM switch solved the problem.
Servers worked nicely there without any special problems.
--
Tomi Engdahl (http://www.iki.fi/then/)
Take a look at my electronics web links and documents at
http://www.epanorama.net/
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