Data centers need to achieve unprecedented level of uptime to keep pace with modern business demands. To achieve this goal, data centers need to pay increased attention to facility infrastructure issues, including grounding systems.
A grounding system is not just an insurance policy against lightning strike. It’s an active, functioning system that provides protections to personnel and equipment and is essential for efficient network performance.
A properly designed grounding system is one that is intentional, visually verifiable, adequately sized to handle unexpected currents safely, and one that directs potentially damaging currents away from sensitive communication equipments.
Most professionals don’t realise the communication industry have some very unique and specific requirements for grounding, grounding rod and bonding. While there are similarities, what is fine in one field doesn’t always do the job in another.
As an expert in lightning elimination, let us explain the many effects of improper grounding.
- When a surge form direct or indirect lightning or transient, is not properly dissipated by the grounding system, electrical noise is introduced. This causes faulty data signals, decreasing the overall efficiency of your network.
- According to many surveys, improper grounding rod leads to millions of dollars per year of damage to property and equipment due to lightning.
- International agencies state that grounding is the most important factor for a reliable network performance
- Personal injury from electrical shock caused by improper grounding can cause immeasurable human suffering and significant expense
- Potential fire hazards exist when heat is generated from electrical surges that find a high resistance path to ground
As more services move to the cloud and devises join the network, the risk of damaging surge migration to other parts of a facility increases. When all devices are networked across systems, a surge could move from a surveillance camera, for example through a digital network of a device on another system. Putting proper grounding, grounding rod and bonding in place can help prevent surges and lightning strikes from spreading across a network and damaging or destroying multiple devices or systems.
From the award winning Dissipation Array System to the patented Chem-Rod, LEC offers the best of products along with a full line of SMART ground testing services and more, ensuring a solution tailored just for your needs.
Contact us and transform your data centre’s grounding system into a high performance ground.