Analysing and reducing the risk of lightning
Many risks influence the high availability of IT services and building infrastructure in Data Centers where outages or malfunctions can have a dramatic impact. The latter include interference from electromagnetic effects, such as direct or nearby lightning effects, radio systems outside or within the building, harmonics in power distribution systems, switching impulses and magnetic fields in power distribution etc.
Some risks can be controlled by redundancy, while others must be minimised by means of conceptual guidelines. Nowadays damage to persons, images or property far exceeds actual material damage.
Because they build and operate sensitive systems, LuxConnect’s experts are fully aware of any risks resulting from electromagnetic interference and so they have put all the requisite protective measures in place. They have commissioned GHMT AG as an experienced consultant and expert in the Data Center market for conceptual design and quality assurance during the planning and realisation of the cross-trade implementation of EMC (ElectroMagnetic Compatibility) protection measures.
Protective measures
The engineering of individual protective measures starts early on, with the building layout and planning of the building’s technical equipment. Taking advantage of an early, skilled design, the individual protective measures against such interferences complement one another. This results in technical and economic advantages in terms of realisation and future operation. The sooner EMC protection measures are incorporated in the planning stage, the lower the cost of implementation.
During the different project phases from planning to realisation, the Data Centers have been backed up comprehensively from an EMC perspective and the following measures have been fully implemented:
- Systematic consideration of all EMC risks and implementation of protection zones secure the functionality of Data Centers
- Sustainability and technically and economically balanced EMC protection (risk-based EMC protection measures as a consistent derivation of the measures based on risk analysis)
- Bijective EMC requirements to avoid interpretation and reduction of errors in implementation planning and subsequent implementation
- Verification of the effectiveness of realised EMC protection measures through high-quality, calibrated measurement technology and high measuring competence
- Smooth project implementation of the basic evaluation and design right through to quality assurance in design and execution with an extraordinary staff and expertise strength in the field of EMC
- Profound metrological analysis of power quality (power supply) both in the normative and in the non-normative range to prevent future influences on Data Center operation
LuxConnect’s experience has shown that EMC protection measures are effective even in extensive facilities with stringent availability and precision requirements, and essential for high-availability operation.
