Indoor Grounding of Data Centers to IEC30129 and TIA607-E Standards

The indoor grounding system at a data center has been an evolving discipline from its inception in the early days where almost all data centers had a raised floor construction. Today raised floor designs are less common and more thought is needed in the design of indoor grounding systems. Standards IEC 30129 and AS 30129 Telecommunications Bonding Networks for Buildings and Other Structures and Standard TIA607-E Generic Telecommunications Bonding and Grounding (Earthing) for Customer Premises provide guidance on the design and installation of the indoor grounding systems suited for the modern datacenter. This paper will discuss the design requirements and common installation practices for the implementation of a good grounding system that would follow these guidelines. It will also discuss how the data center indoor grounding system is interfaced with other grounding systems like the low voltage or the LV ground, the high voltage or the HV grounding system, the DC Power grounding system and grounding system for any adjacent renewable energy source like photovoltaics. The key reasons for the design and installation of the grounding system are: •Noise and Transient Control •Fault-current mitigation •Equipment protection •Protection of people •Signal reference •Reducing effects of ground loops