2-day Training in Project Management for Data Center & Critical Facilities: From Design to Commissioning

2-day Advanced Training in Project Management for Data Center & Critical Facilities: From Design to Commissioning

(19 - 20 October 2017, 2-day)


Building, upgrading or relocating new data centers / mission-critical facilities requires extensive coordination. Project management team shall ensure all components come together smoothly. It is typically fast track from design and planning to testing and commissioning.

You are cordially invited to attend the course which highlights key components required by a project management team who directs the manufacturing, the outfitting and the preparation for a data center / computer room while simultaneously oversees site work, infrastructure for facility, utility installation, etc. and facilitate IT installations.


It also details about how to structure the project management activities with a common language (for data center and mission-critical purposes), avoid cost increment, responsibility gaps and duplication of effort and achieve an efficient process with a predictable outcome. Most importantly, the course outlines how to meet the project goal and SLA (Service Level Agreement) before, during and after completion of the project defined by the owner.


- Reviewing the Project Management Basics

> Planning and Programming a Successful Project for Mission-critical Purposes
> Managing a Project on Time, Cost and Quality

- Contract Management for Data Center Design and Build
- Roles and Responsibilities
- Liaising with Clients (Facility Owners, Project Owners, etc.)
- Liaising with Stakeholders
- Liaising with Design Consultants / Architect
- Managing Facilities / Services Suppliers
- Managing Contractors
- Assessing the Project Progression and Status Meetings
- Conflicts Management
- Change Management and Accommodation
- Project Handover, Testing and Commissioning
- Cases Study


Date: 19 - 20 October 2017 (Thursday - Friday)
Time: 10:00 – 17:30 (around 13 hours)
Venue: Ground Floor, Innocentre, 72 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

Fee: Special rate for CIBSE / HKIE all membership classes


For details, please refer to www.stmedia-asia.com/newsletter_6.html.

About us

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exits to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For the Data Center Design Consideration, please visit 

(1) Site Selection,
(2) Space Planning,
(3) Cooling,
(4) Redundancy,
(5) Fire Suppression,
(6) Meet Me Rooms,
(7) UPS Selection,
(8) Raised Floor,
(9) Code & Standards, and
(10) Transformers and Harmonic Distortion


All topics focus on key components and provide technical advice and recommendations for designing a data center and critical facilities.

Course in Data Center Infrastructure and Operations

CPD Course in Data Center Infrastructure and Operations
Organized Jointly with the Society of Operations Engineers (SOE), Hong Kong



IT support is crucial to every business and public sectors. No matter a few servers in a closet or a hundred of servers in a data center, all equipment and MEP (Mechanical, Electrical and Plumb) facilities required are mission-critical to maintain the IT services.

The course outlines the infrastructure system supports a typical data center and critical services and the main components facilitate a data center operations and maintenance. It also introduces the best practices and the international standards for data centers and critical facilities.

The course is designed for facilities engineers and IT infrastructure operators to acquire in-depth knowledge in designing critical infrastructure and data center operations.

• What is Data Center
• Applications of Data Center
• Who are the Users
• Users’ Expectations
• Inside a Data Center – IT, E&M Services, Facilities Supports
• Data Center Configurations – Architectural, Structural, MEP, Network
• Glossary – Resilience, Tier Levels, Redundancy
• Operating a Data Center
• Loss Prevention
• Maintenance Management
• Facilities Supports – MEP Services
• Specific Requirements for Facilities
• Operations Highlights
• Sustainable Management
• System Performance Assessments

Speaker:           Ir C.K. Chan, BEng (Hons), MSc, BBA, CEng, MHKIE, MIET, REA /
                          Mr. Ian Ip, BSc (Hons), MSc, CEng, MCIBSE

Time:                07:00 pm – 10:00 pm (Total 15 Hours)

Venue:              Flat C, 12/F, Blk 2, Wah Fung Ind Ctr, 33 - 39 Kwai Fung Crest, Kwai Chung, HK

Fee:                  Special Rate for all SOE Members

Certification:    15-hour CPD certificate will be issued to students who completed
                         and pass the course assessment with attendance over 70%.

Inquiry:            Please contact Anna (852) 3188 0062 or email to info@soe.org.hk for registration.


For details, please visit www.soe.org.hk.

Data Center Design Consideration: Transformers and Harmonic Distortion

Data center managers and information technology (IT) engineers in today's critical facilities are in search of reliable and energy-efficient equipment with low total cost of ownership. But after equipment investments are made, it's important to pay attention to possible threats to the operational efficiency.

One threat that is often overlooked is harmonic currents, which can have a significant impact on electrical distribution systems and the facilities they feed. Wasted power and temperature fluctuations caused by these currents can prevent facilities from achieving maximum efficiency, so it's more important than ever for data center managers to evaluate their facilities and to take the time to develop a strategy mitigating harmonic current.

Harmonic Distortion

Harmonics are distortions of the normal electrical current waveform, generally transmitted by nonlinear loads. Switch-mode power supplies (SMPS), variable speed motors and drives, photocopiers, personal computers, laser printers, fax machines, battery chargers, and UPSs are examples of nonlinear loads. Single-phase nonlinear loads are prevalent in modern office buildings, while 3-phase nonlinear loads are common in factories and industrial plants.

A large portion of the nonlinear electrical loads in most electrical distribution systems comes from SMPS equipment. For example, all computer systems use SMPS that convert utility ac voltage to regulated low-voltage dc for internal electronics. These nonlinear power supplies draw current in high-amplitude short pulses that create significant distortion in the electrical current and voltage wave shape (Figure 1). This harmonic distortion, measured as total harmonic distortion (THD), travels back into the power source and can affect other equipment connected to the same source.

All periodic waves can be generated with sine waves of various frequencies. The Fourier theorem breaks down a periodic wave into its component frequencies.

Harmonic currents generated by nonlinear loads increase power-system heat losses and power bills for end users. These harmonic-related losses reduce system efficiency, cause apparatus overheating, and increase power and air conditioning costs. As the number of harmonics-producing loads has increased over the years, it has become increasingly necessary to address harmonics when making any additions or changes to a facility. 

Most power systems can accommodate a certain level of harmonic currents but will experience problems when harmonics become a significant percentage of the overall load. As these higher frequency harmonic currents flow through the power system, they can cause communication errors, overheating, and hardware damage. 

Reducing Harmonics

To determine if harmonic mitigation is necessary, facilities managers should conduct an assessment to precisely measure the harmonics affecting the data center and identify their origin. Solutions for harmonic mitigation vary in complexity and cost and can be deployed individually or in combination. The strategy that makes the most sense for a facility will vary based on the loads it supports, its budget, and the nature of the harmonic-related problems it is experiencing.


Solution 1 - K-rated Transformers in Power Distribution Components


A standard transformer is not designed for high harmonic currents produced by nonlinear loads. It will overheat and fail prematurely when connected to these loads. Therefore, when harmonics were first introduced into electrical systems at levels that showed detrimental effects (circa 1980), the industry responded by developing the K-rated transformer. K-rated transformers are not used to eliminate harmonics, but to manage the heat generated by harmonic currents.

K factor ratings range between 1 and 50. A standard transformer designed for linear loads is designated with a K-factor of 1. The higher the K-factor, the more heat from harmonic currents the transformer is able to withstand. When selecting a K rating, managers should consider the trade-offs between size, efficiency, and heat tolerance. For example, transformers with higher K factors are typically larger than those with lower K factors. The table shows appropriate K ratings to use for different percentages of nonlinear current in the electrical system.

Power distribution units (PDUs) with a K 13-rated transformer are readily available to efficiently handle harmonic currents. Units with K 20 transformers are common, but are typically overkill for most modern data centers.




Units with K 20 transformers are common, but are typically overkill for most modern data centers. The K-rated, dry-type transformer is widely used in electrical environments - either in a PDU or as a stand-alone unit. However, recent advances in transformer design are changing the way facilities managers reduce voltage distortion and power loss caused by harmonic currents. 

Solution 2 - Harmonic Mitigating Transformer


A harmonic-mitigating transformer (HMT) is designed to handle the nonlinear loads of today's electrical infrastructures. This transformer uses electromagnetic mitigation to deal specifically with the triplen (3rd, 9th, 15th, and so on) harmonics. Secondary windings of the transformer are arranged to cancel zero sequence fluxes and eliminate primary winding circulating currents. This transformer also addresses the 5th and 7th harmonics by using phase shifting.

Using these two electromagnetic techniques, an HMT allows loads to operate as they were intended, while minimizing the energy loss and distortion caused by harmonics. Most HMTs exceed NEMA TP-1 efficiency standards, even when tested with 100% nonlinear loads. Wherever a K-rated transformer is specified, an equivalent HMT is a direct substitute.



Solution 3 - Harmonic Mitigating UPS


Much like an active filter, harmonic-mitigating UPS eliminates harmonic distortion by inserting equal and opposite current into the line. They also compensate for reactive power from low power-factor loads and balance loads across 3-phase systems to avoid stranded capacity, as well as to provide clean and continuous power during utility outages or in response to electrical disturbances.

Going Further


Data center managers are increasingly deploying UPSs with energy-saver operating modes to boost efficiency and lower power costs. Recently, harmonic-mitigating UPSs capable of keeping distortion within predetermined and adjustable limits, correcting power factor, and balancing loads while in energy-saver mode have begun to reach the market.

These new systems typically remain within 1% of energy-saver levels while performing these functions, a significant improvement over past technologies. The harmonic mitigation technology in the latest energy-saver UPSs is a built-in feature that requires no additional footprint, saving valuable data center floor space and reducing installation and maintenance costs.

Harmonics continue to be costly for data centers, preventing data center managers and engineers from achieving maximum reliability and efficiency. Fortunately, the latest enhancements in UPS technology offer next-generation harmonic-mitigation capabilities. Though not always required, such systems enable data centers to achieve the highest efficiency possible by actively correcting for harmonic currents as they occur.

About us

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exists to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For the Data Center Design Consideration, please visit 

(1) Site Selection,
(2) Space Planning,
(3) Cooling,
(4) Redundancy,
(5) Fire Suppression,
(6) Meet Me Rooms,
(7) UPS Selection, and
(8) Raised Floor

All topics focus on key components and provide technical advice and recommendations for designing a data center and critical facilities.

Apple Builds its first Data Center in Guizhou, China

Apple Inc on Wednesday (12 Jul 2017) announced that they are going to build its first data center in China, in partnership with a local internet services company, to comply with tougher cyber-security laws introduced last month.

The critical facilities will set up in Guizhou with the help of Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co. Ltd., and represents a portion of Apple's planned $1 billion investment into the province.

"The addition of this data center will allow us to improve the speed and reliability of our products and services while also complying with newly passed regulations," Apple said in a prepared statement. "These regulations require cloud services be operated by Chinese companies so we're partnering with GCBD to offer iCloud."

In April, China also announced a law requiring businesses transferring over 1,000 gigabytes of data outside China to undergo yearly security reviews, with potential blocks on exporting economic, technological and scientific data.

Apple was quick to note that its data protection protocols, viewed by some as the industry standard, will not be impacted by China's laws. The authorities also said the law is not designed to put foreign firms at a disadvantage and is drafted in reaction to the threat of cyber attacks and terrorism.

"No backdoors will be created into any of our systems," Apple said. The comment seemingly addresses fears that Chinese government agencies might use the cybersecurity law as an invitation to engage in snooping activities.


Earlier this week, Apple said it planned to open a new data center in Denmark. An earlier center in the country, announced in 2015, will come online this year.

Other foreign firms that oversee cloud businesses, including Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp, already have data centers in China.

Strategic Media Asia Limited

Connecting IT, Facilities and Design

 

T (852) 2117 3893  |  F (852) 2184 9978

 

Room 403, 4th Floor, Dominion Centre, 43 - 59 Queen's Road East, Hong Kong

http://www.stmedia-asia.com  |  http://green-data.blogspot.com

Join the Technical Visit + CPD Course in Electrical Design for Mission Critical Supply

Electrical Design for Mission Critical Supply (2-day)
(10 - 11 August 2017, approved CPD course by CIBSE UK)


Mission critical facilities have particular power requirements that significantly impact how they are designed and operated. You will gain insight into the critical supply system, from power components to distributions and efficiency; from power requirements to sizing, design, testing and commissioning:


-- Concept on primary supply and secondary supply
-- Power flow in mission critical supply system
-- Features of major equipment for critical supply

> Uninterrupted power supply and power storage
> Backup generator
> Automatic transfer switch
> Static transfer switch
> Isolation transformer

-- Efficiency assessment
-- Power quality review
-- Configuration diagram of critical supply (N+1 / 2N) design & analysis
-- Review of cable sizing to incorporate harmonics content
-- Earthing system design
-- Testing and commissioning requirements
-- Brief of Systems Merging Appraisal Test (SMAT)


The sessions detail about the power system components that support typical data centers or mission-critical infrastructure. It prepares individual to fully understand the high voltage systems' design & build by exploring the international best practices and sharing the instructors' experience.

Speakers' Profile - www.stmedia-asia.com/profile


Date: 10 - 11 August 2017 (Thursday - Friday)
Time: 10:00 – 17:30

Venue: Ground Floor, Innocentre, 72 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
(Next to the Hong Kong Productivity Council)

Fee: Special rate for CIBSE / HKIE all membership classes
Language: Cantonese (with English Course Materials)

For details, please refer to www.stmedia-asia.com/newsletter_6.html.

Half Day Technical Visit / Showroom Tour

Sponsor - APC by Schneider Electric (www.schneider-electric.com)


Further to the critical facilities design course, a half-day showroom tour is arranged to demonstrate the critical power, cooling facilities and data center management solutions by one of the world’s leading equipment provider. The tour also provides an interactive environment and opportunities for the engineers to exchange professional views on mission-critical facilities with a hands-on and immersive experience.


Date: 25 August 2017 (Friday)
Assembly Time: 15:45 - 16:00
Assembly Point: 11/F, Kerry Centre, 683 King's Road, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong


* Pre-registration required
* Seats are limited. Priority will be given to the CPD course's participants.


Enrollment & Registration

Kindly complete and return an Application Form together with a crossed cheque made payable to “Strategic Media Asia Limited” - Room 403, 4th Floor, Dominion Centre, 43 - 59 Queen's Road East, Hong Kong.


About the Organizer

Strategic Media Asia Limited (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. For details, please visit www.stmedia-asia.com/about.html or http://green-data.blogspot.com (Knowledge Blog).


Adverse Weather Arrangement - Events in the morning, afternoon or evening will be cancelled if typhoon signal No. 8 or above or black rainstorm warning is still hoisted after (or is announced by the Hong Kong Observatory to be hoisted at / after) 6:00 a.m., 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. respectively. Delegates will be notified when the class will be made up as soon as possible.


P.S. Think your team might also be interested? Pass it on ›


Strategic Media Asia Limited
Connecting IT, Facilities and Design

T (852) 2117 3893 | F (852) 2184 9978

Room 403, 4th Floor, Dominion Centre, 43 - 59 Queen's Road East, Hong Kong
http://www.stmedia-asia.com | http://green-data.blogspot.com

(Belt & Road Initiative) China Telecom Global, Daily-Tech and Global Switch to Cooperate for Data Center Worldwide Expansion

China Telecommunications Global Ltd (CTG), Global Switch (one of the leading owners, operators and developers in European and Asia-Pacific for multi-tenant cloud data and carrier neutral data centers) and Daily-Tech Beijing Co Ltd (Daily-Tech), a developer and operator of data center infrastructure across China, have signed a transformative co-operation framework agreement focused on the provision of data center facilities, services and developments worldwide.

The agreement was officially signed in Hong Kong on 25 April 2017 in a ceremony attended by Deng Xiaofeng, Chief Executive Officer of China Telecom Global; Li Qiang, Chief Executive Officer of Daily-Tech; and John Corcoran, Chief Executive Officer of Global Switch. Simon and David Reuben, Directors and long-term core shareholders in Global Switch, were also present at the ceremony, reflecting the importance of the occasion for customers and the wider data center industry.


Global Switch is currently operating 10 data centers in Europe and Asia Pacific (Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Paris, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney) with around 30,000 square meters technical space. The pioneering agreement enables CTG and its partner, Daily-Tech, to draw on Global Switch's developed data centers - capacity, services, development and management expertise - outside China and to ensure the growing number of customer receiving a world-class resilient mission-critical infrastructure during the global markets expansion.


The cooperation also reaffirms a commitment from the 3 leading and experienced businesses to play an important role in delivering China's Belt and Road initiative and to underpin the worldwide expansion of Chinese companies.



About the Blog

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exists to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For details, please visit www.stmedia-asia.com/trainings.html.

Amazon to Build 3 Data Centers in Sweden

Amazon, the world’s leading provider of cloud services, adding more sophisticated services such as database management, analysis or design assistance to mobile applications, said it would build 3 data centers across Sweden, the first in the Nordic region, bringing the number of its cloud storage facilities in Europe to 10. The company on 4 April said in a statement that Amazon Web Services (AWS) would establish the centers in 3 towns, Katrineholm, Vasteras and Eskilstuna, located west of Stockholm.

“For over a decade, we’ve had a large number of Nordic customers building their businesses on AWS,” the head of AWS, Andy Jassy, said in the statement. Jassy said the Nordic region’s most successful startups including game developers, King - the creator of Candy Crush Saga - and Mojang, “depend on AWS to run their businesses, enabling them to be more agile and responsive to their customers.”

In Europe, the Internet giant Amazon already has 3 data centers in Ireland, 2 in Great Britain and 2 in Germany, according to its website. The group announced in September that it planned to open 3 more in France this year.

A Data Center Nightmare: Single Point of Failure (3)

Refer to "A Data Center Nightmare: Single Point of Failure (1) and (2)"


The two examples (1) and (2) mentioned emphasize the importance of several lessons that might seem like common knowledge, but slipped past all parties in the complex design and construction process of the data center.


(I) It is very important to eliminate single points of failure. Had there been dual paths to the critical load and either static switch power-distribution units or rack-mounted static switches, there would have been no data center failure.

(II) It is essential to use conduit and wire instead of busduct. Every electrical connection is a potential failure. The feeder busway system installed had mechanical connectors every 12 feet. Conduit and wire only have connectors at the source and at the load.

(III) Only equipment for mission-critical purpose are allowed in data centers! The installed busway was inherently unreliable because human error led to one failed connection and the two additional failed connections uncovered during testing.

Unfortunately, data center professionals do not necessarily have the chance to test drive a facility before it’s completely operational. At the end of the day, every data center is a unique. Professionals must take all of the right steps to make sure they anticipate future mishaps and learn the lessons of previous experiences.


Five Elements of a Reliable Data Center

Building and designing a data center is a complicated process. The complexity is compounded not only by the building type, but by the fact that each data center is unique, built and designed to meet specific criteria. A successful project depends upon five things:

• Good design with input from the facility executive, builder, designer and commissioning agent
• Good construction, including careful selection of construction firms and subcontractors, as well as effective construction administration and documentation of field issues
• Specification and installation of quality data-center-grade materials
• Effective commissioning
• Thoughtful operational practices and timely maintenance

About the Blog

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exists to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For Data Center Design Consideration, please visit 

(1) Site Selection,
(2) Space Planning,
(3) Cooling,
(4) Redundancy,
(5) Fire Suppression,
(6) Meet Me Rooms,
(7) UPS Selection, and
(8) Raised Floor

All topics focus on key components and provide technical advice and recommendations for designing a data center and critical facilities.

A Data Center Nightmare: Single Point of Failure (2)

Refer to "A Data Center Nightmare: Single Point of Failure (1)"


Data center failures can be rooted in several sources - design, construction, maintenance, quality of material, quality of equipment, commissioning and direct human intervention. For the most part, data centers, even ones that fail, have the benefits of good design practice and intention, professional construction oversight, and high-quality craftsmanship. They are maintained according to data center quality guidelines. But a single overlooked mistake can quickly become significant issues - power and air conditioning failure - that can bring down a data center.

Another story is a high-profile government data center, with a busduct-panelboard connection exploded, effectively shutting off power to approximately 15,000 square feet of the most critical computing in the facility.

In this incident, the design relied on an isolated redundant uninterruptible power supply (UPS) back-up. When a UPS system failed, a static automatic transfer switch was to shift to the already-operating isolated redundant UPS and transfer the load within a quarter cycle. The system worked well and the client was satisfied with the transfer scheme and the rotary concept.


Source of the Problem


Where this system failed was downstream from the automatic transfer switch. Each of the switches fed one busduct riser and terminated directly into a main distribution panel located on each floor of the facility - one busduct per panel. A single fault on any busduct or main distribution panel compromised the critical load.

As it occurred, the electrical connection between the busduct and the distribution panelboard failed and the load was lost. A single point of failure succeeded in bringing down the floor. Not until the facility’s electricians ran jumper cables from one of the intact risers and back-fed the main distribution panel did the floor have power.

Why did this failure occur? The building had been designed in tight coordination between the government representative and the designer; the entire system had been commissioned and had been running with tight oversight for more than two years. What happened?

The cause of the problem was the failure of a manufactured busduct connector, one of hundreds in the building. The connector joined lengths of feeder busduct via a sliding piece - designed to slide approximately one-quarter of an inch to make installation easier - and a break-away torque bolt designed to ensure that the installer did not over-torque the bolt.

Although the investigation team was not asked to explain exactly why the joint exploded, it determined that the quarter-inch of play designed into the connector had actually allowed for a portion of uninsulated section of the copper busduct to be exposed to the atmosphere without insulation. The team surmised that the perfect combination of air borne dust, humidity and possibly other contaminants led to an arc that became a fault and exploded.

During the analysis, the investigation team isolated each busduct riser from the static automatic transfer switch at the source and from the main distribution panel at the termination. During the megger test, the electrical forensic team discovered two additional joints that didn’t pass, clearly more candidates for potential failure. Not only did the joints not pass the megger test, two of them visibly and audibly arced while the voltage was ramped up during the testing. The joints had shown themselves to be the weak link in the system. The installed busduct technology was vulnerable to catastrophic failure.



Continue - A Data Center Nightmare: Single Point of Failure (3)

About the Blog

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exists to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For Data Center Design Consideration, please visit 

(1) Site Selection,
(2) Space Planning,
(3) Cooling,
(4) Redundancy,
(5) Fire Suppression,
(6) Meet Me Rooms,
(7) UPS Selection, and
(8) Raised Floor

All topics focus on key components and provide technical advice and recommendations for designing a data center and critical facilities.

A Data Center Nightmare: Single Point of Failure (1)

Every facility executive responsible for data centers can tell at least one nightmare scenario. Some are from direct personal experience; others are data center legends. All these stories show how hard it is to prevent data centers from failing. Every data center is unique. Every design is a custom solution based on the experience of the engineer and the facility executive.

An example comes from the colocation business which is made up of real estate companies that offer tenants space, not in office buildings, but in data centers. The occupants are servers, not people. The data center real estate company brands its services based upon a promise to deliver non-stop climate control and power reliability. One moment without cooling or power harms not only the tenant, which stands to lose revenue as a result of down time and recovery time, but also the colocation company’s business model (with SLA, Service Level Agreement).

A construction error that exposed a design miscalculation and a commissioning flaw can result in losing a data center. One nightmare scenario is that cabling between the generators and the paralleling gear had been damaged during construction. While being pulled through the conduits, the cable insulation had been nicked and scraped. The damage was not enough to be detected by normal meggering — a test of the resistivity of insulation — but enough to create a weak link in the mission critical power chain.

If all things are correct, the loss of a cable should not be an issue. The design engineer had foreseen the potential for generator system failure and had designed paralleling gear with the programmable logic controller (PLC) programmed to handle this fault. When the fault occurred, the PLC began shutting down the entire generator bank. With the system experiencing a cascading failure, the PLC was unable to intervene.

When the shutdown event was complete and the paralleling switchgear was cold, the entire site transferred to the battery. Within the design time of 15 minutes, the batteries were depleted and all customers were left without the service of their computers. The data center had failed and the colocation company’s branding promise had been seriously compromised.

Why did this happen? Was it a construction error? A commissioning oversight? Could this be pinned to the owner’s design manager, the one who devised the paralleling scheme from the beginning? How about the engineering design team?

There were multiple causes for the failure. In this instance, a construction craftsmanship issue revealed a design shortfall.


Source of the Problem


It is clear that even more rigorous testing before commissioning was needed. Additionally, this failure indicated that the PLC had not been programmed correctly to clear this fault condition and thus had not been commissioned with this fault scenario. And this sequence should have been part of the preventive maintenance program — a change that was made following the disaster.

The design/commissioning team had not anticipated the exact failure sequence. This project would have benefited from more involvement during the design phase from a commissioning agent with specific experience in PLC programming. Additionally, a third-party reviewer with topical design and operating experience would have added value if brought into the design process.

Every data center is one of a kind. The better the commissioning team can simulate real-life scenarios, the more reliable the data center will be.



Continue - A Data Center Nightmare: Single Point of Failure (2)

About the Blog

Strategic Media Asia (SMA) is one of the approved CPD course providers of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) UK. The team exists to provide an interactive environment and opportunities for members of ICT industry and facilities' engineers to exchange professional views and experience.

SMA connects IT, Facilities and Design. For Data Center Design Consideration, please visit 

(1) Site Selection,
(2) Space Planning,
(3) Cooling,
(4) Redundancy,
(5) Fire Suppression,
(6) Meet Me Rooms,
(7) UPS Selection, and
(8) Raised Floor

All topics focus on key components and provide technical advice and recommendations for designing a data center and critical facilities.