Electrical Distribution for a Reliable Data Center

Abstract

For the reliability of data centers, the electrical distribution architecture has a vital impact on performances throughout its life cycle. Special standards establish tier classifications for the site infrastructures. The switchboard (SWB) design needs to plan the load balancing, the future expansion and rehabilitation of the distribution (road map), and periodic maintenances without loss service continuity. The protection must be coordinated for the selectivity of the fault on the final circuits to ensure service continuity of the whole system. Equipment like electronic components exhibits excessive inrush currents at start-up that request a rating current value higher than the load current value. Maintaining for many years a protection coordination tolerant to the initial inrush current, it is a technical inadmissible inaccuracy for the data center service. The failure of a final circuit not adequately selected and cleared can cause an impact on the fault selectivity on the SWB section or all the uninterruptible power system supply. Starting systems for equipment should be adopted to solve the problem of inrush current and to allow an adequate protection coordination for the long service of the data center.