[AusNOG] Electrical Safety in Data Centres

[John Edwards]

Hi Brad,

You can apply to the governing body in your datacenter's State (i.e.:
WorkSafe) for an exemption to the RCD requirement on new installations.

Usually they will require:
- that any unprotected electrical termination is inside a grounded
enclosure (ie: a rack)
- suitable warning signs need to be posted (i.e.: on entry or at each
termination)
- that GPO's/Pendants still require RCD

Responsible sparkies working on the site are going to want to see
documentary evidence of this exemption.

It couldn't hurt to have appropriate training in your site induction either.

John



On 21 June 2016 at 18:29, Brad Peczka <brad at bradpeczka.com> wrote:

> Hello All,
>
> For those on list who run data centres, either in house or as a commercial
> operation like NextDC/Metronode - can anyone shed some light on the
> requirements (or lack thereof) for RCD protection within a Data Centre?
>
> My experience in the past has been that, where PDUs are connected via 32A
> sockets or similar, RCDs are not required. That being said, an interesting
> presentation a few years back from the folks at CITEC (
> http://www.server-racks-australia.com.au/News_articles/Residual%20Current%20Protection%20in%20the%20Data%20Centre%20DM.pdf)
> would seem to indicate that this is not the case, and that their
> interpretation of AS3000:2007 requires RCDs to be fitted to or upstream
> from PDUs. The installation of emergency stops for facility power also
> seems to be very hit and miss, and varies depending on when/where and who.
>
> I'm curious to know if this is a common view and, if not, how others are
> handling electrical safety within Data Centres/Comms Rooms/Server Rooms.
>
> Regards,
> -Brad.
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