Data center protection: an

essential but complex guide to

lightning protection
  75 monthes Ago    Bruno Roland    ABB    Views 4386

Don’t assume because a structure is surrounded by taller structures that it is automatically protected against
lightning.

Protecting data centers from lightning strikes is no easy task.

There are regularly updated documents for guidance, but nothing beats the expertise of an
experienced professional to design and specify a protection system to ensure the safety of the
building and everything in it, including personnel.

Four major considerations safeguard data center operations:

1. The protection of personnel,
2.The protection of the power supply lines and maintenance of the energy supply,

3. The protection of data processing and storage,

4. The protection of the buildings.

Protection of power supply lines and maintenance of energy supply:

Continuity of power in a data center is paramount. Data centers consume huge amounts of
energy, not just to run the IT systems, but also to cool equipment. The data centers of large
companies are consuming ever increasing amounts of power, on average 32 megawatts, that’s
roughly the equivalent to a town of 25,000 inhabitants.
Back in 2005, for example, data centers in France consumed around one percent of the
country’s total electricity. Today that consumption has risen to an estimated 7 percent and not
all of it is properly protected, which means there is a rising need for greater protection.

In general, data centers are required to have high systems availability with a maximum of four
minutes downtime per year, which can only be achieved with redundancy of power supply from
the energy distributor. To reduce the risk of power failure they usually have two medium-
voltage sources, one of which serves as a backup. A third source, in the form of generators, is
often found on site along with an uninterruptable power supply to ensure power supply
maintenance even in the event of a fault. UPS also serve to safeguard the quality of electrical
energy.

All of these power sources provide a route by which the damaging power of lightning can travel.
Most of the damage caused by lightning strikes affect electrical and electronic components, via
induced over voltages on the lines entering the building. Metallic pipes (water, gas, etc.) can also
introduce surges, while the lack of equipotentiality between the various services or between the
various earth connections, can cause issues when the electric earth and the so-called “clean”
computing earth are separated.

The installation of Type 1 + 2 surge arresters can protect incoming power lines and sensitive
circuits when lightning strikes, due to their low residual overvoltage, however the earthing of
the metal pipes that go into the building will be necessary in order to create an equipotential
system.

Type 2 surge arresters are also required for the protection of computer systems, inverters and
sensitive equipment. These surge arresters must be installed in the various electrical cabinets
present on site.

Recent standards indicate that a conductor beyond 10 m in length, is no longer protected by a

single surge arrester. In practice this is a maximum and may be much less depending on the
configurations encountered.

The internal protection of a data center must be carried out in accordance with the concept of
lightning protection zones, LPZ 0A through to zone LPZ 3 as defined in IEC 62305-4. The
lightning protection zone LPZ 0A is the zone where a direct lightning strike is possible through
to the zone LPZ 3, which is where terminal equipment is located and where the residual
overvoltage must be kept low for this equipment to remain safe. Various surge arresters should
be installed to prevent the energy from a lightning strike from cascading through the electrical
network.

Protection of data stored and processed in the data center:

Data Centers are vulnerable to physical and cyber attacks. They are protected by anti-intrusion
systems (cameras, presence detectors …) and sophisticated surveillance that must also be
protected against lightning and surges. These systems are mostly located outside the buildings
and because data center sites are often very extensive, their protection is complicated.
The communication of data from outside to inside is mainly made through fiber optic cable.
This type of bond is immune to overvoltage, however, there are wired connections via multi-
paired data cables of the Telecom type. These types of conductive connections are particularly
sensitive to the indirect effects of lightning and to surges and should be protected by Type 2
surge arresters. Coaxial cable connections should be protected too, in accordance with the
types of frequency signals, impedance, voltage and connector types used. Monitoring
equipment, thermal cameras, identity control systems, security locks, fire detection and
intrusion detection systems should also be protected. Grounding kits can be used to reduce
overvoltage from all coaxial cables such as outdoor antennas and outdoor surveillance
cameras. Type 2 surge arresters should be used for safety-critical equipment, which is often
connected in multi-core cables.

The importance of proper protection is illustrated by events on August 13, 2015, when the
“europe-west1-b” data center of Google Corporation in Saint-Ghislain, Belgium, was hit four
times by lightning and the power supply was interrupted. As in all data centers, an emergency
power system took over, but the damage was already done. Recently stored information on the
hard disks was lost, 5 percent of the storage equipment was affected and 0.000001 percent of
all stored data was permanently lost.

Protection of data center buildings:

High points, such as communication antennas or the chimneys of generating sets, have a high
probability of being struck by lightning. In such an event the lightning current will flow to earth
via any conductive elements, such as concrete reinforcement irons, metal structures or metal
cladding. To protect against lightning, special attention must be paid to connect these high
points to the ground by external conductors.
Without protection measures, persons within a radius of 3 m around a down conductor at
ground level are in danger. This danger zone is much greater than 3 m at height, especially
when one is close to the point of impact, on the roof for example.

The protection of personnel may be secured by the following means:

– Procedures to prevent access to roofs and high points during a thunderstorm,
– Thunderstorm detection system, which isolates the electrical network by switching from the
grid supply to a generating set on site. (Examples of this can be found in some airports,
hospitals and radio broadcasting sites.)
If no external lightning protection is installed, lightning currents will flow randomly, by any
conductive element, through the building causing possible injury to personnel and damage to
equipment.

The installation of a lightning protection system as a mesh cage system with shock points or
using early streamer air terminal is more than advisable. This must provide a protection radius
that covers the entire surface of the building as well as other sensitive zones or surrounding
buildings such as generators, cooling units, or ancillary buildings necessary for the proper
functioning of the center.

Splitting the lightning current through multiple down conductors between high points (mesh
circuit, active or passive lightning rods) and earthing system is good. This quickly grounds the
current and reduces the necessary separation distance. A good spread of the lightning current
through multiple conductors will reduce the induction effects of the conductors inside the
building. This will reduce the induced overvoltage through the wiring of the building and lower
the impact on surge arresters, prolonging their life.

The distance between equipment connected to ground on the roof and the lightning
conductors is an important consideration. The standard 62305-1 explains how to calculate this
separation distance. If they are too close to each other, less than the separation distance, they
must be bonded and a Type 1 surge arresters must be installed on all lines that supply power
to this rooftop equipment. If, however, the distance is large, then no bonding is required and
Type 2 surge arresters are required and sufficient. A Type 1 surge protection device (SPD) is 4-5
times more expensive than a Type 2 SPD.

A low impedance grounding system is the best solution for human safety and for reduced wear
of surge arresters installed on the site.

The design of low impedance grounding requires measurements of soil resistivity. This is a
critical factor in the design of the grounding system and the earthing efficiency can be used to
ensure the dimensions of the surge arresters are tailored to maximize safety. (This is a service
ABB can offer).

As a reminder:
The concept of protection zones:

Surge arresters are classified into 3 types according to their test class as defined by IEC 61643-
11 and their destination, i.e. the transition between two lightning protection zones.
Type 1: These are the “equipotential bonding” surge arresters, which are placed at the head of
the electrical installations and are indispensable when external lightning protection is installed.
They are tested with a 10/350μs type test wave. They allow the transition between an area LPZ
0A or 0B to LPZ 1.
Type 2: They are found throughout the installation, in all the division or sub division electrical
boards, to protect the equipment. They are tested with an 8/20μs type test wave. They allow the
transition between an areas LPZ 1 to LPZ 2.
Type 3: They are intended for so-called terminal protection, closest to sensitive equipment and
cannot be effectively used alone. They are tested with a combined test wave of type 1,2/50μs –
8/20μs. They allow the transition between areas LPZ 2 to LPZ 3.
OPR – The early streamer emission (ESE) concept

About the author

Technical Business Manager, ABB Lightning protection Group, Electrification Product
Installation Product (EPIP). In this role Bruno gives Technical support to worldwide sales
organization in the lightning protection domain. With over 28 years of experience in this field he
is able to answer a lot of questions and it is regarded in France as one of the few experts in
Surge and Lightning protection. His field of expertise extends from Lightning Risk Analysis,
technical studies and specifications (implementation and follow-up). He writes articles for
conferences and is able to animate exhibitions on lightning protection. He is assisted for these
tasks by a technical team located at Cergy Pontoise near Paris. The team represents ABB in the
standards committees 81 and 37, France (AFNOR), Europe (CENELEC) and International (IEC).
Prior to joining Hélita Company in 1999, acquired by the ABB group in 2001, he worked as a
design engineer in specialized lightning protection consultancies. During these years he was in
charge of numerous military and civil projects but also the development of special protection
products for antennas. He graduated in 1981 from the University Technical Institute of Cachan
(France).