Issue link: https://cp.revolio.com/i/488587
THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL | 21 www.datacenterjournal.com design phase allows team members to use the knowledge they have learned from past issues to allow smoother construc- tion, startup and commission of the new facility. factory anD on-site testing Why would a company pay for fac- tory witness testing when it already has an on-site commissioning plan to repeat the same tests? e simple answer is to save time and money. Most oen when a problem occurs, it is discovered during the installation or commissioning stage. Conducting factory witness testing will help identify these issues before arriving on site and allow corrections at the manu- facturer's facility. Furthermore, factory witness testing establishes a baseline for the equipment, and it can be used for maintenance pur- poses and troubleshooting if a problem does arise while onsite. Keeping a record of operating parameters for the equip- ment is extremely valuable in tracking the end of life for critical infrastructure components. At a minimum, the following should be in attendance during the factory wit- ness test: • e data center engineering firm— to confirm the system meets all of the agreed-on specifications and functions correctly. • e customer—to become more familiar with the operation of the system and the system controls. • e electrical (and/or general) contractor—to confirm installation specifications and become familiar with the installation of the system. • e commissioning agent—to obtain a baseline, or history, of the specific system used at the site. Collected data should be used as a comparison for commissioning testing on-site. integration e location of the distribution equipment in a data center can make a significant impact on the cost of installa- tion as well as the reliability of the overall system. Does it make sense to locate the UPS batteries on the opposite side of the building from where the UPS is located? Should the power distribution unit (PDU) be located at the UPS in the basement or on the raised floor? Where is the UPS maintenance bypass located in relation to the UPS? ese are all questions that should be evaluated by the team. Once the loca- tion is determined, installation costs and time to install can be reduced greatly if specific equipment is combined into one lineup. For example, if the UPS mainte- nance bypass is located directly beside the UPS, and the capability to isolate and remove a UPS module is unaffected, it makes sense to make the bypass an inte- gral part of the UPS. is can be accom- plished by connecting the cabinets and using internal bus or cable to make the connections as opposed to providing and installing external conductors in conduits (Diagram 3). ese internal connections can be pre-engineered, pre-manufactured and provided with the equipment. e overall benefit to the end user is a superior solution that maintains the same benefits as separately installed equip- ment while simultaneously reducing the installation time and costs (Diagram 4). examPle Significantly, the above process has already been implemented and has achieved great success. e customer first chose its vendors for a data center with 262,000 square feet of raised floor. Together, the customer and the lead engi- neer worked with the electrical contractor, the commissioning agent and the vendors to develop an integrated design that met the customer's requirements. Diagram 2: Simplified Data Center Critical Power One Line with open utility to generator transitions