Electrical power and backup Fuel/oil containment and pumping systems
HVAC and computer room air conditioning (CRAC) Inventory monitoring systems
May/June 2019 I 9
inside the facility or in a shared
manhole damages the conduit
system cable or connections while
installing another’s cables? Mayhem
can happen.
Critical facility power
and cooling, as well as backup
systems, are always a requirement,
but a defined ICT cabling
infrastructure commissioning plan
is often overlooked until reaching
the higher Classes, Ratings, or Tiers.
This can be attributed to newer
buildings having higher-tech
equipment, fuller redundancy in all
power and cooling services, as well
as incorporating into the design
a more secure and redundant ICT
cabling infrastructure.
Downtime is a data center owner’s
worst fear, but it means little to the
people and businesses it does not
affect; that is, until it happens. Is it
mission-critical? Consider the recent
crashes with Wells Fargo financial
services, Southwest’s operations
centers, Apple’s iCloud music, and
Google’s Gmail? What is the
customer’s opinion of the
company now?
When people do not hear about
a cloud service’s mayhem failure,
this can be attributed to a proper
dynamic commissioning plan
at work! In case of an unscheduled
downtime, a proper commissioning
process should contain this same
accountability and preparation
for immediate resolution.
PLAYING BY THE RULES:
THE COMMISSIONING
GUIDELINES
The commissioning plan guidelines
are the foundation for a data
center’s “Commissioning 5-Phase
(Test) Process” from inception
to turnover and includes:
1. Program or Pre-design Phase
2. Design or Planning Phase
3. Construction or Build Phase
4. Acceptance Phase
5. Post Acceptance Phase
Typically, the client or “end user”
of the data center white space
hires either a commissioning
authority (CxA) or commissioning
agent. This can be a person,
company, or agency that plans,
coordinates, and oversees the
entire commissioning process.
Commissioning agents have
legal authority and direct control
over decisions. Alternatively the
commissioning authority is more
advisory, providing professional
guidance and recommendations
to the client who makes the
decisions. When limited to
a specialized discipline, such
as cabling infrastructure,
an ICT consultant may be
a preferred choice.
The ICT consultant or the
commissioning team should be
comprised of experienced and
certified subject matter expert
(SME) project managers having
engineering, tech support, and
CAD support staff. The culture
should be one that creates a cohesive
environment between the end user’s
commissioning stakeholders.
The commissioning plan
commonly encompasses the many
disciplines as covered in the ANSI/
BICSI 002-2014 Data Center Design
and Implementation Best Practices
standard and listed in Table 1.
BAS control systems Lead detection
Fire protection and suppression Grounding and bonding
Security IT infrastructure
TABLE 1: The disciplines in a commissioning plan according to ANSI/BICSI 002.