Commissioning 101Chris Crosby

CEO, Compass Datacenters

Symposium – ColumbusNovember 11, 2014

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Reliability and Availability

There is a difference

Availability• Probability that a

system will work during required period

Reliability• Probability that

operations will be maintained during the period

Foundations of the data center

predictive performance

model

Advancing Data Center Professionals

The Bathtub Curve

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Advancing Data Center Professionals

Smoothing the Curve

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Commissioning Agent part of the design process

Enable the agent to be involved in all 5 phases

Roles:• Design Engineer—

Views the data center from what makes it work perspective

• Commissioning Agent—What makes it fail

Need both to develop an effective commissioning test plan

Commissioning Levels• Level 1:Planning

– Preparation for commissioning• Ex: Sequence of operations, scripts

• Level 2:Factory Acceptance Test– Quality/performance acceptance prior to shipping

• Level 3: Pre-functional Inspections– System installation, site acceptance testing

• Level 4: Functional Testing– Testing to spec performance per component– “Phased expansion” data centers end here

• Level 5: Integrated System Test– Full load testing of all systems– Ensure integrated operation and correct operation in case of

failure

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Level 5 Commissioning• Interlocking complexity– Static complexity: How is a system put

together?– Dynamic complexity: How does change in one

part affect other parts of the system?• Not equivalent or interchangeable• Data center systems may be simple but their

interaction isn’t• Testing components isn’t enough– Have to test the way the interoperate

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Level 5 Commissioning• Verifies reliability of design and compatibility among all

critical systems– Electrical– Mechanical– Environmental

• Must test in all modes:– Failure– Safety– Emergency

• Test in real life scenarios—not planned• Goal: Determine is systems are in line with reliability

targets

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Level 5 Commissioning• More important now than ever– Emphasis on speed of delivery and TCO

• Alternative to Level 5 commissioning– Learn by experience

• Level 5 commissioning specifically combats the “domino effect”

• “Lights out”– Phase doesn’t work• Ex: Arc flash– Low loads don’t perform the same as high loads

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Summary• Insurance of Reliability and Availability• Smooths the bathtub curve• Five levels– Build upon each other

• Phased builds only commission through Level 4– No guarantee of system interoperability under

load or in failure mode• Level 5 commissioning is essential

• Tests interoperability of all systems• In all modes

• Only way to ensure data center is suitable for its task

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