[OPLINTECH] Building question: isolated ground or at least separate circuits, and built-in surge protection

[Phil Shirley]

Could you help me with these two questions about electrical systems for
computer equipment?  We're planning a renovation of the main part of our
library.

1.  Should we have electrical circuits with an isolated ground, or at
least separate electrical circuits, for our computer equipment?  (I'm 
talking about workstations around the library, as well as everything in 
our server room.)  I assume the answer is yes, but early drafts of the 
electrical plans do not have anything like this.  One of the EEs told me 
that often, instead of having a true isolated ground setup, many places 
will simply have separate circuits designated for computer equipment 
(with orange outlets); supposedly, the ground noise that's caused by a 
sweeper or something doesn't travel far enough to be of concern to a 
computer on a separate circuit.  A little bit of searching suggests that 
maybe a true isolated ground system is not necessary for most modern 
computer equipment.

2.  Is it common to have surge protection built into the electrical 
system, as opposed to plugging surge protectors into the wall and 
plugging computers into those?  I'm told that it's possible to have 
surge protection built into the electrical system in any of several 
places, but I don't know if it's cost-efficient for most organizations.

Phil
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Phil Shirley
Technology Services Coordinator
Cuyahoga Falls Library
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
330-928-2117, ext. 109
pshirley at CuyahogaFallsLibrary dot org


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