GROUNDING BASICS 101:
The following information relates to a single detached home but many of the basic principles still apply to others with - caveats.
- Single Point Grounding: All grounding should be connected to the homes grounding system. Whether it be from the Earth ground bar, Ufer ground, Service Entrance, Service Panel, Internal Wiring, etc. Connecting to the homes Earth grounding system will reduce the possibilities of a voltage potential (difference). It's this voltage difference that often times causes large (voltage rise) to be seen from two end points.
There are exceptions to single point grounding which is discussed below.
- Ground Wire: The ground cable should be properly sized (AWG / Gauge) to the distance / length and the ampacity it expects to shunt to ground the fault ampacity of the incoming voltage . In the ideal world the ground wire would be as short as possible with little bends or arc in the cable. Copper wire is the only material to be used and must be sheathed to protect the wiring.
- Bonding: The ground wire should be connected (bonded) to the component device / ground point with the specified hardware per the application that is present. If device (A) comes with a ring terminal and a star washer that is how the end device will be terminated. If the ground rod is bonded (terminated) with a lug the same will be used to connect the same. Applying dielectric grease to both termination points is a must and will insure long term conductivity and reduce corrosion due to moisture.
- Grounding Points: Every appliance / device will have or incorporate different types of grounding based on its application, UL / cUL rating, industry, etc. As such the following are such ground points in the wild: Earth Ground, Chassis ground, Electrical ground, Common ground, Safety ground, Digital / Analog ground, Floating ground, etc.
- Network Application: As it relates to your current use case it should be made clear grounding is determined by the environment and applicable codes present in your location - read, understand, and follow them. Regardless, the cable you selected isn't shielded cable and thus does not offer all of the protection such cables provide. More specifically its not shielded and thus RFI / EMI / EMF can penetrate the cable.
Because the cable is not shielded it does not incorporate one of the most important aspects of such cable - drain wire. This is essentially the earth wire that connects both end points to the single point ground to your homes electrical system.
Shielded cable will negate induced voltage (EMF) say from a lightning strike over head. In large part because its shielded and because the drain wire dissipates the rest into the grounding system if - present.
Keep in mind just because you use shielded cable doesn't mean the rest of the infrastructure doesn't need to be properly grounded!
This means there is a external ground service bar present that's connected to your homes electrical earth ground. This ground service bar will allow you to connect / disconnected other devices in the server cabinet to this single point ground.
Ground Flow Connection:
Earth Ground Rod -> Service Entrance (Meter) -> Service Panel (Breaker Panel) -> Ground Service Bar -> Server Cabinet / Rack -> Patch Panel -> Components (Switch, Router, UPS) etc.
Isolated Grounding: There are instances where you want to ground the end device but not connect it to the homes grounding system.
Why??
Isolation . . .
A perfect example is where there is a PtP wireless system deployed on the property. In the vast majority of times these wireless systems are deployed because the distance is great and its not practical or even possible to run a ground wire from two points. Regardless, the target device still needs to be properly grounded as such even when a device is installed on a metal pole the same must have a ground rod present.
This insures any fault over voltage can find the path to the least resistance to earth ground . . .
As noted up above this device should use the appropriate grounding hardware provided by the vendor. Cable size (AWG / Gauge / Diameter) comes down to the distance covered / spanned and the expected fault voltage to be carried. You can never go wrong with using larger diameter wire - ever. The only constraints is if the hardware will allow much larger conductors to fit inside a housing vs costs vs availability of the same.
Outdoor & UV rate ground wire must be used to reduce the affects of the elements and mother nature.
The IP camera has a chassis / frame ground this is what should be connected to the grounding rod. In a typical installation the grounding would look like this:
Grounding Rod -> Pole -> IP Camera Frame / Chassis -> SPD (Surge Protective Device) -> Shielded Cable if present.
