Viewing category 'Power Distribution'

Categories

Air Conditioning Airflow Management Aisle Containment Systems Applications - Distribution Centres and Warehouses Business Continuity Cooling Maintenance Cooling Systems Data Centre Design Data Centre Monitoring Data Centre Refurbishments Data Centre Solutions Data Centre UPS Design and Standards Electrical Installations Energy Efficiency Energy Storage Environment Monitoring Fire Suppression Floors and Ceilings Hire and Rental Industry News IT Relocation IT Room Cleaning Micro Data Centres Modular Containers Network Cabling Networking Devices On-site Testing Services Power Distribution Power Generators Power Management Power Protection Product Reviews Product Updates Project Management Racks and Cabinets Recycling and Disposals Security Server UPS Solutions Site Surveys Smart Power Devices Technical Support UPS Batteries UPS Maintenance UPS Power Supplies Water Leakage Protection

Most server racks have several pieces of IT equipment to power. A typical configuration can include a server, storage device, broadband switch, and routers. In a small server cabinet, you may be able to connect everything to a rack mount UPS if it has enough socket outlets btu the likelihood is that you will need to install a power distribution unit (PDU).

The datacentre industry is under immense pressure to reduce its energy usage and achieve a smaller carbon footprint. One of the biggest users of non-compute energy are the cooling solutions used within hyperscale down to medium and small-sized datacentres.

The number of options available when specifying server rack power distribution units is immense. One of our server rack PDU manufacturing partners has over 5,000 drawings covering permutations that have either been manufactured and delivered or at least quoted over the last decade. Such a number is possible due to the number of PDU options available which can range from outlet socket types, to cable connections, form factors, voltage, communications and even paint colours. Our rack PDU guide details a step-by-step process to help demistify their specification and help you to select the righ server rack PDUs for your comms room, server room or data centre projects.

Power distribution is sometimes viewed as one of the last decisions to make at the end of the critical power path within your server room or datacentre. The fact is that this is also one of the most important and critical. The reason is that, after investing in LV switchboards, uninterruptible power supplies and standby power generators decisions must be made which govern not only the connection of your loads but also whether and how to monitor them.

As soon as you start to add multiple devices to your server rack, power management can become an issue. The use of Power Distribution Units (PDUs) with some form of metering or intelligent IP connection can help to overcome this and provide a pathway for the future scale-up of your IT deployment.

Datacentres need to look at their energy consumption not from a cost point of view but from the impact the industry, is making on the planet’s natural resources. One way to reduce this consumption is to adopt the most energy efficient systems be they for critical power, cooling, server technologies or infrastructure support in terms LED lighting and security but in hand with this and perhaps more importantly, datacentres need to accurately monitor their energy usage.

For many organisations, there is no right time to refurbish their server room or datacentre environments. In use 24/7 means that any refresh whether of a critical system or the entire facility is going to result in a period of downtime. However, most facilities are designed with a set working lifetime of 10-15 years and this links directly back to the critical systems in operation. Whilst they may be well maintained and regularly tested, the fact is that around years 8-10 critical power and cooling systems are ready for an upgrade or replacement.

Choosing the right power distribution units (PDUs) is a critical element when designing your power protection plan and server rack load management. But what is a PDU and which is the right type for your installation.