Data Center Power Products and Solutions

Power is the single most important entity in a data center. Without consistent power, the whole data center can come to a complete standstill. Managing and supplying electricity to all equipments is the most important criteria you have to focus on during data center construction. Poring over checklists to ensure you get everything right is a job so tedious that you would rather delegate it to your subordinate just for the sheer irritation attached to the task.

We, at Data Center Talk, strive to make data center construction and maintenance as smooth as possible for you. So we decided to make a checklist of all equipments you will need for effective data center power management. We have also listed some service providers that you might want to call for assistance. Read on.

1. Rackmount PDU

These devices are a single input multiple output power distribution equipment that can be mounted on racks in a horizontal or vertical fashion. They are also available in a toolless mount variety. They are designed to supply 120V, 208V or 230V power to multiple devices.Rackmount PDUs can be found and compared on the following sites: http://www.apc.com/products/family/?id=30 http://www.rackmountpdu.com/ http://www.mainlinecomputer.com/t/product-lines/data-center-power/emerson-liebert-power/emerson-rack-pdu/

 

2. Floormount PDU

Single input multiple power output devices that draw large capacity power from the power grid and distributing it to lower capacity equipments within the data center room.Floor mounted PDUs can be found and compared on the following sites:http://www.computer-room-design.com/RackCabinetMountedPowerDistribution.asp http://www.42u.com/power/pdu/power-distribution-units.htm

3. UPS

Uninterruptible power sources (UPS) provide backup power to the data center in the event of a power failure until the auxiliary power sources are turned on to power the data center. They are capable of sustaining the power of the data center for 15 minutes and sometimes even upto 2 hours.Visit the following sites to view some UPS models: http://www.emersonnetworkpower.com/en-US/Products/ACPower/LargeFacilityUPS/Pages/default.aspx http://www.42u.com/liebert-ups.htm http://www.mainlinecomputer.com/t/product-lines/data-center-power/american-power-conversion/

4. On- site substation:

Depending on your location, this would just involve installing a distribution substation on your site to step down a higher level voltage to a voltage level suitable for a data center. This will involve connection of the distribution substation to the local power grid, of course. If you are planning on building a large scale data center, then you might want to consider installing a slightly bigger substation; but otherwise even a 33kV distribution substation meets the purpose.http://www.geindustrial.com/cwc/Dispatcher?REQUEST=PRODUCTS&famid=42

5. Backup generators

It provides back-up electrical power when the primary power system fails. UPS sustains the data center operation for a very short duration. The backup generators are a must in every data center. They can be bought for the data center exclusively or can be hired when required.http://www.uspowerco.com/ http://www.powertogo.ca/data_center.html http://criticalcomponents.net/electrical_generac.php

6. Power strips with surge protectors

These devices are what the technicians call ‘unintelligent rack PDUs’. They perform the same function of a PDU but they do not come with a power monitoring device. They are cheaper than the rack PDUs.http://cableorganizer.com/power-data-distribution/power-distribution-strips.html http://www.rackmountsolutions.net/Power%20Strips.asp

7. Backup battery

These devices power the UPS when there is a primary power failure. The battery backup requirement for a data center is so vast that the batteries have a room for themselves!You can read more on batteries in Data Center Talk.http://www.wesonline.com/ http://www.tripplite.com/en/products/product-series.cfm?txtSeriesID=752

8. Circuit breakers

Circuit breakers need no introduction. They are used everywhere power is made use of. They are protective devices that isolate expensive or important equipments from the main grid in case of a fault in the power line. They can be reset either manually or automatically after the clearance of the fault. There are different types of CBs for protecting different rating.You can check the different types of circuit breakershttp://www.geindustrial.com/cwc/Dispatcher?REQUEST=PRODUCTS http://www.eaton.com/Electrical/USA/ProductsandServices/CircuitProtection/index.htm

9. Relays

Another protective device that is a must in a data center. Relays usually accompany a transformer and they signal the circuit breakers to trip in case of fault detection.http://sedatacenters.com/products/power/power_monitoring/sepam_protective_relays/ http://www.r-ddataproducts.com/rdpow.htm http://www.eaton.com/Electrical/USA/ProductsandServices/PowerQualityandMonitoring/index.htm

 

We hope that the list has been helpful to you and made looking for power related solutions a little easy.

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