Power management strategies for high density IT facilities and systems
ABSTRACT
Increases in data center density and diversity are driving change in the power and cooling systems that business-critical servers and communications devices depend on for their performance and reliability.
FULL DOCUMENT
Executive Summary
Increases in data center density and diversity are driving change in the power and cooling systems that business-critical servers and communications devices depend on for their performance and reliability.
Rising equipment densities often correlate with increased criticality as companies deploy new applications that increase business dependence on data center systems. At the same time, entire facilities, as well as individual racks, are supporting an escalating number of devices as server form factors continue to shrink. This is creating the need for dynamic data center infrastructures. When critical infrastructure
systems can respond to changes in density, capacity and availability created by new technology and changing business conditions, the result is greater operating flexibility, higher system availability and lower total costs.
In the area of critical power, a dynamic infrastructure must encompass the UPS system, the power distribution system and in-rack power management.
Redundancy within the UPS system can support higher availability and increased flexibility, but only if UPS modules are properly sized. Analysis of mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) rates indicates that single-bus UPS configurations requiring more than four UPS modules pose a reliability risk that will be unacceptable in many applications.
The growth in the number of devices that must be supported is driving change in the power distribution system. Power distribution is evolving from single-stage to two-stage designs to enable increased scalability, reduced cabling and more effective use of data center space.
Finally, individual racks are now supporting as much as 20 kW of technology, driving the need for in-rack power management. In-rack power distribution provides increased control and visibility of rack power while simplifying cable management and increasing rack airflow.
Integrating UPS, power distribution and in-rack power management strategies creates a power system infrastructure capable of achieving the availability and scalability today’s data centers and network closets require.