Socially Distanced Remote Power Management

This is a time when doing things remotely is the expectation rather than the exception. Kids are learning from a distance, people are meeting from a distance, colleagues are working from a distance, and most of us are being social from a distance. Maybe it’s because we love what we do, but we tend to ascribe personal characteristics to our products. In fact, every switched rack PDU and network controlled power strip is like a child being sent out into the world to do good. Because of this, our “children” often find themselves in some of the most challenging environments.

Unlike the humans who built them, these intelligent PDUs were created to work remotely. In many facilities, they do just that. These are very trying times, which make the jobs that intelligent PDUs perform just that much more critical. Their remote capabilities, as well as their ability to keep an eye on a rack of equipment in a data center, means that facility personnel, data center managers, and IT staff don’t have to.

Want to get to the nuts and bolts? Rack PDUs that are considered ‘intelligent PDUs’ or ‘switched rack PDUs’ can do the following (and more):

1)  Meter input and output power at the unit – including power usage, quality, and capacity

2)  Make network connections either via ethernet or Bluetooth

3)  Use a software interface to monitor, measure, and control the PDUs

4)  Receive and manage alerts from the PDUs, from data integration features to building automation DCIM software packages

5)  Turn power on and off – both to individual receptacles and groups of receptacles at the unit, remotely. 

6)  Support environmental monitoring sensors

They provide all of this support so that remote workers can be truly remote. What’s more, with the intelligence that they are able to gather about what’s going on within the rack, they can also perform these tasks, which support data center management at a distance:

1)  Help control cost and improve the operational efficiency of the power distribution system

2)  Support environmental sustainability initiatives and lower PUE

3)  Provide improved control of the operation at the rack level

4)  Support increased data center uptime

5)  Allow for greater capacity planning and utilization of the electrical system

For many Server Technology customers, the use of intelligent PDUs has allowed the distanced environment we are all working in to run effectively. Intelligent PDUs combine power distribution, power control, and data collection within a single unit. They supply more power to more devices while providing key information.  For more about putting remote power management to work for you, visit Server Technology's Remote Power Management Solutions page.