415V Power Distribution Solution for a New Data Center
Greenest Data Center
A major university in New York recently built a new data center that experts are calling one of the ‘greenest' data centers ever created. To help accomplish this they deliver 3-Phase 415V power to the equipment racks. The data center will be a mix of IBM Servers and Blades installed in SMC racks. By bringing 415V power directly to the devices in the cabinet there is a sizable efficiency gain both in the power distribution system and in the devices.
After deciding to implement 3-Phase 415V power, the data center design team had a number of challenges to overcome.
Specifically, they were looking for solutions to the following: a cabinet power distribution solution that would support 415V, outlet control and outlet level monitoring for device power monitoring, environmental monitoring, redundancy, and they needed logging and power trending to know their PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness). PUE = (Total Facility Power/IT Equipment Power).
Server Technology was chosen as the solution provider after the data center designers, working alongside a Server Technology Regional Sales Manager, found solution that would fulfill all their needs.
Currently, Server Technology has a full line of Cabinet Power Distribution Units (CDUs) that support 415V. The product selected for this project was the CWG-24V5Z411A1: a Switched, 3-Phase, 415V, vertical, (POPS), 24-outlet (18 IEC C13/ 6 IEC C19), circuit breakered PDU. The Server Tech POPS Switched PDU allows each individual outlet to be turned On, Off, or Rebooted via the network interface as well as see the power draw on each device (in Amps). All intelligent Server Technology CDUs support two temperature and humidity probes that can be read from the network interface. Power monitoring is available via the network interface and the local LED. This product provides the university with the power and environmental measurements they are looking for.
The second major requirement was redundancy. An expansion unit was installed alongside the master CDU to support the dual power supplies of their installed devices. With the ability to monitor their power, each CDU was loaded so that if a power in-feed was lost the remaining in-feed could support the entire load. One IP address can support both CDUs as well as the two temperature and humidity probes.
The Sentry Power Manager (SPM) was deployed to provide a central interface to access multiple network monitored CDUs as well as store power and environmental information so it can be viewed over time. Using SPM as a tool for collecting and storing power and environmental data, IT equipment power information can be used to measure the efficiency in the data center for PUE and DCIE and power efficiency ratings from the Green Grid. They can now globally view all Sentry CDUs and have the ability to view devices based on temperature, humidity, current and device status. SPM provides at-a-glance information on all alarm conditions as well as status, current load, temperature, humidity and capacity. They can now manage all their Switched CDUs outlets' states from one program and drill down to a particular cabinet in order to see what has been plugged in and where.
Today, the university data center is taking full advantage of the power being delivered to them. Using 415V, they are getting an efficiency gain with their power distribution system and with their devices. Using SPM, they can see their power usage globally which allows them to trend and measure it.
