Rack PDU Blog

Sometimes, the road less traveled proves to be the better route. That’s certainly the case with a less common, new approach to PDU design that employs 3 phase power distribution. In the past, this has meant dividing power into several branches within the rack PDU, but this new approach from Server Technology makes use of alternating each phase on a per-receptacle basis instead of per branch. As you can imagine, demand for more power in the cabinet is behind the move towards a 3 phase PDU in many data centers. If the search for more power is on your mind, alternating phase PDUs might be the answer to your problems.

Do you have Server Technology in your data center? If so, you know that Server Technology PDUs are the best in the industry, backed by over 30 years of innovation and supported by power strategy experts. That's why this year, Data Center Solutions has made Server Technology a finalist for our product "High Density Outlet Technology (HDOT) Rackmount PDU In Switched and Smart POPS."

The sun is out, the sky is blue and baseball season is right around the corner. That’s right, folks, springtime is here. It’s the perfect time to roll up your sleeves and give your data center a fresh overhaul. In doing so, it’s vital to take a hard look at your facility to see if your equipment is up to par. Look for ways of improving network performance or energy efficiency now, before the hot weather rolls in and puts your setup—and budget—to the real test.

Power industry groups such as ASHRAE, IEEE, The Green Grid and Emerge Alliance are good examples of organizations working to improve the state of the art data center’s design and power utilization effectiveness. As these groups work to foster new ideas and technologies that will result in more energy-efficient data centers, one fact remains clear: minimizing the number of operating power supplies and power conversions at the highest (most efficient) input voltage possible translates to greater operational expense savings.

In the advertising world, there are no such things as coincidences. When you hop on the Internet to find a product and you come across an ad that seems perfectly tailored to you, it’s no mere accident. More than likely, an advertising tech company like our client, Turn, has helped you find that product by serving up relevant ads through consumer data. In order to power its platform – which response to half of the world’s Internet page views in as little as 10 milliseconds. Turn employs a highly scalable multi-tiered server infrastructure using a Big Data analytics engine and a powerful suite of software. Recently, Turn sought to reconfigure its hardware with one setup containing 23 devices per rack and 43 devices per rack on the other. It also sought to make the most of its colocation space while powering support to customers via data-driven advertising efforts. Finally, Turn was looking for remote monitoring capabilities for its hardware.

In the arcade game Whack-a-Mole, the object is to smash multiple mechanical rodents with a large felt mallet as they pop up from their holes. Simple enough, right? That is, until the game progresses and the moles start popping up with alarming frequency, requiring you to exercise cat-like reflexes just to keep up. Similarly, being a data center operator takes constant vigilance in order to avoid unscheduled downtime, obsolescence and other operational moles from popping up.

or centuries, philosophers and laymen have loved to ask the really big questions in life, even if they don’t always come up with satisfactory answers. Questions like “why are we here,” “how can the universe be infinite if it has a beginning” and, “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around, does it still make a sound?” But it’s not always the big existential quandaries that keep data center managers up at night. Sometimes it’s the much more practical concerns, such as “what is the optimal density to provision for and what sorts of variations in power usage should I expect over time?” While this question may not rank up there with “what’s the meaning of life,” it’s still pretty important when you’re overseeing millions of dollars worth of capital investments.

n a show like “The Walking Dead,” it’s relatively easy to dispatch a zombie. A quick headshot or katana slash will usually solve your problem. In the data center, zombies are just as prevalent, but not quite as easy to kill. First, you have to identify them. Data center zombies don’t exactly shamble around with their mouths agape, but they can do just as much damage as their fictional counterparts if left unchecked.

There’s a memorable scene in “All the President’s Men” when the FBI informant famously whispers, “Follow the Money” to Robert Redford, setting him off on an investigation that will change the world. It’s a phrase that’s been repeated time and again over the years and, yes, it even applies to data center management.

If you wanted to tell the story of the American Dream personified, you couldn’t go wrong by talking about Jack Cleveland. An Eagle Scout who joined the Navy to fight for his country in the Korean War before coming home to raise a family while working and going to night school to better his lot in life, Cleveland reminds you of the old saying, “they just don’t make them like they used to.”