The Advantages of an Uncluttered Rack, Part I

Alternating phase power distribution technology from Server Tech is one of my favorite subjects. It has benefits that extend well beyond the electrical distribution world. In fact, it is one of the few power products whose secondary benefits meet and sometimes exceed the fundamental purpose of a three-phase distribution product. I discussed it in a previous post.

Server Tech’s Alternating Phase PDUs may well set the new standard for the phrase, “the gift that keeps on giving.”

Every data center, from the humble corporate server room to the latest and greatest hyperscale offering nestled on an ice shelf in Greenland, is tasked with minimizing risk by balancing the demands of space, power, and cooling. While we at Server Technology tend to focus on the power leg of that three-legged stool through our rack PDU products, it is with the cooling leg that an Alt-Phase PDU really stands out.

How can an in-rack PDU take on such a weighty role and then address risk?

In most data center environments, cooling is a challenge with origins inside the rack. One source of the problem is imbalanced loads. As equipment is added to the rack, either on day one or after it has been installed, it could be powered from a branch that is already loaded. As these loads become more imbalanced, additional heat load is created by the IT equipment. Not only does this decrease your efficiency, but it compounds cooling demands by artificially inflating the heat load of the rack.

Another common issue is related and exacerbates the original one. I’m talking about excess cabling at the back of the rack. As if managing the communications wiring were not headache enough, add to the mix the thick power cables whose plugs need to be routed to different elevations of the rack in order to find an open receptacle. With Server Technology’s Alt Phase PDU, that open receptacle is now adjacent to the IT gear, which means far shorter power cables traveling an even shorter distance to find a home. This means no more woven mesh of power cables to act as a curtain trapping the heat being rejected at the back of the server equipment.

It’s like a breath of fresh air for your equipment.

Now we arrive at the issue of risk management. As the power and communications cabling gets more entangled, it becomes more difficult to complete move, add and change work within the rack. This makes the task of documentation more difficult, and it also makes it more likely that removing equipment will become a risky activity. Keeping cabling close to the source device takes the guesswork out of removing the old and installing the new.

For more information our Alternating Phase products, take a look at our Alt-Phase White Paper Executive Summary, or head over to the PDU Buying Guide. At Server Technology, we are your Alternating Phase power experts.