What’s the Best PDU Solution?

We get this question all the time. I mean literally, all the time.

But it is easy to understand why. Amanda Senger, one of Server Technology’s storied Sales Engineers, summed it up perfectly. “We’re really good at one thing: PDUs. We have over 2,000 different part numbers, where our competitors only have 100-200, so we have a lot more flexibility we can offer our customers.”

Thanks, Amanda. Nailed it. So, what is the best PDU solution? Answer: the PDU that you just specified and ordered.

There are a lot of best PDUs, then, and that is the point. The goal of our product line and the design of our manufacturing process is to allow our customers the ability to find exactly the right set of power distribution features for their application. Why else would Server Technology provide so many options, from horizontal to vertical, 120V to 415V, low density to high, and from managed to not? It is because every data center rack is its own unique deployment, which demands the ultimate in flexibility from those devices that power the load.

In other words, ain’t no two power distribution units alike.

Now, freedom of choice can be a good thing, but it can also be overwhelming by virtue of the number of options it presents to the consumer. We get that. Before we developed our ‘Pick Your PDU Wizard,’ we’re sure we were partially responsible for a near-constant state of confusion found among a certain generation of data center managers. You know who you are.

But to find your way, there are just a handful of basic questions that need to be answered:

• Do you need outlet level monitoring?
• Do you need individual outlet control?
• How will the unit be mounted?
• How many outlets are needed?
• What will the nominal voltage and input current be?
• Single or three-phase?
• What is your plug type?
• What kind of monitoring do you need?