Power Distribution and Panelboards for Data Centers
Advances in Technology
Technology is everywhere today. From MP3 players to accessing the internet for research for work, data storage, the cloud and server densities are ever increasing. As a result, server rooms and data centers are requiring more and more power than ever before. Ultimately, this leaves IT professionals searching for information on how to best decide on how to handle what is often referred to as “high density computing” and the power and panelboards for data centers that are required.
According to a recent survey, power and cooling issues are towards the top of the list of concerns by IT professionals charged with managing their company’s data center. High density computing adds to those power distribution issues, as they require powerful power distribution units (PDU), power circuitry, and panelboards for data centers while still working to control overall costs associated with data center management.
Understanding Data Center Equipment
There are many components that make up a data center. Some of the equipment housed within the data center that utilizes the most resources include:
Server Virtualization: This allows a single server to support several “virtual machines” that each run its own operating system and applications. Many businesses are using virtualization as a way to reduce hardware costs. It is believed that more and more companies will move to virtualization as a way to try and save energy, in the long run, they can wind up requiring more energy due to the power associated with server virtualization.
Blade Servers: These are often referred to “plug and play” units. They have shared power supplies, fans, cabling and storage all within one unit. Blade servers help to save space in a small data centers, as well as provide flexibility to add space as needed.
Panelboards for Data Centers and Power Distribution
As more and more companies move over to the use of blade servers, managing power properly has become more and more of an issue as well as a larger cost center. Blade centers both raise data capacity, as well as energy costs. Blade servers can lead to extremely high operating temperatures that will ultimately raise power requirements as much as 1000 percent, as opposed to power and cooling requirements for conventional servers.
All this high-power computing equipment provides unique challenges for power distribution and panelboards for data centers. A good option is to use three-phase power circuits in today’s data centers. There are currently three standard options available: 20A, 30A, and 50A. When deciding on which option makes the most sense, IT professionals must consider all capacities for panelboards for data centers in both the upstream and downstream data generation. Therefore, it is smart for an IT professional to consult with a power professional who understands the unique challenges of installing panelboards for data centers. This way, equipment runs as efficiently as possible, the equipment has the smallest footprint in the data center as possible, and employees have all the data storage space they require to do their jobs effectively.
