Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/809568
4 | THE DATA CENTER JOURNAL www.datacenterjournal.com power to the people e nergy: it's expensive, so delivering it where it's needed (IT equipment) efficiently is crucial. And there's much more to the situation than just wires from here to there. Because utility-supplied power can fluctuate owing to conditions at the generation facility or even opera- tions of other customers, distribution must include equipment that makes the power "clean" enough to avoid harming sensitive electronics. at's where backup power—uninterrupt- ible power supplies (UPSs) for dealing with short-term events—plays a role. On the distribution side of UPS systems, Spears identifies two trends in the data center market: one for large facilities and one for everyone else. "For small to midsize data cen- ters, we're starting to see a tendency toward placing the UPS next to the IT equipment it protects instead of in the equipment closet. In addition to simplifying the power chain, this approach allows data center manag- ers to save on installation costs while making better use of the footprint and increasing scalability." e back-and- forth play between centralization and decentralization occurs in many areas of technology, and here is a case where the cycle is toward decentralization. It also hints at the growing role of modularity, as it creates individual units housing multiple technologies rather than isolating each technology by function. But for large data centers, Spears noted that "the biggest change happening right now concerns the tried-and-true dual-bus architec- ture. Traditionally, clients have oen bought at least one extra UPS and battery for better redundancy. Today, some designers have started looking at 'distributed redundant' and 'catcher' systems as well. ese systems sacri- fice redundancy, but they use more of the UPS's capacity and require less hardware to purchase and maintain." He added that this shi has increased the number of options for data center managers, allowing them to better bal- ance cost, reliability and other factors to fit their needs. don't Interrupt UPS systems are already quite efficient, but given that energy is one of the biggest expenses for the data center, an extra percent or two can decrease costs considerably. "In the last few years, we've seen capabilities for new UPSs to perform at 97 percent efficiency on full loads and all the way up to 99 percent efficiency in eco- mode," said Spears. "New silicon-car- bide (SiC) technology, which provides users with a newer transistor system, is taking these capabilities to even greater heights and allowing UPSs to perform at 98 percent efficiency without eco-mode. Many vendors are saying that in a year they will be able to reach 99 percent as well." To put the situation in perspective, if a data cen- ter is spending $10 million per year on utility-supplied power, then a 2% improvement in UPS efficiency would mean a savings of some $200,000— easily enough to hire another em- ployee or two. Nevertheless, given that no system is perfectly efficient, the UPS market is quickly approaching the point of diminishing returns. "As we see the implementation of these new technologies, debates about efficiency will end because it won't be a dif- ferentiator. Every data center will be deploying efficient solutions, so the question will be what system to use to maximize TCO. Eco-mode will still be around for users who want to ensure reliability and capitalize on using fewer components," said Spears. New features are also entering the market. For example, "remote-control solutions are allowing users to modify status on the basis of the weather. Users can set their UPS so the system changes accordingly if there is a tor- nado warning, for example. Addition- ally, recent advancements in thermal (IR) monitoring allow users to tell whether components get too hot. Us- ers can also employ a portable thermal camera inside their UPS for informa- tion, rather than shutting everything But for large data centers, Spears noted that "the biggest change happening right now concerns the tried-and-true dual-bus architecture. Traditionally, clients have often bought at least one extra UPS and battery for better redundancy. Today, some designers have started looking at 'distributed redundant' and 'catcher' systems as well. These systems sacrifice redundancy, but they use more of the UPS's capacity and require less hardware to purchase and maintain."