FACILITIES DCIM


and environmental monitoring. Before deciding on a PDU, data centre managers should have a thorough understanding of what they need in a PDU and then fi nd the solution that best fi ts those needs.


QWhen it comes to looking at the whole power/energy issues within the data centre, where do you advise end users to start


– trying to source products, or looking for more of a partnering/ consulting approach?


A It’s essential to understand your goals before starting a project, Raritan and its partners have signifi cant experience in designing


energy management solutions. Let us help you understand what is possible, how you can make best use of your existing metering assets and help you achieve your project goals.


QBearing in mind this answer, is there still, depressingly, something of an education mission required to explain to end


users just what effi ciency measures they can implement thanks to iPDUs, DCIM and the like?


A Education is a large part of my role. For example the market has focussed on PUE for a number of years and typically the facilities


effi ciencies are ‘one time only’ wins. Now is the time to concentrate on the IT load where on-going effi ciencies can be realised, particularly when the data is integrated into your business dashboards. Surely ‘how many of your business transactions per kWhr’ is a more useful


indicator than PUE, and increasing the ‘number of transactions per kWhr’ is a better indicator of increased effi ciency.


QCan you give one or two brief examples of how Raritan has been able to help customers gain a better understanding of and,


hence, better management of data centre power/energy costs?


A We work very closely with Cisco, who was keen to signifi cantly reduce their CO2 outputs and costs. Our data centre provisioning


tools combined with scheduled load shedding capabilities have enabled energy savings of over 25%. We even won a Green IT award for this prestigious project. eBay uses our technologies to produce highly accurate data from their global data centres.


This data is used to produce their ground breaking Digital Service Effi ciency dashboard (more information can be found at dse.ebay. com and www.raritan.com/resources/case-studies/ebay.pdf)


QWhat can we expect from Raritan over the coming months?


A There are many older or ‘legacy’ data centres which do not have any power metering or monitoring installed. This means that they are potentially operating at risk and capacity data is often unknown. We are releasing a unique retrofi t solution to deliver billing grade power information. It can be fi tted live without any downtime for as little as £52 per power circuit, plus installation.


New intelligent rack PDU confi gurations


RARITAN has introduced new versions of its three-phase intelligent rack power distribution units (iPDUs) to support data center equipment with multiple power supplies, such as blade and 1U servers, large network switches and routers, and storage devices.


The circuits on the V2 models of Raritan’s three-phase PX iPDU are uniquely laid out so each of the three circuits is both on the top and bottom half of the PDU -- providing data center professionals more fl exibility to plug in their high-density devices and streamline cabling in equipment racks.


In contrast, balancing the electricity load across all three circuits using a traditional three-phase PDU requires some power cords from devices high in the rack to be plugged into outlets at the bottom of the PDU, and devices at the bottom of the rack to be plugged into outlets at the top of the PDU -- making for messy wiring.


“It’s a simple idea that makes it easier to plug devices in, while also balancing the load across phases on a single PDU,” said David Wood, Director of Power Management Solutions at Raritan. “We do the complex wiring inside the rack PDU to enable simpler wiring outside the rack PDU -- making for easier server power cable routing and a cleaner installation. Plus, our iPDUs provide an intelligent platform for reliable power delivery and smart monitoring of power, energy, temperature, humidity, airfl ow, and pressure -- all with an easy-to-use web interface.”


Colur PDUs and cables


Raritan has also added 10 new color choices for its intelligent rack power distribution units (iPDUs) to help data center professionals save time in identifying and locating power distribution pathways


and in differentiating between multiple PDUs in a rack. As the largest provider of iPDUs, Raritan offers the most PDU color choices: red, blue, green, magenta, orange, yellow, white, brown, gray, light blue and black.


To make it easier to identify rack PDUs at a distance, from any angle and in all lighting situations, the entire PDU chassis is professionally powder-coated in color vs. affi xing color stickers. Raritan also offers color options for its SecureLock power cords, which are used between rack PDUs and server power supplies to prevent them from accidentally disconnecting.


“Our customers, especially those with data centers using high- density server racks, were asking for color PDUs because it was becoming diffi cult for them to see how their entire power chain fi ts together,” said David Wood, Raritan’s Director of Power Management Solutions. “Color provides a quick and simple visual identifi cation. A color-coded system, for example, can help to quickly identify a PDU’s function and power path while dramatically simplifying troubleshooting.”


Some customers, such as eBay, use color rack PDUs to make it easier to distinguish A feeds from B feeds for powering servers and other devices with multiple power supplies. Many customers select colors for their rack PDUs to match colors used in other elements in the power chain, such as feeds to and from UPSs, while others use color PDUs to identify different types of power, such as 208V three-phase Delta, 208V/120V three-phase Wye. In addition to making it easier to fi nd power components and prevent human error, color PDUs and SecureLock plug cords add the additional benefi t of maximizing uptime in data centers.


November 2013 I www.dcseurope.info 17


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