Factors you should pay attention to when choosing energy equipment for data centers

Such a factor as uptime plays a critical role in the field of information technology. One of the most important factors supporting high uptime is reliable equipment, including various kinds of power systems. Ideally, the data center should be the most secure and efficient equipment of all that is on the market.

But the problem is that the requirements for data centers often change, so it will not be possible to install once and for all a certain type of power and distribution systems, and forget about it. It is necessary to provide for the possibility of updating this type of equipment. This is, in general, clear. But how do you know when it's time to upgrade and upgrade? Let's try to figure it out.

Do opportunities fit needs?

The first question to ask yourself when thinking about upgrading the power systems in the data center is the question “How does the current equipment meet the needs?”.
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Replacing morally and physically obsolete systems is, above all, time and financial costs, so it is important to carefully evaluate the capabilities of the currently installed equipment and the upcoming costs. Roughly speaking, you need to think whether the game is worth the candle. Often the management of the company considers that the new is always better, and endlessly modernizes everything and everyone. As a result, such an upgrade can result in continuous losses, and the benefits will be just scanty. If the decision is still positive, then the process should be started immediately. Of course, in case there are appropriate funds.

Careful approach to the analysis of the situation is necessary because in the evaluation process often opens up new advantages (or, conversely, disadvantages) of the upcoming update. For example, the distribution of energy can be made more efficient, the space will become larger, plus the productivity of the company and its revenues will increase. An important point - you need to take into account the trends. For example, now in the energy infrastructure prevail cable and conduit, but the bus line is gaining popularity. The advantages of the latter are:

• Relative simplicity and installation speed. Cable routing and installation of conduits is a time consuming process that takes a long time. The busbar is much more simple and practical technology, the installation work can be performed by entry-level spetsialists without expert judgment.
• Reducing the cost of implementation. Due to the fact that in this process, the services of expensive professionals are practically not needed (with some exceptions), the cost of installing busbars is lower than in the case of cable penetration and installation of conduit.
• Space saving. In many data centers, free space is an eternal problem. Busbars allow you to save free space by freeing up space.
• The possibility of modernization. In this case, updating the energy infrastructure is much easier than with cables. You can replace only some of the components, leaving the rest of the infrastructure intact. This flexibility allows for minimal intervention in a working system, which usually cannot be achieved when working with wired infrastructure.

How fast is the data center growing?

Another important question to ask yourself when replacing power equipment. Now, trying to meet modern realities, the data centers of many companies are constantly increasing their capacity and increasing their productivity. This requires new equipment, and therefore an updated energy infrastructure.

If rapid growth is expected, there should be opportunities for this at the very beginning, when the data center is just being designed. Large companies, by the way, do just that.

Is the data center expanding? Then you should think about replacing switchboards with switches or even low-voltage distribution equipment. If the data center is large enough, you can use a large switchboard, a frame or several switchboards to install overcurrent protection devices, tires and other equipment. Such solutions are usually the most practical.

But in some cases it is required to install more complex elements, for example, multifunctional low-voltage shields, which allows you to protect, monitor and monitor the performance of critical systems. Low-voltage equipment provides protection for related equipment, including transformers, generators, motors, etc. This solution allows employees to access the control elements of the system at any time.

And what about power outages?

One of the most important questions is whether the data center will be able to withstand power outages. This kind of problem happens often enough, so you need to take care of their solution in advance.

Particular attention should be paid to such elements of the infrastructure as automatic switches of reserves. They are responsible for the rapid and safe switching of energy flows from normal to emergency. Not once or twice it happened when the data center of the company was “cut off” due to the fact that someone did not check the switches. As a result, they did not work properly during power outages and the backup systems were not put into operation, although they were in a fully operational state.

There are a lot of formats and types of reserve switch configurations. The main thing is to know that they meet the needs of the company.

There are two main types of switches: it is open and closed type. An open switch turns off the main one before switching to the reserve channel of energy. This is done so that the current does not exceed normal values.

Closed switches establish a connection with a backup channel before disconnecting from the main one.

All this must be remembered during the upgrade. It seems to be captaincy, but often problems occur due to lack of attention to the seemingly self-evident details. If you pay attention to all the details and details of the infrastructure of the data center, the equipment will work properly and without problems, and the uptime indicator will please both the data center operator and customers.

By the way, if you have problems with power equipment, tell about it in the comments, along with a description of the solution. All of us will be interested.