The need for data center space is booming, and in response, a variety of “ancillary” streams of information have arisen to help guide the decision-making processes of beleaguered CIOs. The natural by-product of this onslaught of advice and guidance is the proliferation of the technical equivalent of urban myths – “solid tips,” “practical advice,” and “proven best practices” that are inaccurate and misleading. Passed along or cited by pundits, vendors, and well-meaning associates, these myths can lead to poor data center planning and decisionmaking.
Increasing power densities combined with enhanced product functionality have created strong demand for cabinet power distribution units (PDUs) within today’s data centers. IT and facilities personnel now know that the type and amount of power delivered to the cabinet can greatly affect their costs, cooling efficiency, redundancy, and future expansion plans within their facilities.
We needed more backup generating capacity, but instead of simply making an expenditure for that purpose, we made an investment in long-term revenue generation. Toromont Power Systems developed a highly competitive project plan and then did a great job of execution.
The Maui High Performance Computing Center (MHPCC) stands at the forefront of high-performance computing and provides more than 21 million hours of computing time annually to vital defense and scientific research, development, and test programs. The center provides access to parallel supercomputing hardware, advanced software applications, high bandwidth communications, and high performance storage technologies. It supports vital projects such as the study of high-power radio frequency energy weapons, the development of lasers, and testing of unmanned aircraft.
Transfer switches are at the heart of an emergency power system, providing a dependable power transfer between the utility and emergency standby generator, or between other types of power sources and facility loads. When the normal power source fails (usually the utility), transfer switches detect the loss of power, send a start signal to the standby generator and then connect the generator to the facility’s loads when the generator has achieved proper frequency and voltage. In cases of utility failure when the emergency power source is not operating, electrical service to a facility’s loads will be lost for a period of approximately 10 seconds while the generator set starts - unless there is an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) serving loads in the system to bridge the power gap while the generator set starts, reaches the proper parameters, and the automatic transfer switch transfers.
“[In a self-actualizing person], everything now comes of its own accord, pouring out, without will, effortlessly, purposelessly. He acts now totally and without deficiency….” - Abraham Maslow
Once a data center is designed and built, how does the organization know if the on-site cooling infrastructure will adequately support the power-hungry IT equipment? No amount of floor plan or specification analysis will provide a definitive answer to this question, especially for traditional data center designs. Too many systems are interacting and are influencing each other’s performance.
Since its opening in November 2004, a Lansing, MI, stand-alone data center–supporting the operations for Jackson, a 3,000-employee insurance and financial firm–has attracted attention from larger companies because of its many energy-efficiency and reliability features and for proving that a first-rate data center is not beyond the resources of smaller firms.