Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

The recent focus on Big Data suggests that companies are capturing more information for business intelligence, improved business models, target marketing and so much more. As this data is powerful and valuable, it needs to be accessible at all times. Power protection is no longer just a luxury for the data center – it’s a must.

A recent post in BizTech magazine focused on this very topic, stressing the changes in power protection technology for the data center in the last few years. Innovation is now the name of the game and smarter uninterruptible power support (UPS) systems are proving to be more efficient and better at managing power than the products of yesterday.

In essence, the UPS is primarily responsible for providing power in the case of a power outage. It fulfills the always-on demand and efficiency is measured in lower energy bills and reduced cooling equipment requirements. Line-interactive devices for smaller UPSs are preferred in the United States as the quality of the power supply is consistently good. Overall, these devices are less expensive and more efficient, yet impractical at typical data center loads.

Therefore, power protection solutions need to include delta conversion UPSs, allowing users to scale up and provide high quality power regulation while also avoiding the inefficiencies found in other devices. Data center managers may be tempted to use several smaller devices, yet run the risk of significant maintenance costs and inflexibility. The better solution is a delta-conversion UPS that can handle the data center load and still keep costs in check.

In today’s environment where so much data is stored, managed and accessed through the cloud, UPSs may be used in areas where power generation is not available to provide the necessary backup. In their original design, the UPS would simply go offline when batteries were exhausted or communicate over a serial port to a designated system. Smart UPSs today have Ethernet ports and small CPUs so alerts can be sent via email, SNMP and other protocols so IT managers are alerted right away when power protection issues arise.

The smart UPS can assist in the cloud environment by helping to shut down noncritical equipment when utility power has been compromised. This power shedding, as it is known, requires tight communication between UPSs and other infrastructure to ensure operations don’t stop while the power issue is addressed.

With data such an important part of the business environment, a focus on power protection and efficient data center operations is gaining ground. To that end, companies like Minuteman are attracting more attention, yet also need to stay abreast of the latest challenges and technologies to deliver according to market demands. Fortunately, Minuteman keeps the customer in mind with its innovations, offering the necessary tools to deliver optimal power protection.