For a National Research Lab located in the Southwest, experiencing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damaged infrastructure was not just a bad nightmare, it was a cold hard reality.

The lab was having cooling issues in its data center and one time the temperature became so hot that the fire suppression system was triggered, without notification, destroying $300,000 of critical server and network equipment. 

The data center director determined that they needed a system put in place that would notify them when temperature thresholds swayed. The lab was also looking for a way to bring down groups of equipment within the data center when the temperature reached a specific threshold to preserve equipment before damage due to overheating occurred again.  

The company that could do all of this was Server Technology (News - Alert), a data center power monitoring company.

For almost three decades, Server Technology has been providing some of the biggest companies in the world with power management solutions. The company provides power distribution products and power monitoring software aimed at two markets – data centers and telecommunications. 

The lab worked with Server Technology to address its problem. The first solution was to add environmental monitoring products to measure temperature and humidity.  All Server Tech Smart and Switched Cabinet Power Distribution Units (CDUs) can support two environmental probes.  The data from these probes can be seen on the CDUs built in firmware. 

The second part of the solution is called “Smart Load Shedding,” which is an optional feature for all Server Tech Switched CDUs. 

The Smart Load Shedding oversees individual or groups of devices and makes sure that the temperature, current load and UPS power status are in check.  In the event that the temperature or current load exceeds a defined threshold or the UPS loses power and goes onto battery, all or a portion of the devices in the equipment cabinet may be automatically shut off to ensure longer operational life of the critical devices, according to company officials. 

“If one or more of the devices being shed is a server, a graceful shutdown may be accomplished via a Remote Shutdown Agent,” officials explain. “This Remote Shutdown Agent intervenes before power is shutoff to the device to protect valuable data.  When the specific threshold is no longer being exceeded or the UPS comes off of battery, a user configured auto-recovery time will restore power to the load shed devices. This feature is fully configurable and it is up to the operator if the system will be allowed to auto-recover on none or all of the configured key parameters. ”The labs selected Server Technology’s CW-8H1-C20.  With the Switched CDUs' Smart Load Shedding and temperature and humidity probes, they can now safeguard their devices against unforeseen power and environmental events. 

In other data center power news, Server Technology has spent the last few days at Interop Las Vegas 2011, the leading business technology event.

This year, Server Technology once again powered the InteropNet network, Interop's (News - Alert) specialized cutting edge temporary network, with its intelligent cabinet CDUs. The InteropNet supplies the most reliable, high-speed network for thousands of attendees, hundreds of exhibitors, and throughout the entire conference center. Server Technology has installed and custom configured its CDUs to the InteropNet which will be used at both Las Vegas and New York Interops. 

“The NOC (News - Alert) (Network Operations Center) at Interop really is a best of breed solutions showcase,” Brandon Siri, senior marketing representative for Server Technology, told TMCnet in a recent interview. “To be chosen again this year to be the exclusive CDU provider is an honor and goes to show that with our CDU engineering expertise we are producing a world-class product.  With a patent library to back our technology, engineering at our core, and a solution for just about any data center power need, being in the Interop NOC has allowed us to demonstrate first-hand to everyone what sets Server Tech CDUs apart from the rest.”