According to Sungard Availability Services , power cuts were the single biggest cause of business disruption in 2011, with incidents in 2011 rising by 10% from the previous year. These results, represented in the table below, strongly indicate that theoffice workplace remains at most risk of power cut induced downtime, accounting for 80% of disruptions. Meanwhile, technology failure problems dropped by 25% – possibly due to the fact that most organisations now deploy virtualised and cloud … Continue reading →
There’s no arguing with the fact that data centres and server rooms use a lot of energy. And one of the biggest contributors to the energy bill is the cost of data centre cooling, especially when using conventional chiller units. Cooling server rooms consume a staggering 1% of the world’s energy. It’s not surprising then that data centre operators are increasingly interested in the concept of free cooling or the use of fresh air.
There are several ways to configure an uninterruptible power system (UPS), and each topology offers different benefits. To support an 80 kVA load, we could use a:
Traditional approach: single 100 kVA unit
Parallel approach: two 50 kVA units
Modular approach: nine 10 kVA units
Although the capital costs are lower, the traditional approach is the least efficient way to support the load. It’s not scalable, which means the UPS won’t always properly support the load and if … Continue reading →
Using old and inefficient uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) leads to higher running costs. UPS systems that are too big for the load they’re protecting waste money too. So is it worth investing in a new standby power system?
How much can I save with a modern UPS?
A 10-year old on-line double conversion UPS will be around 88% efficient – today’s units offer closer to 96% efficiency – a 9% improvement. Modern UPS also reach maximum efficiency more … Continue reading →
Having sufficient standby power is essential if you want to protect your electrical equipment against mains failure. What should you consider when you specify your UPS system?
The nature of your organisation
The equipment used by your organisation will help to determine the type of protection you need. For example, data centres with rows of rack-mounted servers require a larger UPS to back-up their operations. While large computer rooms are usually supported by high-capacity, centrally located, online UPS … Continue reading →
We have all been there in the midst of a storm when suddenly the lights go out. Typically, we’re left in the dark for a few hours. But what would happen if a power cut wiped out entire countries for months at a time?
According to National Geographic, “Solar storms are brewing about 93 million miles (150 million kilometres) away, and if one of them reaches Earth, it could knock out communications, scramble GPS, and leave thousands … Continue reading →
