Industry News•
on May 10th, 2010•
A new section of the Dayton, Ohio-based Staco Energy Products Co. website, the Energy Savings Community, helps users better understand their energy usage. The Financial Power Diet discusses power factor and how its correction can help to lower utility bills immediately. A chart, which shows a hypothetical energy usage scenario, can be adapted to each user’s own situation. To view the online energy savings calculator within the energy savings community, visit the company’s website.
Power•
on April 6th, 2010•
How Do You Know If You Have a Problem? Unlike a seized bearing or a fried motor, the effects of harmonics are often masked, because they don’t necessarily occur with the equipment causing the problem. Some common effects of harmonics problems are:
- Tripping of circuit breakers
- Controls, relays and other devices not functioning properly
- Overheating of bus bars, conductors and switchgear
- Breakdown of insulation which leads to shortened equipment life, and more.
What Is the Cause of the Problem? Technically – harmonics. But in layman’s terms, it’s really your electrical equipment that you use on a daily basis and can’t live without – like your computers. Yes, harmonics are created by such commonly used devices as transformers, computers, variable speed drives and UPS’s, and arcing devices like fluorescent and vapor lighting, arc welders and arc furnaces. Clearly, harmonic distortions are widespread – creating havoc in diverse businesses like small accounting firms to large manufacturing facilities.
What are Harmonics? Simply put – harmonics are voltages or currents that have multiplied within an electrical system. Commonplace linear loads continue to become more non-linear due to electronic and digital devices. These multiplied voltages or currents distort the shape of the traditional sine wave.
OK. What Can I Do About It?
The main solutions to harmonic distortion are:
- StacoVAR® passive tuned filters – application designed
- StacoSine® Active Harmonic Filters – which clean the sine wave for all types of harmonic orders – from the 3rd to the 51st
Where both power factor correction and harmonics are a concern, StacoVAR fixed or switched capacitor banks can be provided with filter reactors.
Staco works with professionals across the country to help you identify which solution is best for you. Cleaning up your harmonic problems will have your facility singing a new tune. Who knows, maybe your productivity will finally hit that high note?
Industry News, Power•
on January 2nd, 2010•
Richmond, VA., October 4, 2009 – Power Distribution, Incorporated (PDI) today announced the release of a revolutionary structured bus solution for data centers, industrial, and commercial applications. PDI’s innovative Powerwave Bus System™ with Tough Rail Technology™ represents a modular pre-engineered product line expansion into the structured bus distribution market. PDI has incorporated the simplicity of vertical drop downs from a common bus with the integration of PDI’s award winning Wavestar™ technology for intelligent monitoring and communications.
The Powerwave Bus System™ has the following industry leading features:
- 225 and 400 amp continuous rail system
- Tough Rail Technology™ which streamlines and simplifies installation
- Integrated Wavestar™ communications bus
- 80 – 150 amp drop down power distribution connections
- Wrap around electromagnetic interference (EMI) shield
PDI designs, manufactures, and distributes customized electrical equipment under the brand names PDI, Onyx, and Marelco to serve a variety of power markets. The data center channel is served by primarily by PDI. Onyx and Marelco serve the industrial and alternative energy markets with a wide variety of power solutions and custom power magnetics (both low and medium voltage). PDI has integrated these three companies to provide best of class products, upgrades, and aftermarket services.
For PDI Powerwave Bus System in Southern California contact CORE at 949-788-0011
Industry News•
on December 29th, 2009•
CORE is pleased to announce it’s sponsorship of the Southern California chapter of AFCOM International. CORE’s sponsorship provided the organization with funding for the design and development of its new website, www.afcomsocal.com. Launched in November, the website will help AFCOM-SOCAL members keep track of upcoming events, network, and search archives for past events.
AFCOM-SOCAL’s mission is to enable data center management professionals to share industry best practices by providing a forum for dissemination of critical information; to provide education on key data center management issues; to provide the industry’s most comprehensive insight and analysis in key areas affecting all data-intensive organizations; and to be the most comprehensive and effective resource available to the overall data center community.
Stay Connected with peer networking
Be Informed with educational sessions
Work Smart with an unlimited tap of resources
For membership information on AFCOM and AFCOM-SOCAL:
http://www.afcom.com
http://www.afcomsocal.com
Greening, Power•
on December 29th, 2009•
Based in Smithfield, RI, Bryant University (www.bryant.edu) has 3,200 undergraduate students from 31 US states and 32 countries around the globe, and a further 400 graduate students. Bryant has a proud history of excellence and innovation, and was recently named one of the “Top 25 Most Connected Campuses” in The Princeton Review.
Rapid growth in the use of IT by students and faculty members was putting Bryant’s infrastructure under intense pressure. The organization lacked a true enterprise-class data center, and its existing computer sites were reaching their limits in terms of space, power and cooling capacity.
By selecting an IBM Scalable Modular Data Center solution with APC’s InfraStruXure¨ architecture, IBM designed and built an energy-efficient data center for Bryant at a fraction of the cost of a typical solution. Art Gloster, CIO, comments: “The IBM and APC solution delivered significant capital and operational cost savings, providing a compact yet highly scalable infrastructure. We estimate that the solution is 30 percent more efficient in power and cooling terms alone, both reducing expenditure and underlining the University’s commitment to environmental sustainability.”
Out-of-the-box solution
Bryant’s decentralized infrastructure– 75 servers across three rooms–was inefficient, with average utilization under 10 percent. Most of the servers had no UPS, raising the risk for the organization, and the lack of standardization made them difficult to manage. Bryant embarked on a program of centralization and consolidation, planning to virtualize its existing servers and run them on standardized hardware in a purpose-built data center.
“We consulted several vendors, and it was clear that IBM had the edge in terms of innovative ideas,” says Gloster. “IBM brought APC to the table, and together they showed how we could gain a robust, compact and highly efficient data center at less than 20 percent of the cost of a standard raised-floor alternative.”
IBM proposed a complete turn-key data center solution using the IBM BladeCenter servers and the IBM Scalable Modular Data Center infrastructure, utilizing the APC
InfrStuXure architecture, for a complete, energy- and space-efficient solution. The IBM solution provided the necessary power and cooling, which is both modular and scalable, utilizing a targeted InRowª cooling solution, which is very energy efficient compared to perimeter cooling, which simply pumps cold air through the entire data center, even in areas where it is not needed.
During the design phase, the location of the data center changed several times; IBM and APC were ¥exible enough to be able to adjust the design rapidly and at low cost.
“The joint team planned the deployment extremely well, and the bulk of the actual installation was completed within just four days,” says Rich Siedzik, Director of Computer and Telecommunication Services. “The quality of the engineering work and project management from IBM was outstanding.”
Targeted cooling
Bryant virtualized its 75 physical servers, moving them to just 40 physical servers in the new data center. Any new systems the University decides to implement will also be virtualized and run on the existing physical servers, signi¥cantly reducing the ongoing expenditure on hardware.
“We expect to add one new virtual server every month, and there is still plenty of capacity on the current 40 physical servers,” says Gloster. “Previously, that would have meant buying and installing 12 new physical machines, then paying the additional power and cooling costs over their full lifecycle.”
“When they come into the data center, many people remark that it feels too warmÑthey are accustomed to heavily air-conditioned data centers,” says Siedzik. “The IBM and APC solution is more efficient, targeting cooling on the components that need it, rather than wasting energy chilling the surrounding air.”
Faster and greener
Beyond the cost and energy efficiency advantages of server virtualization, Bryant also bene¥ts from accelerated provisioning. Rich Siedzik estimates that it would typically take up to nine weeks to deploy a new physical server. He says, “We can deploy a new virtual server image almost instantaneously and complete the provisioning process inside a day.”
Art Gloster concludes, “Through consolidation, virtualization and improved data center efficiency, Bryant University will signi¥cantly reduce long-term capital and operational expenditure. The IBM and APC solution should also enable the University to reduce its energy consumption and carbon footprintÑa consideration that is becoming increasingly important for institutions like ours.”
For more information
Contact your IBM sales representative or IBM Business Partner. Visit us at:
ibm.com/systems/optimizeit/ cost_efficiency/energy_efficiency
Greening, Power•
on December 19th, 2009•
Standard Performance Contract (SPC)
- All energy efficiency measures must be retrofits or replacements of existing operating equipment.
- New construction cogeneration and fuel switching projects are not eligible.
- For details visit www.sdge.com/spc or call 858-654-1190
On-Bill Project Reimbursement
Financial assistance when implementing Energy Efficient Measures
- 0% Financing on specific Energy Efficiency Measures
- Works in conjunction with other SDG&E Energy Efficiency Incentive Programs
- Monthly payments are billed to your SDG&E bill
- Available on a first come first served basis until funds run out
- Min. loan amount of $5,000
- Max. for non-tax payer funded organizations is $100,000 per meter
with a 5 year maximum loan term
- Max. for tax payer funded organizations is $250,000 per meter with a 10 yr max. loan term
- To apply, visit: www.sdge.com/obf or call 800-644-6133
On-Bill Financing FAQ’s
http://sdge.com/business/esc/documents/obf_faqs.pdf
On-Bill Financing Application
http://sdge.com/documents/business/esc/OBF_application.pdf
SDG&E Energy Savings Center:
(Information on everything from seminars to online energy analysis tools, rebates and other incentives):
http://www.sdge.com/business/esc/
The California Center for Sustainable Energy
http://www.energycenter.org
SDG&E Free workshops and Trainings
http://www.sdge.com/training
EPA Report on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=prod_development.server_efficiency_stu
Glossary•
on November 30th, 2009•
1+1 redundancy typically offers the advantage of additional failover transparency in the event of component failure. The level of resilience is referred to as active/active or hot as backup components actively participate with the system during normal operation. Failover is generally transparent (distruption to system availability) as failover does not actually occur (just degradation to system resilience) as the backup components were already active within the system.
Examples of 1+1 redundancy:
- Dual active power supplies in a server.
- Mirrored hard drives within a server/PC system.
Glossary•
on November 29th, 2009•
N+1 redundancy is a form of resilience that ensures system availability in the event of component failure. Components (N) have at least one independent backup component (+1). The level of resilience is referred to as active/passive or standby as backup components do not actively participate within the system during normal operation. The level of transparency (distruption to system availability) during failover is dependent on a specific solution, though degradation to system resilience will occur during failover.
Examples of N+1 redundancy:
- Connecting devices (server etc) in dual switch SAN fabrics employ a discrete path to each switch. Only one path is active at any given time, resiliency is provided by the availability of an additional path if the active path becomes unavailable.
- Data centre power generators that activate when the normal power source is unavailable.
