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Understanding Where and How Power is Used in the Data Center
By Mae Kowalke TMCnet Contributor
That’s changed, thanks to solutions like Sentry Power Manager from Server Technology (News - Alert), a company that manufactures data center power management and control products. The company’s specialty is hardware solutions that distribute power, and associated software tools that monitor power usage down to the device level.
In a recent video interview with TMCnet’s Rich Tehrani (News - Alert), Server Technology’s Senior Director of Software and Strategic Alliance, Calvin Nicholson, explained that taking data center power management to the next level means making measured data useful so it’s possible to understand power usage trends and to control important functions like scheduled power-down during non-peak hours.
Ultimately, the goal is to gain an aggregate view of what’s going on in the data center, and where and how power is being used.
That level of information and control is beneficial both from a business profits and a carbon footprint standpoint. The environmental ‘green’ may be in, but the other kind of green is still the main focus for most companies.
“Corporations today are obviously in business to make money,” Nicholson pointed out. “They’re doing a lot of green initiatives where it makes good financial sense for the company. If they’re going to spend money and get a return by saving power, then the green portion is really an added bonus.”
One of the newest capabilities offered by Server Technology is the ability to monitor power at the in-feed level. This has been shown by the Green Grid and other similar organizations to be the most accurate and cost effective point to measure – more so than the remote power panel.
The company’s solutions are also capable of providing information on environmental factors (temperature, humidity), and can be used for keeping tabs on contact door closures and water sensors, as well as remote reboot. All of this is done with a high level of flexibility, allowing data centers to pick and choose which tools are useful to them for understanding where power is being used, and how.
Nicholson stressed that Server Technology’s products are not the lowest-cost options in the market; they are priced according to the level of value added, robust features available. For example, if a data center is getting close to exceeding the rated capacity of a given circuit, instant e-mail alerts can be automatically sent to appropriate personnel.
Watch the full video for more details about data center power management.
Mae Kowalke is a TMCnet contributor. She is Manager of Stories at Neundorfer, Inc., a cleantech company in Northeast Ohio. She has more than 10 years experience in journalism, marketing and communications, and has a passion for new tech gadgets. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Erin Monda
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