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Data Center Power Company Helps Banks Bill more Efficiently
By Susan J. Campbell TMCnet Contributing Editor
Companies rely on data center power to keep the network going, store vital information and run the necessary applications. Data center power can be costly, however. When a company cannot determine the cost associated with the power being consumed by individual users, departments, or customers, distributing that cost appropriately is a challenge.
Server Technology (News - Alert), a global leader in power distribution products and data center power monitoring software, recently helped a large bank based in Australia that was supporting customers’ colocation equipment in their banking data center. The bank allowed as many as three companies to share a single 42U rack, and charged customers for rack space. The challenge for the bank was that the institution wanted to be able to charge for power based on the usage per individual customer.
The bank needed a way to measure the customers’ power, store data and create reports to determine which customer was using designated amounts of data center power. The company sought a consultation with a Server Technology regional sales manager and discovered a solution available in two Server Technology products: the Sentry Power Manager (SPM) software application and an intelligent Power Distribution Unit (PDU).
The horizontal (2U) dual-corded PDU was a Smart CS-12HDE-30932E, designed to deliver reliable 230V at 32 Amps. The device comes with 12 IEC (News - Alert) C19 outlets to meet the power specifications in the region. The product delivers local power monitoring through six onboard LEDs and network power monitoring build into its firmware.
The device can also measure environmental conditions, including temperature and humidity, with optional 10 foot temperature and humidity probes. Data center power and environmental monitoring on the PDU is available through a local serial connection or through the IP. A Web interface can also be used, allowing for the configuration of SNMP traps and alarms based on user defined power and environmental thresholds.
The financial institution also benefitted from the data center power manager from Sentry, the SPM software appliance designed to give the user a central interface to access thousands of networked sentry power distribution units throughout the world. The SPM also provides a global view of all PDUs and can also view devices based on temperature, humidity, current and device status.
To fully measure data center power, the SPM continuously polls hundreds of PDUs and stores the accumulated data. This information can be used to generate a number of power and environmental conditions reports.
The right fit for the financial institution was the CS-12HDE as each of the three customers on a rack were given four of the C19 outlets. Using the SPM, the input power going to each customer can be measured and that data can then be stored. Reports and trends are then generated to determine which customers are consuming specific power amounts so they can be billed accordingly.
Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. To read more of Susan’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Carrie Schmelkin
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