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power step from 8kW to 10kW
could be taken care of with locally
generated power, holding the utility
supply to a constant 8kW.
Optimization through
dynamic redundancy
The false assumption, mentioned
earlier, that all servers in tier 3/4
data centers are handling mission
critical workloads can be mitigated
by assigning non-critical tasks to
specific low-priority server racks.
This allows additional server
capacity to be installed in the data
center up to a limit defined by the
maximum non-critical load. So, for
example, in a full data center where
the maximum server rack load
of 400kW for all racks nominally
requires dual 400kW supplies to
provide 100% redundancy, it could
be possible to provide additional
low-priority server racks to service
perhaps 100kW of non-critical
workload. Then in the event that
one of the 400kW supplies fails,
power is cut to the low-priority
server racks to ensure that the
mission-critical racks receive full
power from the alternate 400kW
supply.
Using intelligent load management
in this way can free up redundant
supply capacity, which has no value-
add, to provide a significant increase
in a data center’s workload capacity -
in this instance adding 25% without
the need for provisioning more
power. Once again, a combined
software and hardware solution can
provide this dynamic management
of power, monitoring and detecting
a supply disruption and immediately
switching the alternative supply to
ensure continued operation of the
mission-critical server racks.
The Intelligent Control
of Energy (ICE
®
) solution
CUI has partnered with Virtual
Power Systems to introduce the
concept of peak shaving in a novel
Software Defined Power
®
solution
for IT systems. The Intelligent
Control of Energy (ICE
®
) system
uses a combination of hardware
and software to maximize
capacity utilization and optimize
performance.
The
hardware
comprises
various
modules,
including rack-mount battery
storage and switching units, which
can be placed at the various power
control points in the data center
to support software decisions on
power sourcing. The ICE software
consists of an operating system that
collects telemetry data from ICE
and other infrastructure hardware
to enable real-time control using
power optimization algorithms.
To illustrate the system’s benefits,
figure 5 highlights an ICE system
trial at a top-tier data center.
The trial has shown the potential
to unlock 16MW of power from
an installed capacity of 80MW.
Furthermore, the capital expenditure
in adding ICE is not only a quarter
of the cost that would have been
Figure 5. The value proposition from installing ICE to unlock unused power capacity
42 l New-Tech Magazine Europe