5 Rack PDU Details You May Have Overlooked
Investing in the right Rack Power Distribution Unit (PDU) is a challenge many facility managers face when deploying a new data center or upgrading their current one.
Rack PDUs serve as a crucial connection point that protects your entire IT investment. Therefore, it needs to effectively be able to distribute power in rack environments with multiple outlets.
Whether it’s the only power distribution unit or an intricate part of your infrastructure’s distribution strategy, consider these advanced and intelligent features to help you maximize power availability.
Color-Coding
Many data-center engineers prefer color-coded rack power distribution units to organize their power infrastructure.
The color-coded setup streamlines feed identification for facility managers to easily distinguish between their A and B power feeds. During new equipment installation or maintenance, this ensures proper load balancing between supply feeds while making system maintenance more intuitive.
Visible Light Communication
If facility managers want to airgap their power infrastructure, enabling visible light communication (VLC) that’s compatible with their rack PDU will help improve operational efficiency.
In traditional methods, recording this data involved manually writing out metrics, which could cause inconsistencies with the metrics.
However, with VLC, a secure mobile device scans a barcode on the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which generates an accurate snapshot of the of power distribution data.
Enhanced Billing Grade Accuracy
For 1% billing accuracy, consider selecting a metered rack PDU that enables power monitoring.
By providing highly accurate and comprehensive energy metering, facility managers gain visibility to monitor and control energy usage in their infrastructure.
This type of power distribution unit optimizes power utilization in billing, resulting in eliminating unnecessary capital expenses and categorizing accurate power usage of all outlets or individual outlets.
High-Temperature Grade
Equipment in data centers can easily exceed operating threshold, and ultimately fail due to high temperature and humidity.
For a rack PDU, if it exceeds its operating temperature, the power strip could fail, which would take other equipment down with it.
When choosing a new rack PDU for your facility, make sure it has a high-temperature grade, which can help reduce cooling costs while enhancing its performance.
Locking Features
Many rack PDUs feature advanced locking receptacles, allowing for better availability and security.
For example, if cables are not well-managed – or if power cords accidently come unplugged, a rack PDU can assist as another layer of data center protection.
Additionally, many types of rack PDUs may be remotely controlled and metered, providing operator flexibility and allowing increased site security needed to maintain uptime.
Need Help Selecting the Right Rack PDU?
Our diverse collection of rack PDUs offers facility managers valuable solutions beyond power distribution. Our rack PDUs can easily integrate into your infrastructure management system, while providing a platform for availability and scalability.
If you’re interested in learning how we can help you select the right rack PDU, get in touch with your Local Veritiv Office today.