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awards2009Datacenter Power SystemAPC Symmetra PXCost-effective data center infrastructureAPC address network-critical physical infrastructure in a holistic wayBy Ross MilburnAPC by Schneider Electric(APC), a global leader in criticalpower and cooling services,provides industry leading products,software and systemsfor home, office, data centerand factory floor applications.Backed by the strength, experience,and wide network of SchneiderElectric’s Critical Power & CoolingServices, APC plans and installs solutions andmaintains them throughout their lifecycle.APC delivers energy efficient solutions forcritical technology and industrial applications,and is a global leader in what it terms”network-critical physical infrastructure”—comprising Uninterruptible Power Supplies(UPS), power distribution, racks and physicalstructures, cooling, security and environmentalmonitoring, surge protection andmanagement software, networking and cablesolutions.The central issueNetwork-critical physical infrastructurecurrently faces virtualization, high-availability,and rapid changes in IT technology. “Inresponse, APC is working to change the waythe world designs, installs, operates, manages,and maintains Network-Critical PhysicalInfrastructure (NCPI)” said Jonathan Chiu,general manager, APC by Schneider Electric,Hong Kong and Macau.“A central issue is market evolution fromcomponents to solutions,” said Chiu. “Today,we have custom-designed solutions withcomponents from many suppliers and ‘integration’burdened with an array of designers,vendors and builders. The process is slow,complex, error-prone, unpredictable, hard tochange and results in defects.”Chiu said that by contrast, “APC providesChiu from APC: The larger SMBs are installing bladeservers which drive heat issuesan integrated power, cooling and rack infrastructurefor critical networks. The equipmentis modular, scalable, serviceable fast,predictable, adaptable and can be configuredto-order.The solution is pre-engineered andrepeatable in different server room environments.”“The number of physical servers is down,but we see more rack servers with higherprocessing that draw more power,” saidChiu. “We see increases in the criticality ofthe consolidated or virtualized environment.The larger SMBs are installing blade serverswhich drive heat issues. We see more kilowattsper rack, which means higher densityand more heat. Virtualization also enablesservers to be added or moved more quickly,which changes the heat load.”Coping with virtualizationThe long term trend for data center infrastructureis virtualization, which is alreadybeing implemented by a majority ofenterprises. “This raises three challengesfor cooling,” said Chiu. “First, are the dynamicand high-density loads. The solutionis row-based cooling. The second challengeis under-loading of power/cooling systems.The solution is scalable power and cooling.Third, the need for real-time rack-level visibility.The solution is predictive managementtools, such as APC Change and CapacityManager (CCM).”“A key question when virtualizing is, if theIT load is reduced by a certain factor, howmuch will the energy losses due to power systemand cooling system be reduced?” continuedChiu. “As servers are consolidated, theirpower consumption could drop by two-thirds,but the cooling fans and motors may end upconsuming nearly 40% of the electricity bill.Optimized power and cooling should accompanyevery virtualization project. Efficientinfrastructure can not only increase powersavings up to 65% or so, but provide scalablesolutions for when the virtualized server loadincreased with enterprise growth.”As servers areconsolidated, their powerconsumption could drop bytwo-thirds, but the coolingfans and motors may endup consuming nearly 40%of the electricity billGreen IT is a global trend which demandschanges from users but also generates savings.“For example, we are able to make detailedcomparisons that show that APC’s ISX(InfraStruXure) can increase infrastructureefficiency from 31.5% to 46.9% compared withlegacy data center equipment,” said Chiu.“With ISX, more of the energy consumed isused for the IT load and less for cooling. Overten years, the ISX solution can save as muchas 35.98% of data center and infrastructurecosts.”68 Computerworld Hong Kong June 2009www.cw.com.hk