UPS basics
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Chris Loeffler Product Manager, Eaton Ed Spears Product Marketing Manager,Eaton UPS basics Everything you ever wanted to know about uninterruptible power supplies but were afraid to ask. ran Executive summary Budgeting for electricity, securing adequate supplies of it and finding ways to use less of it are all common topics of conversation among data center operators. Ensuring that the power their IT resources rely on is both dependable and clean, sadly, can sometimes be an afterthought. In truth, however, power sags, surges and outages are not only unavoidable but more than capable of damaging valuable IT equipment and bringing productivity to a halt. That's why planning and deploying a robust power protection solution is absolutely vital. An uninterruptible power system (UPS) is the central component of any well-designed power protection architecture. This white paper provides an introductory overview of what a UPS is and what kinds of UPS are available, as well as a comprehensive guide to selecting the right UPS and accessories for your needs. Table of contents Why is power protection important? 2 What are the main types of UPS? 2 Single phase versus three phase 3 Redundant deployment architectures: 4 Extending battery runtime: 5 Making the most out of your UPS selection 6 F-T*N Powering Business Worldwide Offsite power monitoring: 6 Onsite power management: 6 Power distribution units: 7

Why is power protection important? No company can afford to leave its IT assets unprotected from power issues. Here are just a few of the reasons why: • Even short outages can be trouble. Losing power for as little as a quarter second can trigger events that may keep IT equipment unavailable for anywhere from 15 minutes to many hours. And downtime is costly. Some experts believe the U.S. economy loses between $200 billion and $570 billion a year due to power outages and other disturbances. • Utility power isn’t clean. In practice, electrical power can vary widely enough to cause significant...

Multi-mode systems Multi-mode UPSs combine features of both single- and doubleconversion technologies to dynamically strike an ideal balance between efficiency and protection. Under normal conditions, they provide maximum efficiency by running in a highly-efficient energy saver mode. When problems occur, however, they automatically sacrifice some efficiency to deliver maximum levels of protection by automatically and immediately transitioning back to doubleconversion mode. When the power quality returns to acceptable levels, the UPS transitions back into energy saver mode. The end result is...

Sizing a generator During a utility failure, a UPS gives you the few minutes of time you need to shut down servers gracefully. For companies that can’t afford to be without IT systems for the hours or even days that may elapse before electrical service is restored, generators may be in their power protection architecture. While UPSs provide brief periods of emergency power, generators draw on a supply of diesel fuel to keep IT systems operational for anywhere from 10 minutes to several days or more. When choosing a generator, look for one with 1.5 to 3.0 times the kVA rating of your UPS....

Figure 7. Parallel UPS systems all feed the output bus, so any single UPS module can be isolated for maintenance or in case of a failure. Parallel systems must be synchronized together to share the loads. Hot-swappable components: Technicians can repair or administer a UPS that uses hot-swappable components without powering the UPS down, thereby exposing IT equipment to decreased risk of downtime. Extending battery runtime: A typical UPS battery provides five to 15 minutes of backup power. Organizations that need more than that can use supplemental external battery modules or cabinets to...

Data centers with fluctuating needs or future requirements that are difficult to forecast can employ two strategies to increase the scalability of their UPS deployment: Making the most out of your UPS selection D • eploy UPSs in parallel: Parallel UPS architectures boost scalability as well as redundancy. As their power needs increase, organizations can simply add more modules to existing UPS systems, rather than replace current devices with new ones. The best way to address UPS problems is to prevent them. Remote UPS monitoring applications continually watch for warning signs of future...

Load shedding reduces the workload on the IT devices so power consumption is minimized. Load shedding involves suspending or shutting down non-critical workloads (applications) and combining the higher critical workloads on fewer servers, then shutting down as many servers as possible. It can be used in both small and large data centers. In a small data center or network closet, it can be used to extend the battery runtime, especially when there is no generator to pick up the electrical load when power gets disrupted. In a large data center, it may involve a major disaster like a hurricane...

Conclusion Businesses today invest large sums of money in their IT infrastructure as well as the power required to keep it functioning. They count on this investment to keep them productive and competitive. Leaving that infrastructure defenseless against electrical dips, spikes and interruptions is a bad idea. A well-built power protection solution, featuring high-quality, highly efficient UPS hardware, can help keep your business applications available, your power costs manageable and your data safe. By familiarizing themselves with the basics of what a UPS does and how to choose the right...