FEATURE : POWERING DATA CENTERS
One particular measure might be the weight of the electrical material that you use to distribute power . The weight would be much lower with the busbar system as opposed to an individual conductor system because you have to add in all the insulation that ’ s used in each conductor and so forth .
Also the cross sectional area of that conductor system would be much higher than a busbar system .
That ’ s important in data centers because , along with special power needs there ’ s also special cooling needs . Computers generate a lot of heat so there ’ s a big portion of the load that ’ s used for cooling off the servers .
If you have a small cross section area of power distribution that allows for more airflow the more efficient the cooling is going to be .
So using busbar really enhances the cooling efficiency substantially because you have less of a blockage for the airflow .
What are the core principles to consider when selecting a top-quality busbar solution to serve long term on-going power needs ?
The primary consideration when you ’ re selecting a vendor for any component particularly in data centers is reliability . This is very important . With our product we designed it with the understanding that it can never ever lose power .
The easiest way to gauge a manufacturers ’ ability to provide a reliable product is based on its history . So , one good thing to do is make sure that the product that you ’ re buying has a history , typically five years of use so you have good references from reliable sources ; other users who say ‘ yes that ’ s a good product and we ’ ve had no problems with it and you should use it ’. I think that ’ s the most important thing to do .
Then secondly , it ’ s important to have a good engineering review of your application .
While it ’ s pretty simple to use it ’ s becoming a little bit more complicated because our product interacts with containment systems , for instance , so you have to make sure that your design has proper allowances for electrical and mechanical allowances to allow you to install the system and also utilize it properly .
So , establishing that your vendor has a good reliability history is most important and then making sure that you ’ re using top design resources available in your application . •
BIOGRAPHY
David Skeans is the Vice President of International Sales for StarLine brand power distribution products . The StarLine brand is owned by Legrand , a leading manufacturer of critical power distribution products for the data center industry . Skeans has more than 30 years of experience in critical power distribution . www . intelligentcio . com INTELLIGENTCIO
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