THE EDGE
oversubscribe the shared portion of
their power capacity. But this is risky
as demand from customers such as
MSPs and retail colocation providers
is unpredictable. This causes planning
headaches for the data centre operator
as demand peaks and troughs from
uncontrollable customer behaviour.
Inflexible data centre power
issues addressed
Operators may want flexibility, but in
power topology terms, the reality is that
data centre engineers are as constrained
as the rest of the market.
Over the last 20 years, there have only
been incremental changes to the four
main power topologies. There has been
no step-change away from fault tolerant,
block redundant, distributed redundant
and ISO parallel setups.
The process around which is chosen for
deployment is consistent. Developers
consult with engineers, the system is
designed, it is installed and tested and
once switched on it is rarely, if ever,
changed. In effect, often the setup is never
touched again. And what is common to all
is that in all data centre power topologies,
little or no automation exists.
Once in operation, the main reasons for
not changing the power topology are
expense and difficulty. In order to alter
a 2N system to a N+1 system is complex
in terms of distribution and components,
and the change may require planned
downtime which inevitably increases risk.
How ARP changes the power
game for data centres
Adaptable Redundant Power is a newly
developed way of thinking about how
power provision can be both flexible and
responsive and can deliver cost savings
by capturing stranded capacity in the
data centre.
ARP has four operating modes: Adaptable
Redundancy, Inherent Redundancy,
Adaptable Inherent Redundancy and IT
Load Prioritisation.
Different modes offer complementary
features and functions. ARP can enable
unused power capacity to be accessed
in normal conditions. It provisions
predetermined redundant levels to IT
loads where the power is derived from
unused power capacity. With IT load
prioritisation, ARP can service different
hierarchies of application needs in the
event of an unplanned power outage.
To meet the external pressures and
customer challenges, wholesale data
centre owners must look for ways to
make operations more profitable.
TO MEET THE
EXTERNAL
PRESSURES
AND CUSTOMER
CHALLENGES,
WHOLESALE
DATA CENTRE
OWNERS MUST
LOOK FOR
WAYS TO MAKE
OPERATIONS
MORE
PROFITABLE.
The fact is that MEP is typically 70% of
total CAPEX (excluding IT) in large data
centre builds and power infrastructure
accounts for around 40% of the 70%.
Power accounts for approximately 13% of
operating costs on an ongoing basis.
The numbers are huge. For companies
looking to provide a better service and
improve their long-term return on capital
deployed and their OPEX bottom line,
ARP is the answer. ◊
70 Issue 17
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