For data centres, high-
functioning UPS systems
are crucial to ensure
critical systems remain
in operation, should
normal service be
disrupted. Marc Garner,
Vice President, Secure
Power Division, Schneider
Electric, UK, tells us
about the benefits of IoT-
enabled UPS systems in
order to drive resilience,
efficiency and continuity.
ninterruptible power supplies
(UPS) are a critical component
of any organisation’s business
continuity strategy, providing
battery-based backup, should service from
the mains become disrupted.
U
The essential requirements of a UPS
are that it is reliable, easy to maintain,
efficient to operate and unobtrusive – one
wants to know that it is there, but one
would prefer that it never be needed.
It should be designed with simplicity
in mind, ensuring such aspects as
installation, monitoring, management and
scalability are made simple for the user.
Increasingly, given the high levels of
automation and remote management in
today’s data centres, UPSs must have IoT
enabled capabilities to ensure their status
can be monitored and, where possible,
their operation be controlled from
outside the white space. Furthermore,
any maintenance must be performed
as quickly and easily as possible, with
minimum downtime.
Many new systems will accommodate
all of these requirements, regardless of
the choice to deploy them within the
largest data centre or edge computing
application. One thing, however, is clear –
that backup power is essential to today’s
requirement for business continuity.
Installation and startup
The first place to begin in any UPS
installation is with the startup
configuration. This might include the size
of the solution required and whether it
should be single or three-phase.
Another consideration might be the speed
of deployment and any sizing constraints to
the area in which the UPS will be deployed.
In terms of energy usage and predictability,
it may need the capability to perform pre-
requisites such as an Easy Loop test, which
will allow the performance to be verified
well in advance of connecting the load.
Finally, if the application requires a
modular, scalable approach, a key
requirement might be the need for
additional batteries and if those will be
configured internally or externally.
Expansion, resilience and scalability
Another primary consideration
for continuity might be plans to
accommodate future growth. Here one
IoT-enabled UPS
systems drive
efficiency and
business continuity
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Issue 05
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