Intelligent Data Centres Issue 49 | Page 64

IMPLEMENTING A ROBUST LOAD BANK TESTING REGIME IS KEY TO DATA CENTRE UPTIME .
UNCOVERING THE LAYERS
Where shortages threaten , governments may be forced to enact load-shedding strategies – a term used to describe the prioritisation of power allocation to hospitals and critical infrastructure . For businesses , this prioritisation process may mean being without power for periods of time – impacting productivity and profitability . For this reason , many businesses are investing in backup power , ensuring that they can keep operating in emergency conditions if power cuts are implemented . In France in particular , the government has been clear : businesses have been advised to make sure all emergency power generators are working , making load banks critical to meeting government recommendations .
A digital-first society
While the Digital Revolution has its roots in the 1960s and 70s , when technology started the transition from mechanical and analogue to digital , the pandemic fundamentally shifted the way we live and work , necessitating a move to ‘ digital first ’ almost overnight . A McKinsey study estimates that during the first eight weeks of the pandemic , digital channel adoption fast-forwarded seven years . As well as forcing companies to accelerate their digital strategy and adoption , this transition also reset expectations for customers , who now expect companies to offer an array of digital services and interactions – with 100 % uptime .
To meet the challenges posed by an increasingly data-driven world , the data centre sector has experienced fast growth – with an anticipated 10.5 % CAGR from 2021 to 2030 . In a sector governed by strict SLAs and expectations of continuous uptime , the issue of downtime continues to dominate the sector . A report by the Uptime Institute ( UI ) at the end of 2022 identified that data centre outages were becoming increasingly costly – both in terms of downtime , reputational damage and lost data . Crucially , data from the UI showed that the biggest causes of powerrelated outages were uninterruptible power supply failures , followed by transfer switch ( generator / grid ) and generator failures – reinforcing that implementing a robust load bank testing regime is key to data centre uptime .
Customer SLAs and zero-downtime
Research from Zendesk suggests that 80 % of customers say they ’ d switch to a competitor after more than one bad experience . With customers demanding a fast and efficient service , regardless of industry , businesses can ’ t afford operational inefficiency . In a world where zero-downtime is a critical part of business
IMPLEMENTING A ROBUST LOAD BANK TESTING REGIME IS KEY TO DATA CENTRE UPTIME .
success , having access to reliable power supplies is non-negotiable – and will continue to entail the deployment of generators and load banks .
The role of load banks
The growth in demand for generators is a clear sign that businesses are reviewing their continuity and energy resilience plans . Load banks are a critical part of that planning – with issues around grid reliability , energy shortfalls and the transition to more sustainable power sources , it has never been more important that operators test their backup power systems . By carrying out testing and maintenance , fuel , exhaust , cooling systems and alternator insulation resistance are effectively tested and system issues can be uncovered in a safe , controlled manner without the cost of major failure or unplanned downtime . �
64 www . intelligentdatacentres . com