What are the main practical functions of an intelligent PDU?

Smart PDUs offer a wide range of useful features, including remote monitoring, alarm notification, energy consumption tracking, and scheduled power on/off. Users can manage smart PDUs via a web interface or the SNMP protocol to access power-related data…

An intelligent Power Distribution Unit (PDU) is a device used to manage and monitor power distribution in data centers or other facilities. It is typically deployed in server racks or equipment rooms to provide power supply and power management capabilities. An intelligent PDU enables remote monitoring, control, and management of individual outlets over a network, allowing for precise control of power distribution.

Smart PDUs offer a wide range of useful features, including remote monitoring, alarm notification, energy consumption tracking, and scheduled power on/off. Users can manage smart PDUs via a web interface or the SNMP protocol to access power data and control power supply.

Smart PDUs also offer device-level power management (DPM) capabilities, enabling servers to be powered off when idle to conserve energy. This helps reduce overall data center energy consumption and operational costs.

Addressing electricity, energy, and capacity challenges

Smart PDUs provide metering at the inlet, outlet, and PDU branch circuit levels.

• Metering at the PDU inlet provides aggregate power data, eliminating the need for power information on individual IT devices—such as in a rack populated with identical 1U servers. It also helps ensure that circuit breakers on the facility’s panel are not tripped and that sufficient capacity remains available.

• Export metering enables data center managers to meter individual IT equipment, even devices with multiple power supplies.

• If the circuit is overloaded and there is a risk of tripping, metering at the PDU branch-circuit level will issue a warning.

• Smart PDUs can also monitor circuit breakers, enabling users to identify when and where tripping occurs and to quickly reset them.

Real-time data acquisition

The smart PDU collects real-time current, voltage, power (kVA, kW), and energy consumption (kWh) data with billing-grade accuracy of ±1%.

• Conduct benchmarking of the entire rack and individual IT devices to identify underperforming equipment and virtual servers for decommissioning, consolidation, or virtualization.

• Identify instances when the power entering the rack exceeds the required amount and redirect the excess to other locations.

• Leverage data to drive energy-saving behaviors and support customer billing feedback reports and sustainability initiatives.

• Smart PDUs also integrate with Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) solutions to provide analytics and reporting, alert you to issues, and help you gain visibility into real-time power loads, trends, and capacity at all levels.

Managing the Data Center Environment

Smart PDUs power plug-and-play environmental sensors, helping data centers optimize their cooling resource utilization.

• Environmental monitoring sensors for temperature, humidity, airflow, and air pressure, giving you the confidence to raise ambient temperatures and adjust fan speeds in CRAH and CRAC units.

• Sensor data viewed through DCIM monitoring software enables real-time temperature monitoring across an entire data center or multiple data centers.

• Sensors enable you to optimize your data center ecosystem, ensuring compliance with guidelines and setpoints, reducing operational costs, and improving PUE.

• Environmental sensor data can also help identify and reclaim unused data center capacity, thereby delaying capital investments in equipment and facilities.

Protect infrastructure

The intelligent PDU supports access control systems that restrict entry to individual cabinets, cabinet groups, and entire aisles.

• The smart lock uses an ID card reader to control access to the containment door and cabinet doors (front and rear).

• Record all activities: card transactions, user logs, lock/unlock history, door opening/closing, and alarms.

• Centralized management of operations, administration, and configuration to ensure strict compliance with security policies.

Sensors supported by intelligent PDUs can alert data centers to environmental hazards.

• A contact-closure sensor enables the network camera to capture a photo when the cabinet door is opened, while a digital proximity sensor can detect motion around the cabinet.

• Contact-closure sensors can be used with smoke detectors, while water/leak sensors can alert you to pipe bursts.

• Vibration sensors detect vibrations caused by earthquakes or damaged fans.

Smart PDUs also provide security protocols to prevent unauthorized network access.

• Directory services support advanced authorization options and permissions, including LDAP/S, RADIUS, and Active Directory®.

• 256-bit AES encryption and strong passwords.

Meet the demand for increased computing power

Smart PDUs can reliably deliver the higher voltages required for high-density deployments and, through real-time metering of rack PDU branch circuits, help prevent circuit breaker tripping.

• Operating at higher voltages with lower currents allows for the use of smaller, lighter, and more compact cables that require less copper and are therefore more cost-effective.

• Higher voltages, particularly when deployed as a three-phase power supply, are an effective way to increase rack power capacity without increasing cable clutter or obstructing the flow of cooling air in the underfloor ventilation system.

• Combining high-power racks with in-row or overhead localized cooling also eliminates energy waste caused by air movement within the data center resulting from localized cooling.

• Real-time metering of rack PDU branch circuits provides early warnings when circuit loads exceed capacity and tripping risk is present.

• When handling high-power equipment such as blade servers, circuit-level metering with rack PDUs is especially critical, as higher power consumption increases the likelihood of circuit breaker tripping and unplanned outages.

Remote Management

Smart PDUs provide remote management capabilities to ensure data center uptime and enhance employee productivity.

• Employees can use outlet-level switches to reboot servers and quickly restore service, especially when managing colocation facilities or deploying systems remotely.

• Remotely access power and environmental data from multiple PDUs without entering the data center.

• Power IT laboratories and production equipment through multiple PDUs, employing one or more power sources in a sequencing configuration to minimize inrush current and ensure equipment is powered on in a specific order.

• Send notifications to employees via email, SNMP, or SMS to alert them of potential issues that could lead to downtime.

• Provide outlets for new equipment without having to personally enter the data center. Shut off all other outlets to prevent the installation of unauthorized devices.

Easier asset discovery and management

Smart PDUs support intelligent asset tagging and sensors, and integrate with DCIM operations software to deliver automated, accurate, and reliable asset management.

• Replace Excel® spreadsheets, Visio® diagrams, and custom-built systems that are typically labor-intensive, inaccurate, and incomplete.

• Automated IT asset tracking helps you gain a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of your assets and their locations, down to the 1U level.

• Manage workflows by enabling you to generate change requests, automate equipment moves, and maintain a comprehensive audit trail of requests and work orders to ensure compliance.

DCIM operations software extends beyond the rack to monitor your entire data center, including facility assets.

• A real-time view of the entire data center, including servers, storage, network devices, rack PDUs, patch panels, and applications.

• By mapping the physical relationships among all these devices, it is possible to understand how the data center’s entire power and network infrastructure is hierarchically connected down to the port level.

In summary, an intelligent PDU is a device that provides granular control and monitoring of power distribution, helping administrators enhance the energy efficiency, reliability, and security of data centers.