UPS for Data Centers

Data center applications require reliable power sources. Learn more about uninterruptible power supply ups for data centers.

A clean and secure supply of power is critical to today’s data center and IT facilities. Any power failure can have a devastating impact on mission-critical computers, communications and data, resulting in costly downtime. It is vital that loads remain securely protected from blackouts and other mains electricity disturbances.

UPS for data centers

Data center applications require reliable power sources. When watch entire seasons of shows from streaming services, because it’s the new era. People walk around with smartphones continously connected to the internet. People share content with all their relations using internet. There are a lot of examples that require internet and an extraordinary amount of storage and infrasctructure which is the main base of the job of the data centers.

The data center is the heart of the internet, ensure this information is available at all times. And the data centers need to be non sensitive to power outage.

The uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is one piece of equipment every data center uses to make sure the servers and all sensitive pieces of computing equipment are never susceptible to power line disturbances and power quality issues.

DC power supplies in Data Center Systems

Computing equipment such as servers and routers all rely on an internal power supply to provide the regulated DC power required to run the processors and peripheral devices. These power supplies can only handle a certain variance in supply voltage before the computing equipment becomes susceptible to shutdown or overload.

The Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) has created a curve and application note that describes the input voltage envelope that typical information technology equipment can tolerate.

As an example, the curve shows that most equipment would be able to withstand a voltage dropout up to 20 ms. A UPS for data centers is designed to ensure the input voltage to computing equipment is within the “No Interruption in Function Region” of the voltage envelope.

Components of UPS power supply

There are several types of uninterruptible power supplies, which will be defined below, but all UPS systems will make use of the following components.

Rectifier: The rectifier converts the input AC power into DC power. This DC power will be used to feed an energy storage system.
Energy Storage: Every UPSwill use some type of system for storing energy in case of input power failure. This energy may be stored in the form of batteries, flywheels, or supercapacitors and is what allows a UPS to supply uninterrupted power.
Inverter: The inverter converts the DC power from the rectifier or the energy storage system into the required AC power to be used by the load.

Types of uninterruptible power supply

Standby/Offline: The standby UPS are a basic UPS system which offers only the most basic features. Most workstation UPSs use this technology. When there is a power failure, the line then mechanically switches to the battery power.
Line Interactive: Line interactive UPS is substantially more advanced than a typical standby UPS, and can handle more than just power outages (blackouts). Line-interactive UPSs have an autotransformer which can modify the number of powered coils of wire to to adjust the output voltage, which smooths out short-term under-voltages or over-voltages.
Online/Double Conversion: The Online double-conversion UPS provides the highest level of power protection for critical applications, and is usually used in data centers. It has layers of protective circuits that keep connected equipment safe and ensure it is receiving conditioned and regulated power. They usually provide longer periods of time, as they often contain more battery packs.

Online double conversion UPS system

Critical data centers will typically make use of online double conversion UPS systems.

When double-conversion online UPS power supplies first appeared in the seventies, they used transformer-based designs. However, advances in power semiconductor technology have facilitated a general industry move towards transformerless UPS for data centers. This has brought several advantages, including some related to UPS efficiency.

Firstly, the topology is inherently more efficient. Even at optimal, near full load conditions, transformer-based UPS designs remain well below 95 percent – and as the load reduces towards 25 percent, efficiency approaches just over 85 percent.

UPS redundancies for data center load

In order to meet the high uptime requirements for data centers, UPS systems with redundancy function.

N+1 Redundancy

Let’s define “N” as the full UPS capacity required to handle the total load.

In this multi-module system, each UPS is capable of providing the required “N” power.

2N Redundancy

Enterprise level IT equipment often supports dual power supply operation. In a data center, these two sources would be independent UPS systems. An “A side” and a “B side” can feed the computer equipment. Each side would be able to handle 100% load capacity.

2(N+1) Redundancy

Take for example having a 2N redundant power distribution system. Instead of a single module UPS on each side, there would be multiple modules. This provides N+1 redundancy on each side.

A monolithic UPS system typically has to be significantly oversized for future-proofing. These factors force the monolithic system to work with low loads, where efficiency drops away sharply.

Transformerless multi-level UPS topology

Today, the most advanced UPS systems deployed in data centers use a transformer-less multi-level topology. The topology ensures the highest reliability and efficiency.

To meet ever-increasing pressure to curb power consumption, uninterruptible power supply users must avail themselves of every technique to improve energy efficiency.