Power cuts, a major challenge for data centers

Although power cuts are a common phenomenon in Romania, the affected organizations have vague estimates of losses. A simple calculation of the cost of missed business opportunities and the number of unsatisfiedcustomers, would fully justify investing in a powerful Power Backup solution.

1 November 2017, 16.40 – Fundeni electrical station is experiencing a breakdown. –As a result, many business and industrial areas in Bucharest are affected for more than seven hours.

Beyond the technical explanations provided by suppliers and authorities, the situation is and remains critical. Because such incidents have a high repetition rate in Romania December 2017, February 2018 … and the list will most likely expand. Because such events happen not only in the winter, but in all seasons. And not only in Bucharest, but also in Cluj, Timisoara, Brasov, Craiova, Iasi …

Data Centers can suffer heart attacks too

For a DataCenter, every blackout equals with a hearth attack, even if it takes only a few seconds. According to the Electric Power Research Institute, 98% of the power cuts last less than 10 seconds. But it is enough to cause malfunctions in a data center. This malfunctions occur because once the current has passed, switching to the secondary power source has to take place in the order of milliseconds. Charging is initially taken over by an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system, and then, if the power supply is not resumed, or the Data Center does not have a redundant connection, the generators go into operation. Theoretically it sounds good, but according to the Uptime Institute, UPSs batteries account for 29% of the unplanned downtime that a Data Center faces, and the generators account for 10%.

So what is it to be done?

This is a legitimate question, given that almost 40% of downtime is generated precisely by the elements that should protect data centers in the event of a power failure.

The answer – especially for companies that do not have technical skills in the field of power solutions – is asking for specialised assistance

And that’s because not every organization using a Data Room or a small data center knows how to:

• many UPSs are needed,
• Choose the level of redundancy and the proper configuration that is needed
• Ensure optimal operating conditions
• Monitor and diagnose battery performance
• Establish and execute a maintenance and testing program and so on.

The situation is becoming/is gettingmore complicated by introducing other “unknowns” such as ATCs, PDUs, the maintenance and testing of the generators, etc.

Therefore, for many organizations, resorting to the services of an power solutions consultant it’s inevitable

When it comes to providing power solutions services, the local market recommends Tema Energy as a top company for solid and easy to prove reasons:

• Nearly 16 years experience in the field of electro-energy solutions, the company being a successful leader in this niche market.;
• A large variety of projects implemented – the company client base varies from hospitals and data centers to financial-banking institutions and factories;
• the “vendor agnostic” status based on an expanded product portfolio, which guarantees that organizations can choose the solution wich best meets their requirements;
• An extensive portfolio of solutions from the most important market vendors, accessible to medium and small organizations and certified in accordance with international standards. For example, the Data Center Continuous (DCC) accreditation of diesel generators from Cummins Power Generation, one of Tema Energy’s partners on Power Backup solutions. DCC accreditation certifies the continuous operation of the generator without any restrictions on the variable load factor. (Such certifications simplify the process of designing power systems and simplify the auditing process.)

And yet another important “differentiator”, which few Datacenter integrators could provide: Tema Energy is constantly investing in expanding the support network that already has national coverage, being able to provide fast and professional services allover the country.