Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation has introduced its Powerware® Energy Management System to optimize power utilization and availability for all levels of power distribution systems in data centers, including real-time metering at the branch-circuit level.
Today, IT and facility managers protect electrical systems with uninterruptible power systems (UPS), battery backup, generators and system-wide monitoring. Millions of dollars are invested in such measures, but a single point-of-failure remains - the branch circuit. Some organizations address this concern by periodically checking current loads with hand-held meters. Unfortunately, occasional sampling can easily miss problem conditions that often appear and disappear in a matter of microseconds.
"For the first time, IT and facility managers can utilize power distribution systems to their fullest potential without having to compromise," said Eaton manufacturing representative John Englhardt of E Technologies. Eaton provides visibility at all levels within one unit, and we are eager to introduce the Powerware Energy Management System to our customer community."
The Powerware Energy Management System offers a new way to ensure reliable, continuous power at the branch circuit, sub-feed and main breaker levels. The system provides comprehensive, real-time metering to the branch circuit, issues warnings and alarms if current loads or environmental conditions exceed user-defined thresholds, tracks event history, collects data from up to eight panel boards and up to 336 pole positions in a single system and supports Power Distribution Units and Remote Power Panels) from Eaton and other manufacturers.
It continuously measures the current on all breaker levels and warns users of impending trouble. By providing critical insight to data center and facility managers, a proactive approach can be taken to more effectively manage energy consumption to prevent overload conditions, optimize power distribution, and, when applicable, allocate energy cost among internal departments.
"The Powerware Energy Management System reflects Eaton's commitment to provide award-winning products that address the challenges of designing and managing electrical systems," said Ed Komoski, vice president and general manager of Eaton's Power Quality Protection division. "Branch circuit monitoring technology is field-proven and has been for years, but existing solutions do not take a system-wide approach. We provide detailed insights into branch circuit-level power conditions that enable data center and facility managers to effectively manage the entire power distribution system."
The Management System is ideal for data centers, network operation centers, collection facilities, hospitals, universities and manufacturing facilities as the system boasts the broadest list of measured and reported critical parameters in the market. The system has a built-in real time clock, which can time-stamp all events on the power distribution system and store up to 23 months of data, which can be displayed on the state-of-the-art local display or communicated to a remote monitoring platform for diagnostics, load profiling and energy planning.
Available Q1 2007, Eaton's first products featuring the energy management system are the Powerware-branded Remote Power Panel and Power Distribution Units