Company K, a metal processing manufacturer with production and sales bases in 10 locations nationwide, has an ERP system installed on the headquarters' core server and on business servers installed at each location, and manages everything from orders and production to shipping. However, managing the servers scattered across each location in the Kanto, Kinki, and Chugoku regions was always a headache for the headquarters staff. Although there were system administrators at each location, they were not dedicated to IT infrastructure and lacked specialized knowledge, so the best they could do was to follow instructions from headquarters in between work to manage the servers.
Mr. W, the head of the company's Information Systems Center, said, "Because our business servers are scattered across the country, the headquarters did not have enough manpower to manage them, and maintenance and other tasks were left entirely to the staff at each location. Once every six months, staff from headquarters split up and went out to each location, but even to put it bluntly, I can't say that this was a satisfactory management system."
Then, a problem occurred. When a power outage actually occurred and the server went down, important ERP inventory data was lost, and operations were temporarily halted. A UPS that Passive Standby was installed in the server room, but the cause was actually the UPS battery running out. Fortunately, major damage was averted at this time by restoring backup data from a few hours earlier, but it naturally became a major problem that involved the entire company, and the construction of a full-scale BCP was required.
The problem arose because the company had been using an inexpensive UPS with a constant Passive Standby, and frequent charging and discharging had deteriorated the battery without the company realizing, causing it to not function properly during a power outage. As a result, the company considered introducing a more reliable UPS with Double Conversion Online.
"Double Conversion Online UPS are expensive, but they give us more peace of mind than before because they can conserve battery power during momentary power outages caused by lightning strikes and fluctuations in voltage and frequency. However, because of their structure, there is always power loss, so the costs associated with increased power consumption were an issue that could not be ignored," said W.
Moreover, even if a highly reliable UPS was introduced, the complicated management at the base would not be improved. "Is there a way to solve all the issues of cost, reliability, and operation?" The selection of a UPS loomed as a dilemma for Mr. W.
Mr. W, the manager of the Information Systems Center at Company K, was struggling with such a difficult problem when he met with a sales representative from SANYO DENKI CO., LTD.. "What I wanted was a UPS that would maintain reliability without the power and management costs," he said.
The answer that the sales representative gave was enough to overcome Mr. W's dilemma. It was a proposal for a "hybrid UPS" that combined the best of both worlds: the low running costs of Passive Standby and the high reliability of Double Conversion Online.
The "Hybrid UPS" is designed for a long life, and has the ability to automatically switch to the optimal power supply mode according to the power supply status, so it always selects the most efficient operation. This efficient operation can reduce electricity and CO2 emissions by up to 47%*. It was exactly the performance that Company K was looking for, combining reliability with reduced running costs.
*Compared to our conventional product, Double Conversion Online UPS (1kVA)
Mr. W first installed a "Hybrid UPS" at several locations on a trial basis to verify its actual effectiveness. As a result, he was able to confirm a significant reduction in power consumption, as expected. He also managed to solve many problems, not just with power but also with management. The fans are durable and do not need to be replaced. Batteries are automatically checked to ensure they will function reliably in the event of a power outage, preventing accidents such as the previous system not working at a crucial time. "The fans and batteries are designed to last, and the UPS status is always displayed externally by the power management software, allowing for stable management and reducing administrator workload by 30%," says Mr. W.
Furthermore, the use of LAN cards enabled remote and centralized management of the backup UPS for all business servers at all locations from the head office, eliminating the need for cumbersome management at each location. This method is now being adopted at all of K Company's locations. "More than the cost issue, we wanted to properly build a BCP as a corporate responsibility," says Mr. W. It can be said that his wish has finally been fulfilled.
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