While many companies are building IT infrastructure using data centers, many still host important confidential data and large volumes of data that are directly related to business continuity in their own in-house network environments. Since the recent Great East Japan Earthquake, the importance of data protection has been recognized once again, and many of these companies have begun to place importance on "power supply measures" in preparation for the unlikely event of a power outage caused by a natural disaster or other cause.
In these circumstances, the reliability of UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) is in the spotlight. Although the selection of UPS requires careful consideration, the reality is that in server rooms where expansion and updating are complicated, it is difficult to optimize the overall system with a small capacity UPS selected each time.
Company D is a fabless manufacturer that plans, designs, and develops products.
The company has highly confidential know-how such as molds, and 150 designers handle large amounts of important data such as CAD drawings and evaluation results. Therefore, the company has made "data protection" its top priority and has built a thorough system for data backup and recovery and information leakage prevention. However, after the recent earthquake, the focus of countermeasures has shifted to "power supply measures."
This is because IT equipment such as servers, storage devices, and PCs can be damaged or lose data due to not only power outages but also simple instability in the power supply. Mr. E of the company's Information Systems Department said:
"When the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred, a power outage damaged the data on some of our servers. Fortunately, our backup server was able to be shut down safely and was safe, and we were able to recover the data later, preventing the worst-case scenario of data loss. However, this experience made us keenly aware of the importance of taking measures against power sources."
*For more information about power outages, see Basic knowledge and countermeasures for power outages: What are the types of power outages and what are "momentary power outages, momentary dips, and momentary interruptions"?
When Mr. E and his colleagues noticed the abnormality on the server and entered the server room, they found that the UPS for the crucial business server had run out of battery.
"After investigating the cause later, we found that the batteries in several UPS systems had deteriorated and were unable to provide backup during a power outage. If the UPS had still been working, we would have been able to avoid any problems. This made it pointless as a power backup. We decided to take this opportunity to reassess the UPS systems in the entire server room and reconstruct a reliable power supply system in case of an emergency." (Mr. E)
The company had basically implemented UPS, but there were no particular selection criteria for UPS specifications, and they selected each time they added a server, so the server room ended up with a mixture of small UPS from various manufacturers. Furthermore, because they had not experienced any actual damage from power outages until then, their awareness of UPS had gradually become weak.
"Up until now, we have repeatedly added servers and peripheral devices in response to on-site requirements. As a result, we had installed dozens of different UPS units from multiple manufacturers. However, when we looked over the entire server room, we realized that we had not been able to manage things like load rates or battery life, and that the reliability levels of the UPS were inconsistent. Recently, servers have become more and more integrated, so we can't take down a single server," says E.
Mr. E and his colleagues decided to take this opportunity to replace their UPS, and the following were their requirements:
While gathering information, Mr. E discovered that SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. handled a variety of UPSs. He immediately called a sales representative to find out more.
The sales representative visited Company D later and, after listening to the company's requirements in detail, suggested that they should choose a UPS with a "constant inverter power supply" system, which provides a more stable and reliable supply of power for backing up the server room, which is mission-critical in comparison to the PCs and routers in an office.
"The proposal met our top priority of reliability, and I was immediately convinced. This type of UPS is also used in information and communications systems, as well as financial systems, so we felt it would provide a reliable power backup to protect important data," said E.
Furthermore, Mr. E paid particular attention to the following two points in the proposal:
The first advantage is that it has a parallel redundant (N+1) configuration that improves power supply reliability, making it ideal for backing up loads that require a high level of reliability.
The second benefit is that by centrally managing various information, such as the battery check function, it is possible to ensure that the device will always be in a working state in the event of an emergency.
"Because the system can automatically check the battery at regular intervals and report on them, we can avoid the potentially disastrous situation of the battery running out when we need it most. In addition, SANUPS SOFTWARE can constantly monitor the power status, so it also reduces the burden on administrators, which was a key point. This improves the reliability and manageability of the entire system, including the network and servers, and enables us to take prompt measures in the event of a power failure." (Mr. E)
The "SANUPS A11J series, Double Conversion Online UPS" proposed by SANYO DENKI CO., LTD., achieves an output power factor of 0.9, making it compatible with devices with a high power factor. The available power is 4.5kW for a 5kVA unit, allowing it to supply power to large-capacity racks and equipment with no problems.
"In one rack, we had been using a 10kVA UPS because the output power factor of the previous UPS was 0.7, but Sanyo SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. 's SANUPS A11J has an output power factor of 0.9, so we can back up the equipment with a 5kVA unit, which will lead to cost reductions and space savings. In addition, its efficiency is high at 93%, which also contributes to reducing power consumption in the entire server room. SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. 's UPS was truly the best choice." (Mr. E)
After thoroughly considering the functionality and benefits, Company D decided to adopt SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. 's SANUPS A11J.
The major factor in deciding to introduce this system was its scalability, which allows flexible configuration of units up to a maximum of 20kVA by combining 5kVA units. This allowed us to successfully build an optimal UPS system according to the load capacity of each rack. In addition, since it can be expanded as needed even after installation, initial costs can be reduced.
After the implementation, Mr. E summed up as follows:
"SANYO DENKI CO., LTD. Denki's advice was based on a thorough understanding of our company's issues and requirements. Thanks to their advice, we were able to implement power supply measures that offered an excellent balance between cost and reliability, and as an information systems department, we are relieved that a major issue has been resolved."
For more information about Double Conversion Online, please also see" Double Conversion Online UPS".
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