Understanding Datacenter Power and Cooling

Datacenter Power Concepts

Terms and Formulas:
Volt = the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere
dissipates one watt of power. We use volts as our standard mesurement of “how m
uch power”. A volt could be compared to a gallon of water. It’s there, and yo
u use it.
Ampere (Slang = Amps) = a unit of electric current, or amount of electric charg
e per second. Think of an amp as being “how quickly is the power delivered”. Wh
en comparing amperage to a gallon of water, amps would be how quickly you drink
the gallon of water.
Watts = VA Multiplied by Power Factor
KW = Watts Divided by 1000
VA = Volts Multiplied by Amps
KVA = VA Divided by 1000
Power Factor = the ratio of the real power to the apparent power, and is a numbe
r between 0 and 1

Standard datacenter equipment operates in the range of 100 – 250 volts. Standar
d power delivery options are 120v, 208v, 240v. The higher the voltage level sup
plied to equipment, the lower the amperage requirement, and vice-versa. Equipme
nt which pulls 10 amps @ 120v will pull approximately 5 amps @ 240 volts.
Manufacturers specify the “size” of their equipment in terms of Watts. Wattage
can be determined by taking the VA (volts x amps) specification of the equipment
, and multiplying that by the power factor. For purposes of this discussion ass
ume that the power factor is 1 (close enough) so VA = WATTS. Often, the power
factor is between .93 and .99 – but using 1 will get you in the ballpark.

DataCenter Power Standards

The computing environment is equipped with dual power feeds. These feeds can be
referred to as the “A Bus” and “B Bus”. Neither is really a primary or backup,
they are equal.
Within the computing environment, all equipment should be equipped with multiple
power supplies, in an even number. In cases were odd numbers of power supplies
exist, an even number of connections should be made. This provides for equal po
wer distribution for each bus. Devices with a single power connection should be
avoided, as no power redundancy of any kind is supported, and an unequal load i
s placed on the distribution bus.
When available, 240v connections for equipment are preferred. This allows us to
achieve higher power densities in a smaller space. 120v connections are support
ed, through the use of a special cordset to connect the equipment to the 240v so
urce.
Within each equipment cabinet, you will find 2 PDU’s. Each PDU is connected to a
unique power bus (again the A Bus and B Bus). The dual bus design allows for di
verse power delivery pathways, and the highest level of uptime. The PDU’s provid
e for 24 outlets at 208/240v and support a total of 30 amps per strip.
When connecting equipment in a cabinet, NEVER, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE exceed 12
amps per strip. This ensures that we never draw more than 5KW of power in a sing
le cabinet, and also ensures that should power on a single bus fail, that the ot
her bus can provide the necessary power. If you exceed 24 amps total on a strip
(which would be the maximum draw in a bus-down situation) you risk popping brea
kers, and failing every device in a given cabinet.
How Power affects Cooling / HVAC Considerations
The size of an HVAC system can be directly related to the amount of power being
drawn from within a datacenter. Heat load is measured in terms of BTU/Hour (A BT
U is a British Thermal Unit, a standard in heat load measurement). To determine
the heat load of a piece of equipment, you take the total watts and multiply by
3.413 (3.5 will get you close). For example, a piece of equipment which runs 2
0 amps @ 240 volts (assuming a power factor of 1) requires 4800 Watts of power.
4800 * 3.413 = 16382.4 BTU.
You may also hear of cooling referred to in the form of “tons”. A ton of air co
nditioning can provide cooling for 12,000 BTU/hr. There are other factors which
determine the efficiency of an HVAC unit, so this should only be used as a guid
eline.