Significance of the right PDU and its certification?

Answer 1

The effect of rapid digitalization across all industries has forced companies to act quickly and install next-generation IT infrastructure at their desired locations. This applies to core IT firms, and data centres as well. Availability and security are the key criteria for any firm to continue normal operations, as operations are greatly affected without a well-functioning IT system.

A reliable power supply is a crucial element of any firm largely dependent on IT. And that is where PDU or Power Distribution Units play a major role, as they are considered the heart of rack solutions. Selecting the right rack PDU for the application can be difficult especially without any information on the equipment that will go into the rack. Industries cannot afford to use low-quality PDUs as they greatly affect the critical equipment going into the rack. Here are some important factors to consider when selecting a PDU for your racks…

• Power rating and safety

The first thing to determine when selecting a PDU is the power consumption of the equipment that goes inside the rack. This helps in determining the capacity of the PDU. Best practices in the industry involve bifurcating the circuit into 16A each with proper circuit breakers. These circuit breakers have to be designed in such a way that the issue of accidental tripping is completely eliminated.

• Certifications

It is highly important that the PDU adheres to all basic certifications for safety measures, like UL, RoHS, CB, CE, and LVD. Certified PDUs are recognized to be the best-in-class for quality as they comply with all the international standards. They are manufactured in accordance with the safety guidelines followed globally, with reliable circuit design for better functioning. Moreover, certified PDUs, like ones from Netrack India, greatly reduce the risk of downtime and increase dependability.

• Variants of the PDU

Since the PDUs are available in multiple socket configurations like the Indian round pin, multipin, IEC, UK flat pin, the user has to choose the PDU’s sockets based on the pin configuration at equipment level. That apart, one can also choose from PDUs available in metered or managed configuration. One of the major advantages of such managed or metered configuration is that they provide information on the power consumption and energy management. These factors play an important role in the planning of power capacity.

Selecting the right PDU requires a good analysis of its quality or certifications, as these PDUs will be powering your mission critical equipment.