Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, today announced the launch of its APC NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced, providing data center leaders with greater flexibility to meet the new data demands placed on businesses. The APC NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced enables teams to support up to twice the number of devices and a 50 percent increase in power needs, while also simplifying installation processes and taking the guesswork out of PDU selection for future IT refreshes.
For many businesses, growing data demands have increased the density of their existing data center infrastructure. Beyond this, the adoption of high-compute technology as typically seen deployed in enterprise-class data centers either on-premise or co-located and found in applications such as high performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI), connected devices (IoT), cryptocurrency, 5G – and even the metaverse – has made density critical. According to a 2020 Uptime Institute report, this power demand has caused a shift in highest density racks falling in the 10-19 kW range, not yet warranting a full technology overhaul, but requiring a forward-looking strategy as this trend prevails.
“The digital demand is growing exponentially, and data center leaders are looking for ways to accommodate rapid technological changes not only in a future-proofed manner, but also in a sustainable one too,” said Tarunjeet Sarao, Senior Vice President, Transactional & Edge Line of Business at Schneider Electric. “The APC NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced is Schneider Electric’s most recent example of addressing our customer needs to help them navigate an evolving landscape. The most agile and adaptable offer to date, APC NetShelter Advanced Rack PDU helps data centers optimize their current investments, support growing data needs, and maximize uptime.”
Improved Agility
Understanding the need for layout adjustments or general updates, the APC NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced outlet design avoids costly layout changes. Unlike traditional PDUs with a fixed number of individual outlets, the new 4-in-1 combination outlets (for C13, C19, C15, and/or C21) simplifies selection, eases and speeds installation, and provides greater flexibility to support future modifications. Additionally, color-coded outlets make the PDU more intuitive and easier to use as the outlet color matches the upstream circuit breaker. The alternating layout of outlets allows for greater organization and power cord management of devices installed in the IT rack, speeding installation and optimizing the rack space, resulting in reduced human error and increased airflow management.
Support for High Density
The APC NetShelter Advanced Rack PDU is designed with the future in mind. To accommodate the ever-increasing number of devices in each rack and subsequent power needs, up to twice the number of outlets provide 50 percent more power to maximize data center investments. The APC NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced includes models that can support up to 34.6 kW in a single wide (2.2”) form factor to accommodate increasing power requirements per rack. This increase of up to 48 outlets not only prevents having to add more PDUs to existing racks as density rises, but also supports rising trends in taller racks to maximize modern data centers’ rack footprint.
Increased Availability
The APC NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced includes five key enhancements to maintain continuity and reduce downtime, including:
- Live Swappable Network Management Card (NMC) which keeps the IT up and running even while servicing the PDUs display in a power event;
- Display module power sharing that leverages adjacent NMC power to continue providing user access to PDU data and maintain operations in the event of an upstream PDU power event;
- 60ºC/ 140ºF operating temperature reduces risk of failure when operating in hotter high-density environments such as HPC or data centers with higher temperature setpoints for cooling efficiency initiatives
- Dual network ports for increased visibility of network issues and enable colocation applications to utilize one network port and monitor the PDU, and provide the other port for their customer to network in and monitor; and
- Support for up to eight environmental sensors that allow greater ability to monitor and protect the PDU and IT devices from possible failures related to the environment.
The APC NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced is available in the US and Canada starting in February 2022 and availability for additional global markets will be announced later in the year. To learn more about the NetShelter Rack PDU Advanced, visit this web page.