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    Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Secrets: What Everyone Who Works In A Data Center Needs To Know!
    Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Secrets: What Everyone Who Works In A Data Center Needs To Know!
    Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Secrets: What Everyone Who Works In A Data Center Needs To Know!
    Ebook82 pages38 minutes

    Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Secrets: What Everyone Who Works In A Data Center Needs To Know!

    By Jim Anderson

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Power Distribution Units (PDUs) – you mean power strips, right? That's what I thought when I was first introduced to this product. Boy oh boy was I wrong! Yes, the PDUs that are manufactured to be sold to the owners and operators of data centers do bear some similarities to the simple power strips that we all use at home. But we are really talking about two very different products here.

    What You'll Find Inside:
    * POWER DISTRIBUTION UNITS (PDU): WHAT ARE THEY?
    * WHY FUSES ARE BAD AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
    * WHAT THE WORLD OF FORMULA 1 AUTO RACING CAN TEACH DATA CENTER OPERATORS
    * WHY DATA CENTER OPERATORS ARE SWITCHING TO USING HY-MAG

    How much money do you think that a data center operator has invested in just one of the racks of computers that sits in his or her data center? There is the cost of the rack, of course, but then there's the cost of each of the servers that has been plugged into that rack, the networking gear, and the power distribution system. Not to mention the overhead of cooling and power distribution to the rack. Very quickly the value of a single rack can reach US$500,000.

    Clearly it's in the best interests of the data center operator to know exactly what is going on with their investment. Questions that need to be answered include how much power is being used, if there is currently a fire, are there any hot spots, and whether there are any liquids in the area.

    The problem with today's modern data center is that all too often the answers to these questions are not available unless staff are sent out on to the data center floor with tools to make measurements. This means that a lot could go on when nobody was looking.

    Today's modern PDUs do so much more than just simply deliver power to the computers that have been plugged into a rack. They provide the "eyes and ears" that data center operators need in order to determine what is happening with their racks. Modern PDUs can support multiple types of sensors that can be used to piggy-back environmental information along with power usage information back to a central control system.

    Sophisticated Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software applications promise to be able to monitor all aspects of a data center. However, they are expensive and require an additional investment to both install and then maintain. The use of PDUs to collect needed data center status information provides a simple and low cost way to automate the monitoring of a modern data center.

    This book has been written to provide you with the information that you'll need in order to compare and contrast different types of PDUs. These sophisticated tools can be difficult to tell apart. This book will look at the features that you really needs and explain how you would use then in the real-world environment of a modern data center.

    It is my hope that after having read this book, you'll have the knowledge that you'll need to go out and select the type of PDU that best meets the needs of your business. Once you've done this, you can then implement a solution that will allow you to always know what is going on in your data center.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJim Anderson
    Release dateJan 31, 2014
    ISBN9781492838470
    Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Secrets: What Everyone Who Works In A Data Center Needs To Know!
    Author

    Jim Anderson

    J Jim Anderson is Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Educational Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London. His work focuses on: theories and methods of second language learning and bilingualism, including Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL); multilingualism and new literacies; and language policy. Underlying this is a commitment to an integrated and inclusive approach to language and literacy education incorporating the areas of foreign and community/heritage language learning as well as English as an Additional Language and English mother tongue. Jim is co-director with Dr Vicky Macleroy of the Critical Connections: Multilingual Digital Storytelling Project launched in 2012.

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      Book preview

      Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Secrets - Jim Anderson

      Power Distribution Unit (PDU) Secrets: What Everyone Who Works In A Data Center Needs To Know!

      Jim Anderson

      Copyright 2014 by Jim Anderson

      Smashwords Edition

      Published by:

      Blue Elephant Consulting

      Tampa, Florida

      Copyright © 2014 by Dr. Jim Anderson

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced of transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system without written permission of the publisher, except for inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

      Printed in the United States of America

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2013917838

      ISBN-13: 978-1492838470

      ISBN-10:1492838470

      Acknowledgements

      Any book like this one is the result of years of real-world work experience. In my over 25 years of working for 7 different firms, I have met countless fantastic people and I've been mentored by some truly exceptional ones. Although I've probably forgotten some of the people who made me the person that I am today, here is my attempt to finally give them the recognition that they so truly deserve:

      Thomas P. Anderson

      Art Puett

      Bobbi Marshall

      Bob Boggs

      Dr. Jim Anderson

      This book is dedicated to my wife Lori. None of this would have been possible without her love and support.

      Thanks for the best 21 years of my life (so far)…!

      Table Of Contents

      WHY WRITE A BOOK ABOUT PDUS?

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      CHAPTER 1: POWER DISTRIBUTION UNITS (PDU): WHAT ARE THEY?

      CHAPTER 2: MOVING FROM THE 3RD TO THE 4TH GENERATION OF PDUS

      CHAPTER 3: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A POWER DISTRIBUTION UNIT AND A BOEING 787?

      CHAPTER 4: UNEXPECTED USES FOR POWER DISTRIBUTION UNITS (PDUS)

      CHAPTER 5: THE LIMITATIONS OF USING THERMAL FUSES IN DATA CENTERS

      CHAPTER 6: THERMAL BREAKERS HAVE REAL WORLD LIMITS IN A DATA CENTER

      CHAPTER 7: WHY BUYING CHEAP PDUS ARE NEVER A GOOD IDEA

      CHAPTER 8: WHY DATA CENTER OPERATORS ARE SWITCHING TO USING HY-MAG

      CHAPTER 9: DATA CENTER OPERATOR LESSONS FROM THE WORLD OF FORMULA 1 AUTO RACING

      CHAPTER 10: WHY DUMB PDUS ARE STILL POPULAR IN DATA CENTERS

      CHAPTER 11: ONE SIZE DOES NOT FIT ALL: THE STORY OF GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE PDUS

      CHAPTER 12: DATA CENTER RISK: WHAT BEGINNING DRIVERS AND DATA CENTER OPERATORS HAVE IN COMMON

      Why Write A Book About PDUs?

      Power Distribution Units (PDUs) – you mean power strips, right? That's what I thought when I was first introduced to this product. Boy oh boy was I wrong! Yes, the PDUs that are manufactured to be sold to the owners and operators of data centers do bear some similarities to the simple power strips that we all use at home. But we are really talking about two very different products here.

      How much money do you think that a data center operator has invested in just one of the racks of computers that sits in his or her data center? There is the cost of the rack, of course, but then there's the cost of each of the servers that has been plugged into that rack, the networking gear, and the power distribution system. Not to mention the overhead of cooling and power distribution to the rack. Very quickly the value of a single rack can reach US$500,000.

      Clearly it's in

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