New Industry Products

Eaton Offers 480/277V Rack Power Distribution Units to Increase Data Center Efficiency

August 08, 2011 by Jeff Shepard

Eaton Corp. announced 480V configurations for its ePDU® power distribution product line. The new units are designed to help achieve efficiency gains in large enterprise data centers where high-density computing is required. Eaton states that it is the first among power distribution solution providers to meet the needs of data centers implementing 480/277V custom hardware.

"We’ve noticed a trend with many of the new, cutting-edge data centers choosing a 480V power scheme and 277V custom power supplies that are extremely efficient," said Joe Skorjanec, ePDU product manager, Eaton Distributed Power Solutions. "Power distribution units at this voltage are usually only available as custom solutions. Eaton is among the first in the industry to offer 480V as part of our ePDU catalog offering in order to better meet the needs of server manufacturers."

The majority of Eaton’s three-phase uninterruptible power supplies, including the Eaton 9355, 9390 and 9395, are designed to work seamlessly with a 480V ePDU solution.

Eaton introduced a new line of 400V ePDU products in March and continues to drive efficiency gains with this new 480/277Vac offering. Since utility power in North America typically enters a facility at 480Vac, Eaton’s 480V ePDU products remove the need for step-down transformers, reduce distribution costs and power high-efficiency 277V power supplies. A server operating at 277V requires 25% less current than a server operating at 208V. This allows for a reduction in upstream circuits, which is said to reduce overall copper and power distribution costs.