Eaton Offers "Server Solution" For Data Centers & Server Rooms

Eaton Corp. announced the Power Xpert® Server Solution, described as a "revolutionary" way for IT managers to view and manage electrical power in their data centers and server rooms. The Power Xpert Server Solution is said to provide unprecedented visibility into critical electrical power events, energy consumption and power trends.

Eaton states that electrical power is one of the most overlooked critical factors in IT facilities due to inherent threats such as power sags, swells and transients. The Power Xpert Server Solution is said to represent a new generation of power quality instrumentation that reduces daily operating costs and helps avoid costly business interruptions. IT professionals can now see both conditioned power in the data center and unconditioned power entering the facility. This allows users to understand energy usage patterns, identify peak load times, determine energy-hog equipment, realize energy savings and automatically analyze power events.

"Topics of hard drive utilization, bandwidth usage and CPU capacity are all second nature to IT managers. However, the entire community of IT professionals is increasingly being asked to understand electricity because damaging power disturbances such as sags, swells and transients pose threats to critical infrastructure equipment," said Jim Thompson, Product Line Manager, Software and Meters, at Eaton. "The Power Xpert Server Solution is a single server that runs continuously to monitor the single most misunderstood component in data centers, server rooms or other IT facilities – the power."

The Power Xpert Server Solution is comprised of a power quality meter, Ethernet switch, current transformer and installation equipment. The company claims that the server solution demystifies power quality by presenting complex electrical data in a simple and easy graphical format. The patent pending Power Quality Index uses a traffic light (green-yellow-red) temperature gauge to show the status of the data center’s power quality. The system does not require additional software or equipment. Monitoring and management are available through a Web browser.

"The Power Xpert Server Solution measures, trends, analyzes and captures waveforms while serving Web pages. No matter if you are a PhD-level power quality engineer, or an IT system-level administrator, these instruments provide you with the level of information needed, in an easy-to-understand graphical user interface," added Thompson.