Top Reasons to Use a Smart PDU in Your Data Center

At Server Technology, our view is that everything needs power. But what kind, exactly?  When it comes to distributing power within the data center, there are many reasons that our customers reach for a Smart PDU to do the job.  In this blog, we thought we would drop the top ten reasons that an Intelligent PDU can bring value to your enterprise.  

But then we thought, who has time for a top ten? Instead, we’ve narrowed our list to five key reasons to consider using Intelligent PDU(s). We also include links to a curated list of blogs, just in case, your attention span is ready to take it to ten.  

Helps you control costs

Data centers are notoriously expensive to operate. In many cases, it has less to do with the cost of power and more to do with the fact that data center managers have little to no idea how power is being distributed around the data center. Intelligent PDUs allow administrators to see exactly where power is being allocated rack by rack and row by row.  This understanding is the starting point for understanding where opportunities lie to reduce power consumption.

Improves your commitment to sustainability

Most organizations today have already “gone green” in some form or another, but many are failing to address their huge data center power appetites.  As noted above, data centers consume enormous amounts of energy.  By measuring power at the rack level with an intelligent PDU, data center managers can better understand how servers are consuming resources and take active measures to eliminate waste.  Saving power at the rack level pays environmental dividends.  Saving 1kW at the rack level can translate into another 1kW or more in savings through losses and the energy required to cool the load.

Keeps your team in communication

In the past, the majority of data center reporting was done using either pencil and paper-based systems, or spreadsheets. Both of these systems were prone to error and abuse. Intelligent PDUs manufactured by Servertech connect to web-based monitoring and management systems.  These systems collect the data and organize it into reports that can be exported to team members via email.  With facts in hand, the data center team will know the center’s current state.  No pun intended.

Knows where your power flows

The increased computing pressure that network and storage-intensive Edge and AI systems demand is driving the need for data center managers to better understand the utilization of computing resources on a rack basis. As the workload shifts within the data center, the mechanical and electrical systems must have the flexibility to shift as well. Intelligent PDUs can provide immediate insight, allowing data center managers to shift power and cooling resources to meet the load. 

Improves your uptime stats

If there is one word that every data center manager and IT professional fears, it is downtime. Intelligent PDUs come with advanced power alerts as well as environmental monitoring. This is critical for data centers with rapidly shifting compute cycles. Using intelligent PDUs, data center managers can gain better visibility into how their mechanical and electrical systems are performing.

While there may be more reasons to consider a Smart PDU from Server Technology, you probably don’t need it anymore. Even if you had more time and focus, we probably had you at improved cost structure, better communication, visibility, sustainability, and uptime.  We could go on, but you could also just click on the links above if you need more convincing.

Thinking about implementing Intelligent PDUs into your data center? Head over to our Rack PDU Selector and check out our Intelligent PDUs featuring PIPS and POPS.