How Data Centers can Grow in a Sustainable Way and Boost Efficiency with the Right UPS

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Demand for data center capacity is on an uptick with Gartner predicting that end-user spending on global data center infrastructure will reach $200 billion in 2021, a 6% increase over 2020 expenditures. Operators of enterprise data centers, cloud and service providers and colocation facilities are under increasing pressure to meet growing demand while also improving uptime and performance, managing costs, and advancing their organization’s sustainability goals. One approach to addressing these challenges lies in selecting the right uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for the data center.

5 top UPS considerations for data centers

When choosing a new UPS system, data center operators should look for a solution that supports these overarching goals and leverages the latest technological advances to deliver efficiency, sustainability, adaptability, resiliency, and safety.

1. Sustainability and Energy Savings: For data center operators, sustainability isn’t just a “nice to have.” It is a competitive differentiator and customers are starting to expect it. Selecting a UPS that comes with an energy-saving mode helps deliver the low-power-usage effectiveness that modern data center operators expect, combined with the promise of high efficiency operations in order to reduce costs and power quality. In addition, a UPS with Lithium-ion batteries provides 2 to 3 times the life expectancy as compared to VRLA batteries.
2. Space: Available real estate inside a data center is always tight and highly valuable, needing to be well optimized. Operators should look for a UPS that is compact, has a high-density, but doesn’t compromise when it comes to increased availability, operational efficiency, sustainability requirements, and control of total cost of ownership (TCO).
3. Modular and Scalable Platform: Innovation in UPS system design has created modular and scalable platforms that enable data center operators to right-size their UPS for current needs, while also future-proofing their investment with the capability to easily add power modules to expand and accommodate growth.
4. Energized Swapping: To complement the modular and scalable architecture, it is ideal that the UPS has intelligent features such as “energized swapping”, allowing the addition and/or replacement of power modules to be performed with minimum downtime, while increasing protection to operators and service personnel.
5. Remote Monitoring, Management, and Modeling: A state-of-the-art remote monitoring,  management, and modeling capability can provide operators with system-wide visibility to proactively address issues and maintain uptime.

Finding the right 3-phase UPS

Companies like Schneider Electric have recognized these needs of data center operators and continue to refine 3-phase UPS offers to meet evolving demands. Solutions like the new Galaxy VL 200-500 kW UPS deliver the full range of innovative features and key advantages that data center operators are seeking.

• Meeting sustainability objectives: The Galaxy VL is a Green Premium^TM product and is compatible with long-lasting Lithium-ion batteries, which provide 2-3 times the expected life of VRLA batteries, weigh 60-70% less, and can operate at higher temperatures. When operating in Schneider Electric’s energy-saving ECOnversion™ mode, data centers can expect an unbeatable combination of power quality, 99% efficiency and 100% ROI in two years through savings on energy bills.
• Product and energy efficiency: Going hand in hand with sustainability efforts, the efficiency of the UPS is a critical consideration. The Galaxy VL boasts 97% efficiency in double conversion operating mode and has a 50% smaller footprint compared to the industry average.
• Adaptability for a growing market: With shifting demands, data centers need to be able to pivot and scale quickly. The Galaxy VL modular and scalable platform enables organizations to increase power without increasing the footprint of the UPS by adding 50 kW power modules. This helps organizations optimize TCO by paying for just the amount of capacity that is needed at the time. Additionally, installing, connecting, and operating new modules is simple. The modular design and energized swapping capability, Live Swap, make just-in-time data center expansion effortless, with no scheduled downtime, enhancing business continuity and employee protection.
• Resiliency for maximum uptime: The Galaxy VL reduces vulnerability to unplanned downtime and allows organizations to maximize power continuity and reliability. The Galaxy VL with its Live Swap capability also reduces the risk of arc flashes. And Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure^TM IT suite of software and services provides monitoring and data-driven insights to optimize data center resiliency and performance. It also enables proactive troubleshooting that reduces unplanned downtime.

The modern UPS advantage

UPSs like the Galaxy VL UPS are well suited for medium and large data centers, edge computing, internet data centers, cloud computing, telecommunications, and networking, as well as commercial and industrial facilities. Its compact, high-density technology, and fault-tolerant architecture maximizes availability, operational efficiency, and critical load protection while minimizing the total cost of ownership.

The system’s modular design enables organizations to scale up their operations in response to changing business needs. This ”pay-as-you-grow” model reduces capital investment and the total cost of ownership. As demand grows, organizations can add high-efficiency modules, while the Galaxy VL is online and fully operational with the Live Swap capability. The modular design also increases internal redundancy without adding to space requirements. And the Galaxy VL delivers up to 99% efficiency in ECOnversion mode and up to 97% in double conversion mode.

Discover Galaxy VL

Choosing the right UPS is an important part of the strategy to adapt to growing data center market demands for uptime, efficiency, and sustainability goals. Learn more about the Galaxy VL UPS and how it might benefit your data center.