Monitoring, metering and power quality analysis for data centers
Data Center Infrastructure Management, one platform for power, infrastructure and uptime
Modern data centers require high availability of engineering infrastructure because it is the foundation for continuously providing information services to customers. The flip side of such availability is increased power consumption of infrastructure components.
Monitoring of power consumption and loads prevents the failure of system elements and creates a basis for optimizing the energy consumption of the facility as a whole. Since energy costs account for a significant share of data center operating expenses, investments in energy efficiency pay off quickly.
Metering systems monitor the level of energy utilization by the main consumers – IT and telecommunication equipment – and also help to allocate a portion of energy resources used to maintain engineering systems, taking into account redundancy. Calculation of the Power Utilization Efficiency Ratio (PUE) allows assessing not only the “quality” of systems operation, but also the available capacity reserve for data center development.
Controlling power quality in data centers is not just a whim of efficient managers. Practitioners strongly recommend quality control not only on suitable external networks, but also inside the branches, guaranteed and uninterrupted power supply, protected by UPS. Continuous quality control of “clean” networks detects interference from power supplies that are on the verge of failure and records oscillograms of transients that threaten expensive IT equipment.
Our solution is based on CENTO and SATEC BFM II. It is relevant for organizing monitoring and multi-tenant billing and is in demand not only in Collocation Data Centers that lease their infrastructure, but also in corporate computing centers that have no need for direct electricity billing, but metering of their own consumption is necessary for property management or control of contractors.
The experience of operating modern data centers shows that such facilities almost never remain static power consumers. The constantly changing, and not only growing, load from IT equipment requires support departments to understand periods of high or low load, as well as their correlation with the consumption of engineering infrastructure, which also depends on environmental conditions. Ignoring consumption schedules leads to unexpected failures or incorrect timing of system maintenance.
Energy management monitoring system compliant with ISO 50001
We provide holistic collocation and enterprise data center solutions for quality control, metering, and billing.
The BFM II meter is a modular measuring device: it monitors up to 54 single-phase circuits simultaneously and is mounted on a DIN rail. The built-in Ethernet port is used for connection to the company’s information networks (the basic configuration includes RS-485 and USB in addition to Ethernet), and the sensors are detachable current transformers that can be easily mounted on outgoing lines without disconnecting the load. Additional remote signaling and remote control modules can be connected to the BFM II meter, allowing you to obtain additional information about the status of the server rack (temperature, humidity, door opening/closing) and to perform control actions.
The device supports standard industrial data transfer protocols: Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP, DNP3, IEC 60870-5-101/104. Devices with similar functionality in terms of metering are available from other manufacturers, but their measured parameters are not so accurate (2% deviation compared to 0.5% accuracy in BFM II) and are suitable only for internal metering.
Comparisons show that the cost of monitoring a single circuit with SATEC BFM II is the lowest on the market.
CENTO software platform is used for electricity metering, management of engineering and power supply systems, equipment diagnostics, power quality monitoring, and emergency event logging.
This provides the data center with a comprehensive solution that covers the entire range of tasks performed by the department responsible for the stable operation of engineering systems.
Check how CENTO works in real life
With clear visibility, accurate metering, insightful analytics, and effective planning,
your resources and equipment will be utilized more efficiently.
Mining
Automated metering, monitoring and control system. Decrease in the purchased power volume. Cancelled daily scheduled rounds and reduced response time to emergencies.
Metals
Legacy systems replaced. Unified control, diagnostics, and data for 210 facilities.
Energy
Secure PQ monitoring inside isolated network. Real-time data, full internal control.
Data centers
Energy metering and power quality analysis. Integrated monitoring for critical infrastructure and uptime.