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With demand for data center capacity continuing to grow at a healthy clip, the industry is seeing a steady shift from smaller enterprise-owned data centers to large facilities owned by internet giants, colocation providers and other hosting providers. While this shift means significant changes in the size and architecture of the data centers, one attribute can be largely standardized: low-voltage (LV) power distribution.

Benefits of Standardized LV Power Designs

While the connection to utilities and other medium-voltage (MV) components may change from one data center to another, the LV power train can remain largely the same, no matter the size and design of the data center. And for large-scale data centers, standardization is crucial to building and operating efficient, scalable, reliable facilities – and, thus, to return on investment (ROI) and profits.

The LV power train is defined as a combination of MV/LV transformer, LV switchboards, UPS and LV power distribution to individual IT racks. It’s possible to design this block of equipment with comprehensive integration and optimization in mind.

You can also pre-validate the system, to ensure everything is in good working order before it arrives on site. A standardized LV reference design also includes site installation details as well as operational sequences and recommendations.

Using a reference design shouldn’t mean you completely give up flexibility; the design should provide some options that enable it to be modified to your specific requirements without a significant impact on performance objectives. Perhaps you need to add UPS to the power path of your cooling systems, add or remove redundancy at the UPS module level, or change the location or type of UPS batteries. All are viable options.

Access Reference Design Experts

Of course, if you’re going to choose a reference design, you need to have some confidence that whoever came up with the design is an expert in the subject. Schneider Electric has a team of electrical, power and IT engineers who contribute to our library of more than 40 data center reference designs, covering the gamut of potential scenarios.

Perhaps nowhere is it more important to follow a trusted, standardized design then when building a hyperscale data center. The stakes are simply too high.

Register for Webinar on High-Performance Data Center Solutions

To learn more about what goes into a sound reference design for LV power distribution, register for our webinar, titled “High-Performance Data Center Solutions.” You’ll learn about a design Schneider Electric developed that reduces capital expenses, improves your return on investment (ROI), and helps you more quickly build large and hyperscale data centers. Also, we invite you to sign up for our newsletter that shares relevant information and research on colocation best practices to help you succeed.

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