Connectorized rPDUs for Hyperscalers

How power connectors boost your speed to market by simplifying PDU inventory

Imagine a scenario where a major tech company tells their team, "We've got a perfect solution for the next wave of groundbreaking software. Let's dedicate all our resources and launch it."

But before they can launch, their data center partners call with bad news: they can’t source the Power Distribution Units (PDUs) for another six to eight weeks.

Not acceptable, not by a long shot.

Unfortunately, this is the current state of affairs due to the complexities involved in building expansive and complex facilities across multiple continents, each with its own power infrastructure and voltage requirements. 

So, the question for hyperscalers remains: How do we deploy capital wisely and design a solution that will meet needs of today, while also scaling up in the future?

Streamlining supply chains with power connectors

The hyperscale market continues to grow exponentially, and data center delivery has become increasingly difficult in recent years. Upwards of 10,000 racks need to be powered, secured and ready to go online in a matter of weeks. What has worked in the past is getting reevaluated in a whole new light. No wonder hyperscale operators are facing growing pains. 

To address these challenges, the industry must find more efficient commissioning solutions. Moves toward greater modularization have helped speed this process, and one area of focus is the PDUs.

Different regions have unique safety requirements and power limitations, and each country's governing organizations (UL, CSA, IEC) determine the power, voltage and material limitations for building power infrastructure. 

This comes with the territory of a global operation but puts undue pressure on your procurement department. Even standard PDUs require different part numbers based on the location, making it challenging for teams to track requirements while meeting demands for faster deployment. 

This challenge caught the attention of organizers at the Open Compute Project (OCP), who have provided open-source documentation to help address this supply chain inefficiency.

The Rack & Power Project Group within the OCP is zeroed in on standardizing racks and making them easier to integrate into the data center infrastructure. Microsoft joined in the efforts in 2016, leading their own Project Olympus initiative to oversee next-generation rack-level solutions that are then open-sourced through OCP. The Project Olympus design comprises both hardware and software modules to realize a holistic rack architecture and is becoming the de facto open-computer standard for cloud workloads.

Built off the ideas of Project Olympus, the Open Rack V3 (ORV3), allows facilities to build a power infrastructure that operates across a range of amperages and voltages with a simple plug-and-play Power Shelf connector. In other words, it is compatible with any geography.

Building up inventory for swifter deployment

With a universal PDU like the HARTING solution for Schneider Electric, data center facilities can stock and ship PDUs for launches in Europe, North America, China or anywhere in the world. And by implementing a single PDU model across all facilities, it became possible to order in bulk and prepare for the next five years of greenfield facilities. 

One major tech hyperscaler waited eight weeks for PDUs because their manufacturer just couldn’t deliver faster. 

By making the switch from a hardwired PDU to universal PDU with globally compatible connectors, the delivery timelines dropped down to a mere two weeks, cutting PDU lead times by 75%. Supply chain points of failure are removed, procurement feels less frazzled, and commissioning is that much simpler. 

Connect with an expert

In a digital landscape characterized by rapid growth, organizations must be prepared to scale on demand. By choosing connectorized PDUs over hardwired alternatives, data center projects can be deployed more efficiently on a global scale.

Connector experts, such as those at HARTING, can guide organizations through the next era of data center management, setting them up for efficient growth in the coming decades. Get in touch with a connector expert today to accelerate the deployment of your data center facilities.