Eaton takes a particular stance when it comes to powering the server environment and there are clusters of servers today, increasingly processing larger and more complex operations
In Africa and in the Middle East, there are particular issues with respect to stable power supply and supporting systems for enterprises whose transactions involve significant amounts of data processing.
Here, we may not be thinking necessarily of facilities managers, although they would require this equipment; we may be thinking, particularly, of the requirements of telecommunications firms and of financial institutions.
Cyrille Brisson, VP Power Quality EMEA at Eaton Electrical Industries, offered the theoretical example of a telecommunications company experiencing significant growth in subscribers for its advanced, data-rich, mobile communications services.
Be clear that the theoretical example offered here is very real to many EMEA mobile network operators and their associated enterprises.
"We are a believer in the fact that you have less and less downtime and-less and particularly since the advent of the smartphone," said Brisson.
"And we have been thinking about the cost and availability of power, as there has been underinvestment in power infrastructure for years, allied to investment in renewables."
Brisson explained that the increase of renewable investment does not necessarily lead to increased grid provision by proportion, which means that the energy mix can be imbalances and lead to instability in power provision, so creating problems for fast-growing emerging markets, such as those in Africa.
Ensure readiness and flexibility
Of particular note in emerging markets is the uptake of apps for mobile devices, which could add stress to networks on the traffic management side, and hence also in terms of power consumption by data centres.
Eaton stresses the importance of power management, of stable energy mix including advanced back-up technology, to ensure service provision by data providers and customer-facing telecommunications operators.
Eaton's new line of uniterruptible power supply technology, the 9PX, is designed to deliver secure, stable support.
It is designed for visualised IT environments, for energy efficiency, for future-energyproof systems, and for comprehensive information provision within the enterprise and without organisations, in support of market operations.
The 9PX delivers 28 per cent more power shifts consuming 40 per cent less energy than the typical UPS available today.
With respect to virtualised IT environments, Eaton has partnered with VMWare to ensure complete integration and agility within server environments; its Intelligent Power Manager (IPM), for example, could be configured to suit.
