Partner POV | PDU Mass Deployment Made Simple: Introducing UPDU for Global Data Centers

Article written by Justin Blumling, Senior Solutions Architect, Panduit. 

Electricity is one of the essential utilities in a computing environment. And while the physics of electricity (illuminated by greats like Faraday, Edison, and Tesla) is constant, there's considerable diversity in how power is transmitted and distributed worldwide. 

Take, for example, the deployment of 415 Volt power in North American data centers. In 2023, this isn't particularly newsworthy. Fifteen years ago, it was novel. Around that time, big data center operators in North America proposed this "international" voltage as an avenue to greater data center efficiency—smaller transformers, fewer losses, and better utilization of power supplies.

Electrical diversity has conditioned us to look at electricity through regional silos. Still today, the prevailing practice is to segment power products according to regional electrical standards and regional conformance bodies like UL & CE. Therefore, any global enterprise likely has unique PDUs for each country/region in which they operate. This leaves a supply chain organization with more to manage—inventory levels, BOMs, configurations—and more opportunity for error.

The Panduit Universal PDU (uPDU) offers an avenue to address PDU deployment challenges. 

As soon as a cord/plug is hardwired to a PDU, it becomes regional—the opposite of 'universal' and the cause of the supply chain complexities mentioned above. The uPDU is deliberately sold absent a cord and plug and instead offers (12) potential choices called facility side cables.

Consumers will choose the appropriate cable depending on the installation location and capacity required. The two components—PDU and cord—then mate on-site with no required tools. 

Facility Side Cordsets

* User must select the appropriate drop down from WebGUI menu to achieve stated power metering accuracy.

The uPDU capacity ranges from 3.3kVA to 27.6 kVA. The internal wiring is sized for the maximum possible current, making it safe to operate at all levels.

Use Cases   

Consistency: A user can deploy the same PDU everywhere and stock only the cords needed at each location.

Compliance: Universally compliant PDUs that meet international standards for PDUs[FM3] [RL4]

• USA & Canada: UL/EN/IEC 62368 PDU
• Europe - CE/UKCA Approved
• Australia - RCM Approved
• Brazil: Approved
• Chile: Approved
• Peru: Approved
• United Arab Emirates (UAE): Approved
• India: Approved
• China: Approved
• Hong Kong: Approved
• Singapore: Approved

Adaptability : A recently acquired company faced changing rack power requirements as it had to move its IT gear into the data center of its new owner—one with a completely different power infrastructure. All the existing PDUs had to be scrapped for new models to accommodate these changes. In the same scenario, the uPDU offered a versatile solution, as it could be repurposed in the new environment simply by swapping the facility side cables, thus addressing the altered rack power demands efficiently.

Sustainability: Sustainability is more important than ever. The previous example speaks to it. Traditional rack PDUs may contribute to e-waste when replaced, and new product packaging and transportation can have environmental impacts. Not only do uPDUs keep PDUs from getting scrapped, but data centers save on the packaging and transportation that new products would require.

Summary

The uPDU is a departure from a conventional PDU—not applicable to all consumers but a difference maker for those who operate globally or who have diverse electrical systems to work within.