8115723, 5:15 PM ‘Toke data center efciency to the max on three-phase power | TechTarget ‘Take data center efficiency to the max on three-phase power “Treesphane crus provdeconaderably mere power afciecy to datacenter egupment but phase balancing ean tp up deployment “Trvee-phase power configurations with expert phase balancing, re the kay to maximum efcleney in the datacenter end aveldng unnecessary sutdowns, ‘Trree-phase branch circuits to cabinets put hardware on 208-Volt service. This provides more power over fewer wites and oes beter energy eficlency than sngle-phase, 120.V gone, Any 20 kW of atgeruninterupible wor supply (UPS) azo uses three.phase power sugol and dibulon, Most data centers therefor have three-phase power somewhere inthe acl, whether just atthe awa inastuctue or running othe cabinets of equipment. Single-phase power Incoming power from the uti is 240-V, delvered by two het wires and one neutral For decades, twas standard practice power cabinets a 120 V~the ame vohage and wing achema used fe tity cules in home and ofa, Every receptacle is service by two wies —hot and neutal~ plus @nor-vokage-carying ground wire (see fgure 1). Atul yee of uly power goes trough a 360 degroe phase change, so the two hot egs ae 180 degrees apart, whichis krown a snglo-phase power. ntps:www-tochtargot con/soarchdalacenterlip Take-data-contr-ffiiency-1oho-maxcon-thee-phase-power 188115723, 5:16 PM Take data center efcieney to the max on three-phase power | TechTarget Cae eed ecg [a] Ped Peery big apotances, ones that do not gt unplugged frequent, rn on 240 Vas of single-shase power, using both hot wires to deliver vice the 120-V ho outa voltage, a8 shown in fgute 1. The higher vaiage delivers more power (wattage) with the same-sized wies and cut breaker ratings. Power outages Ifyou connect to large a load to receptad cor wip an interrupt the crcl. several aml loads connect to each receptacle butte total exceeds the ciel breaker capacity, he breaker wil tip, alin each receptacle on that Gx. tis posse forloads io be win limits on every branen ult and lighting crcl, yet sill overwhelm tre powor supply Ashift in power Each hot lg of 240-V uty power must have a main cut beaker but elactrcl code requires thatthe hanles on both sero lage be physically tat \ogethor Therefor, the total load on ether hoteg excoads the main breaker rating, wil ip both ees, easing @ oa power fai. Both wires are connectod by 240.V crc, so draw the same amount of power rom each log. But 120-V service comes rom only ane ofthe ho wi utile 120-V receptaces are wired to each hat wie, so you connect too mary things to receptacles onthe same leg of your incoming service, the main real breaker wil kip bot logs, not just the overloaded one, Running reascrably qual loads on both phases avoids this problem, and the neutral Is three-phase power to the cabinets the answer? Commercial buldings mostly use three-phase power. More actual power s delivered through te buldng wth the same-sized wires and crcl breakers, ‘Tvoe-phase power service is dolvore by the hot wires and one noua. The voltage between ary phase or hot wee and neuia is sb 120, just tke at home of cler data contre Bu hoe-phase power moves te lege 20 degrees apart. The vollage Between any two phases orhat legs is 208 V. Figure 2 shows sovera derantpossibities deriv rom a three-phase systom. The 208 V-powe delivered by any two gs ofa three-phase system's sil called single-phase power, ts unnecessary to bring the neutral to datacenter cabinets wth a three-phase aystem, With juste three-phase power ws, You have muliphe 206 V-seuis, the noua extended, ten both 120 V- and 208 Vrecepacls can be provided onthe same power sip nips: tochtargot con/soarchdalacenterlipTake-data-contr-fficiency-1-tho-maxcon-three-phase-power 288115723, 5:16 PM Toke data center efciency to the max on three-phase power | TechTarget ced any Eod Breakers ‘We gat considersly more power from three-phase circuits han fom single-phase designs, Without delving ito elcrcal theory, the reason i that tree phase wattage vols mes amps times 3, rather than just vols times amps. Power factor exchidod makes ite haroware, ifronce in modem comping otranate design nto real power load, 00 tho final columa of chart: 80% capacity, This is to maximum powor tal equipment is allowed by cod to draw trough a circu breaker on 3 cortnuous bass, Ths ete real power hat wl go to data canter aqulpmens Ce Sue eS > |] |e | wo | me =) =) ] ot) ow | oe S| |e | a | en | aa = | ae a | iim | ton Oa la | a | ca | oo Computing harawace running st 208 V operates at higher anergy efficiency than equipment runing at 120 V. Tree-phase systems deliver nearly twice the power eapacy of single-phase systems, bu Via fewer wre. Since nos cabinets today are dul ected, the ciference in wring demand doubles, escalating cost savings wih three-phase power “The wring diterences become extreme when powering ulra-danse cabinets (2 lo 90 KW), especialy wih higher amperage creuts where conductor sizes are also bigger. nips: tochtargot con/soarchdalacenterlip Take-data-contr-fficiency-1o-he-maxcon-three-phase-power se8115123, 5:16 PM “Take data center efiiency tothe max on three-phase power | TechTarget | (ag hw 2. Trans deta cone hone sie Phage balance i highly mportan wih three-phase crcul, The phase withthe highest lad determines the maximum oulpt of he data centers UPS or power distribution units, so phases must be balanced to use the tla power capac. AJ three handles of a iree-phase breaker are tied logether, 0 if you ‘verlad one phase, wil ip the breaker and cut power. Examples of power loading in data center cabinets “The goa! or good data cener power dsiibuton i to have no more than a $% oad ferential among phases. you have a combination of 120- and 208: devices in the data conto cabinets, the 120-V creuts ao easy to move around on atroe-phaso syst. While 120-V cits can make phase balancing lor a poor reason alone to use them, because of he eficency losses. Assume you havea cabinet ul of he sam type of srvers, and one-third of thom arw plugged ino evry crcl group. The phases ae automatically balanced as ilustatd in Example 1. This cabinet wil run on a 30-Amp, three-phase crcu since each phase is ess than 24 Amps, or 80% ofthe 30 Amp breaker rating nips: tochtargot con/soarchdalacenterlip Take-data-contr-fficiency-1-the-maxcon-thres-phase-power8115723, 5:16 PM Toke data center efciency to the max on three-phase power | TechTarget Equal Loading Balanced Phases 2290A 22904 22.90A 3,500W A szcow Ireherdoro phase balance i devices daw diferent power ovels orf too many devices ae connected tthe same phases. Example 2 shows that when device with ferent power requiements are randomly connected toa tvoe-phase power sri, te loads go ay more than 5% auto balance, ang wo of ‘the phases are over the limit fora 30.Amp breaker. A larger ccult woud soW that lit problem, butis actually unnecessary forthe toll load presented Random Connection Significant Phase Imbalance 15.93 24.884 27.484 A B c 4 14600W 4 4.380W -ntps:iwww-tochtargot con/soarchdalacenterlip Take-data-contr-fficiency-1-the-maxcon-three-phase-power 588115923, 5:16 PM “Take data center efeiency tothe max on three-phase power | TechTarget In Example 3, he ata canter operator moves we servers (ighlgtted in the char in an attempt to balance the phase loads. But when 208: loads move, tho oad changes on only one phase. The lads aro beter matched on Phases Aand C, bul ho load on Phase Bis th samo as before, Furor, to difecenoss among hase currents sl lgnsicanly exceed Si and Phase Bis sll above the 20-Amp cuts maximum. Over me, the breaker could ip nd shut down each creutin the cabinet 2 Servers Re-Circuited Phase “B” Unchanged 20.51 24.884 22.90A > B c 2700W 4 3,280W 4 In Example 4, operators move two more servers (highlighted inthe char), wih eiferent power requirements, o achieve beter phase balance, The results only 1% derental and ll tee phases are now wis the nits ofa 30-Amp breaker, without changing the power equipment -ntps:iwww-tochtargot con/soarchdalacenterlipTake-data-contr-fficiency-1-the-maxcon-three-phase-power cry11823, 516 PM Take data center efficiency tothe max on tvee-phase power | TechTarget 2 More Servers Re-Circuited Good Phase Balance 22.80A 22.59A 22.90A A B c 4 2,700 4 2,730 “These examples show inal you may need to move several devices around to achieve phase balance ona three-phase circuit, ‘About the author: Robert McFarlane i principal n charge of data conte design at Shen Msom and Wake LLC, wth more than 35 years of experince. An expert in date canter power and cooling he helped poner builng cabe design and ea corresponding member of ASHRAE TC9.2. McFarlane also eachos at Marist College's Instute for Date Center Professions. ‘%W Next Steps Separate the promising datacenter tends fom the misleading ones, ‘% Dig Deeper on Data center design and facilities nups:iwwwtochtargot con/soarchdalacentorliprTake-data-contr-fficency-tothe-max-on-thre 188115723, 5:16 PM ‘Toke data center efciency to the max on three-phase power | TechTarget SearchWindowsServer Several Exchange Server flaws fixed on August Patch Tuesday How to use Reliability Monitor to manage servers ata Q Center -ntps:iwww-tochtargot con/soarchdalacenterlip Take-data-contr-fficiency-1-he-maxcon-thres-phase-power a8