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Data centers and network rooms draw a total electrical power, which is the sum of the power consumed by the installed Information Technology equipment. Historically, this equipment consumed power at a value that varied only slightly depending on the computational load or the mode of operation. The notebook computer created the requirement that processor power be managed to lengthen battery run time. Power management technology enabled the power consumption of laptop computer processors to be reduced by up to 90 per cent when lightly loaded. As this technology has matured, it has begun to migrate into server design. The result is that newly developed servers can have a power consumption that varies dramatically with workload over time. When power varies with time, a variety of new problems occur for the design and management of data centers and network rooms.

A few years ago, this problem was negligible. The problem has now reached a point where it is significant and the magnitude of the problem is growing. Fluctuations in power consumption can lead to unplanned and undesirable consequences in the data center and network room environment; including tripped circuit breakers, overheating, and loss of redundancy in redundant power systems. This situation creates new challenges for people designing or operating data centers and network rooms.

The unreliability of electricity grids is one of the major factors driving the market. Electricity grids, which are already operational in India, are not able to withstand heavy rainfall, earthquake, and fire, which lead to power outages, have created the need for installation of gensets across the sectors. The need for uninterrupted and continuous power supply has led to increased adoption of gensets across the industrial, commercial, infrastructure, and residential sectors.

With implementation of CPCB2 and stringent emission norms, there will be substantial improvement in the quality of exhaust gases being discharged into the atmosphere. Engine manufacturers are continuously developing fuel efficient engines which will improve efficiencies by at least 10 per cent. Therefore, diesel generator being a backup power and does feed the power through UPS in the absence of the main source and thus for the data center this criteria may not applicable. For process-oriented manufacturing units, the quality power is the main criteria wherein the Smart DG set is the better choice.

The author is President of Sterling and Wilson Powergen Pvt Ltd.