How to Avoid a Redundant Path to Power Failure

I would suggest that if you are fortunate enough to not have had this happen to you already, that you review your rack-level current draw at each PDU. If you do not have metered PDUs, you should consider upgrading to a metered PDU in the near future. If you have many racks, you should consider a metered PDU with remote monitoring (via SNMP and/or Web) that can send SNMP traps to your management software, since it would lower the burden of manually monitoring dozens or hundreds of PDUs.

Bottom line: Make sure that if you are implementing redundancy that it can sustain 100 percent of the load if the other path fails. Review and document your existing load structure, and continue to proactively monitor and manage the load levels on all PDUs, as well as all the other elements of your power path. Changing out PDUs can involve some downtime; however, like any power path work, some downtime may be required if there is no true 2N power path. Take your choice—some planned limited downtime or an unplanned surprise shutdown.

 Julius Neudorfer is the Director of Network Services and a founder of North American Access Technologies, Inc. Since 1987, Julius has been involved with designing Data and Voice Networks and Data Center Infrastructure. He personally holds a patent for a network-based facsimile PBX system. Julius is also the primary designer of the NAAT Mobile Emergency Data Center. Over the last 20 years, Julius has designed and overseen the implementation of many advanced Integrated Network Solutions for clients. He can be reached at julius@naat.com.