Choice of UPS power systems

The importance of UPS power for data centers cannot be emphasized more. When most businesses rely on online connectivity these days, the servers, software and hardware’s central location is the data centers, which requires uninterrupted power supply. The traditional UPS systems have used a double conversion system where they take on alternating current and change it back to direct current. This charges the batteries and re converts the current back to AC. The traditional UPS systems use large modules in order to create systems of high capacity. 

Today the trend is moving towards modular UPS. These consist of smaller modules that make up the larger system of UPS. There are distinct advantages and disadvantages of the modular approach. The main advantage for which the modular approach has become popular is that the growth capacity can be adjusted as per requirement. Indeed, every data center has a varying requirement for power and usually, with time, the need for power supply increases. The modular approach reduces the cost of maintenance as well. There is also the matter of efficiency in the modular design of UPS. The UPS systems run at high efficiency when the maximum capacity is being utilized. Efficiency drops as the load level is reduced. 

Energy saving is a crucial concern for most data centers. Hence, the UPS systems need to run at optimal efficiency at all times in order to ensure optimal usage of power. The drop of efficiency does pose a concern for the data center administrators. As there is increasing stress on making the data centers energy efficient and eco friendly, choosing UPS systems that are unable to minimize the use of power can become a concern. Hence, one needs to weigh the different options available and accordingly they need to take the decision on the UPS system design that is optimal for the data center’s operations.