As datacenters have increased in size and complexity, the number and variety of computer equipment rack configurations used in datacenters has also increased. This variety has brought with it an equally diverse set of alternating current (AC) power requirements. Each rack configuration may require different voltages (e.g., 120V, 208V, 220, and 240V), as well as different power phase configurations (e.g., single-phase and Delta or Wye three-phase). The power cabling to each rack may also differ based on these requirements. If upgrades are made later to the devices installed within a rack, it may be necessary to change the power cabling providing power to the rack, due to changes in the power requirements of the new devices.
Differences and changes in power requirements not only may affect how power is provided to each rack within a datacenter, but may also have similar effects on the how power is distributed within each of the racks. Different devices within a rack may have different power requirements, necessitating different power cables and connectors within the rack. As requirements change and devices are upgraded or replaced, it may become necessary to change the wiring and/or connectors that connect the devices to the power distribution system within a rack.
For a detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings in which:
Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, computer companies or data centers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . .” Also, the term “couple” or “couples” is intended to mean either an indirect or direct electrical connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections. Further, the term “system” refers to a collection of two or more parts and may be used to refer to a power distribution system or a portion of a power distribution system.
The following discussion is directed to various embodiments of the invention. Although one or more of these embodiments may be preferred, the embodiments disclosed should not be interpreted, or otherwise used, as limiting the scope of the disclosure, including the claims. In addition, one skilled in the art will understand that the following description has broad application, and the discussion of any embodiment is meant only to be exemplary of that embodiment, and not intended to intimate that the scope of the disclosure, including the claims, is limited to that embodiment.
Equipment racks provide not only mechanical support for the devices installed within them, but also the electrical power necessary to operate the devices within them. A variety of configurations are used to provide power, comprising different voltages (e.g., 380V, 240V, 208V, 200V and 120V) and different combinations of phases (e.g., single-phase and 3-phase). If the power requirements of one or more installed devices changes, some configurations avoid the need to alter or rewire either the cabling connecting power to the rack, or the power distribution cabling within the rack.
Each of the branched circuits 204 and 206 couple to a plurality of rack-mounted connectors 310-360. These rack-mounted connectors 310-360 make all three phases (plus the neutral and earth ground paths) available to any device that is installed in the rack. A device installed in the rack may comprise a device-mounted connector that mates to a rack-mounted connector. The mated connectors couple the installed device to one of the branched circuits (i.e., branched circuit 204 or 206). The device-mounted connector may be configured to select one, two, or all three phases, depending on the power requirements of the installed device. By using rack-mounted connectors with a fixed configuration in concert with configurable device-mounted connectors, changes in the power requirements of the device may be accommodated without changing the wiring of either of the branched circuits 204 and 206, or the cable 104.
Connectors 310 and 370 can couple to each in a variety of ways. The figures show a pin and socket coupling wherein pins 371, 372, etc. are received within corresponding sockets 311, 312, etc. Embodiments in accordance with the present invention, though, are not limited to a pin and socket connection. For example, other male-female connectors are possible. Further, connector 310 can include the male connectors while connector 370 includes the female connectors. In other embodiments, connector 310 includes the female connectors while connector 370 includes the male connectors.
In the embodiment illustrated in
The device-mounted connector 370 of
The connector halves of connector 300 may thus be “blind-mated” or coupled to each other without the need to see them and manually align them. The positioning of the connector halves of connector 300, as well as the positioning of the guide rails 380, provides the necessary alignment to ensure proper mating. Tapered connector housings (as shown in
The power distribution system 200 of the equipment rack 100 may also be configured so as to provide the capability of load-balancing the various phases of the multi-phase power distributed within the rack 100.
Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. For example, although the embodiments shown receive power from a 3-phase, 208-volt source, other embodiments may use sources comprising a different number of phases, different phase configurations, and different operating voltages. These embodiments may comprise Delta or Wye phase configurations such as those used in the United States, Europe and Japan, and may be configured to accommodate any or all of these phase configurations and operating voltages. Further, any number of PDUs may be installed in an equipment rack, and such installation may comprise locations at any elevation at the front, back, or along the sides of the rack.
In one exemplary embodiment, the datacenter provides dual AC power paths to installed equipment and maintains system power even during disruption to a primary power source. Thus, the datacenter eliminates all single points of power failure and enables isolation of a single power system (example, for testing or maintenance) without affecting power supply to any of the racks or other equipment in the datacenter.
The datacenter 600A is situated in a building or room that has a floor 630 and an electrical system 640. The electrical system includes a multiple grid power system that includes a first AC power supply 650A (shown as Grid 1) and second AC power supply 650B (shown as Grid 2).Grid 1 is shown with a solid line and Grid 2 is shown with a dotted line to indicate that the two grids do not short each other. By way of example, Grid 1 is a primary power supply and Grid 2 is a backup or generation power supply. As another example, each grid is connected to an independent breaker system having dedicated circuit boxes. As another example, each grid is powered from different and separate substations. Thus, the AC power supplies can be separate and independent of each other. Further, for convenience of illustration, the electrical system 640 is shown adjacent the floor, but one skilled in the art appreciates that this system can be located in various places, such as, but not limited to, the ceiling, the walls, on top of the floor, underground, etc. Further yet, the electrical system is shown with two power supplies or dual power grids, but any number of multiple power grids can supply power (including AC and DC power) to the datacenter. By way of example, the grids include any one or more of three-phase AC, single-phase AC, 380 VCD, +48 VDC, −48 VDC, or any other voltage possibility.
In one exemplary embodiment, the electrical system 640 provides redundant, fault tolerant power. For example, if one or more of the grid lines 650A or 650B fails, needs serviced, or otherwise shuts-down, then the racks 610 continue to receive uninterrupted power.
As shown, each rack receives power from each grid line. Power from both grids is evenly distributed across the loads for each of the racks and/or the entire load for the datacenter. In one exemplary embodiment, each grid line supplies power to alternating servers in order to distribute load evenly across both grid lines. By way of example, a first server (S1) in rack 1 receives power from Grid 1 (G1); the second server (S2) in rack 1 receives power from Grid 2 (G2); the third server (S3) in rack 1 receives power from Grid 1 (G1); etc. The primary point of power being shown with a darkened circle at a server, and a secondary or alternate point of power being shown with a non-darkened circle at a server. In this manner, the load for each rack is evenly distributed across plural, separate, independent power supplies. Thus, load is balanced across the power system and within each rack since load is shared between two different power grids. For example, a balanced load occurs if all servers in a rack are single-phase and powered from alternating or randomly selected grids.
In exemplary embodiments, the servers are single-phase devices, multiple phase devices, or both. Thus, each rack can include one or more of both single and multiple phase devices. Further, in exemplary embodiments that utilize three-phase servers, the phase can be alternating within alternating or randomly connected grids as well.
In one exemplary embodiment, each server is coupled to power from each power grid. In one embodiment, Grid 1 exclusively provides power to every other (i.e., alternating) servers in the rack; and Grid 2 provides back-up power to these alternating servers. At the same time, Grid 2 exclusively provides power to every other (i.e., alternating) servers in the rack not being powered by Grid 1; and Grid 1 provides back-up power to these alternating servers. Thus, both grids connect to each server. In another embodiment, Grid 1 and Grid 2 both supply power to every server in the rack. Here, load is shared between Grid 1 and Grid 2. For example, each grid shares approximately fifty percent of the load for each server and/or approximately fifty percent of the load for the datacenter. In yet another embodiment, Grid 1 and Grid 2 are randomly connected to servers throughout the datacenter. This random connection ensures that power is evenly distributed over the entire datacenter. Of course, even if servers do not have redundant capability, load can still be evenly distributed across the datacenter by alternating or randomly connecting servers to the grids.
In one exemplary embodiment, the electrical system 640 of
The datacenter can accommodate both low-voltage input (such as 100 to 120 VAC) and high-voltage input (such as 200 to 240 VAC). In one exemplary embodiment, the servers in the rack or PDUs have sensing circuitry to automatically adjust to the applied input voltage.
In one exemplary embodiment, each rack includes one or more PDUs (example, see PDU 202 in
In one exemplary embodiment, the servers and PDUs are modular (or modules) and thus movable and replaceable within a rack. A modular PDU integrates outlets, wire, and breakers in a single unit on each rack. By way of example, 16 A to 40 A PDUs can have 32 outlet receptacles. Further, each PDU can include a fault-tolerant dual input that automatically switches from one grid to another grid (example, primary input source to a secondary input source) in the event of a power failure.
The datacenter uses single phase-power, three-phase power, or both. Generally, power into the datacenter is stepped-down to 480 V or less. Equipment or devices that operate on single-phase current (i.e., single-phase loads) are connected to one of the single-phase power sources (example, to one phase winding of a transformer and its neutral connection). Equipment or devices that operate on three-phase current (i.e., three-phase loads) are connected to one of the three-phase power sources (example, to three windings of the transformer and its neutral connection). As one example, the datacenter uses a 208-V power three-phase system, such as high-line AC power that operates with 208 V between any two transformer windings.
The racks have various configurations and sizes depending on the needs of the datacenter. In one exemplary embodiment, the racks have a height from about 70 inches and 87 inches and hold from six 8U servers to about forty-two 1U servers. As used herein, “U” is a standard unit of measure that denotes the vertical usable space or height of the racks, cabinets, or other enclosure for holding servers. 1U is equal to 1.75 inches. For example, a rack designated as 20 U, has 20 rack spaces for equipment and has 35 (20 ×1.75.) inches of vertical usable space. Rack and cabinet spaces and the equipment which fit into them are all measured in U.
In one exemplary embodiment, each rack provides redundant power to one or more of the servers in the rack. In one embodiment, redundant power is designated as N+N, where the first digit is the number of power supplies needed to support the power configuration of the server and the second digit is the number of online spares. In a 1+1 configuration, a single power source supplies power to the server and a second, separate power source provides redundancy. Both supplies can be simultaneously on to deliver fifty percent of the power needed to distribute the load across both supplies. In a 2+1 configuration, the server is provided with three power supplies, two power supplies are used to power the device (example, assuming use of low voltage power) and the third power supply is used for redundancy. If any one of the three power supplies fails, the server continues to run on the two remaining power supplies. Alternatively, all three power supplies are energized to deliver power such that each supply delivers approximately thirty three percent of the power needed by the system. If one power supply fails, then the remaining two supplies each provide fifty percent of the needed power.
In one exemplary embodiment, the redundant power supplies share load. Thus, a 1+1 redundant power system is configured to that during normal power usage, each power supply, PDUs, and distribution lines utilize fifty percent of the load. In other words, at the rack level, each PDU provides fifty percent of the load for the rack. At the server level, each power supply provides fifty percent of the load. When a failure occurs (example, one of the power feeds goes down), the full load is supplied with the one remaining power supply.
According to block 720, at least one rack having multiple servers in the datacenter is connected to at least two of the power supplies of the multiple power supplies. By way of example, one of more PDUs in a single rack connects to multiple power supplies. By way of example, one or more PDUs 202 (shown in
According to block 730, load in the rack is shared between the multiple power supplies. Exemplary embodiments include sharing load with single-phase and three-phase servers and systems. By way of example,
As used herein, the term “module” means a unit, package, or functional assembly of electronic components for use with other electronic assemblies or electronic components. A module may be an independently-operable unit that is part of a total or larger electronic structure or device. Further, the module may be independently connectable and independently removable from the total or larger electronic structure (such as a PDU being modular and removable from a rack in a datacenter).
While the invention has been disclosed with respect to a limited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate, upon reading this disclosure, numerous modifications and variations. It is intended that the appended claims cover such modifications and variations and fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 11/179,920, filed on Jul. 12, 2005 entitled “System for Distributing AC Power within an Equipment Rack.”
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11179920 | Jul 2005 | US |
Child | 11586929 | Oct 2006 | US |