Power distribution systems and methodology   

Abstract: The invention addresses the needs associated with the entire data center power distribution lifecycle—design, build, operation and upgrades. The design and construction is facilitated by a system for prefabricating power whips that accommodate changing data center needs. The invention also allows for upgrading power supply components without powering down critical equipment. Improved power and network strips and associated logic further facilitate data center operation.

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 12/891,500, entitled, “Power Distribution Methodology,” filed on Sep. 27, 2010, which is a continuation-in-part of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2009/038427, entitled, “Power Distribution Systems And Methodology,” filed on Mar. 26, 2009, which claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/039,716, entitled, “Power Distribution Methodology,” filed on Mar. 26, 2008, the contents of which are incorporated herein as if set forth in full.

The present invention relates to the design and operation of data centers and, in particular, to systems and functionality to supplying power in data center environments.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses specific issues that arise in the design, implementation, operation and upgrading of data center environments. Data centers have a specific set of issues that they must face in relation to power supply and management, and the traditional methods in this area were developed from prior industrial electrical practice in a time when a typical data center held very small numbers of mainframe computers and the change rate was low. Now, data centers often contain tens of thousands of electronic data processing (EDP) devices with high rates of change and growth. Data centers are also experiencing rapidly growing power capacity demands driven by CPU power consumption that is currently increasing at a rate of approximately 1.2 annually. The methods developed in the past were not adopted to cope with these change rates, and data centers are therefore having great difficulty in scaling to meet those needs.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed to systems and methods for addressing needs associated with the entire data center power distribution system lifecycle; design, build, operation and upgrades. It enables professional design practice, consistent and reliable buildouts, high operational change rates with minimum cost and disruption, supports almost all needed power configurations and allows data center power distribution capacity upgrades to be easily accomplished while delivering very high reliability power distribution and meeting the service availability levels demanded of modern 7×24×365 data center environments.

At a high level, the invention enables a superior design process, coupled with an improved materials fabrication and installation method. It also delivers a superior operational environment and provides a pre-engineered turnkey A-B redundant power distribution layer that enables and encapsulates the vast majority of changes needed in power delivery configurations, capacity provisioning, and upgrades to equipment racks during the data center lifecycle. This reduces operational costs enormously and reduces risk compared to the traditional methodology where every power configuration change is made “hot” at the PDU\'s by adding or removing power whips.

It also greatly reduces the difficulty and costs of upgrading power distribution capacity which in the traditional methodology is both expensive and operationally disruptive. Further, it also enables embedded power/environmental/security monitoring and management capabilities at the rack level, where they can best be used to gather data that can be used to assemble a very detailed and coherent picture of what is really happening in the data center.

The objectives of the present invention include the following:

To allow engineers and architects to design a power distribution system all the way to the rack, by isolating the power type and receptacle dependencies in the rack from the power whips. The power system is uniformly A-B redundant by design with two independent power sources, identified as power sources A and B.

To enable prefabrication of the power branch distribution lines (whips) based on the design plan to allow quicker, cheaper, well documented and more error free installation.

To reduce or eliminate the need to install multiple data communication cabling systems in parallel in the data center, reducing cost and improving cooling airflow. The invention thereby also reduces cabling clutter in the rack for required communication cabling while enabling unique Universal Serial Bus (USB)/Keyboard Video Mouse (KVM) connectivity features.

To reduce or eliminate the need to install multiple network cables for TCP/IP connectivity in the equipment cabinet.

To allow power distribution configuration changes to be made at the rack with little or no changes to the power whips. This greatly lowers cost, minimizes risk, and eliminates the constant need for re-configuration by electricians.

To allow the power receptacle configuration in the rack to be changed with minimum effort and disruption.

To allow the data center manager to select between multiple modes of power distribution in the rack and have a secured level of control of power distribution.

To provide unique in-cabinet User Interface features that make the system much easier to use for data center staff and end users.

To allow data center managers to provision power as desired to one or any arbitrary set of power receptacles to meet customer needs and set policy based reactions to over-limit capacity demands. This can further be used to control power startup timing and sequencing in cold start or power restoration scenarios. It can also be used to control the shutdown of one or any arbitrary set of receptacles in any desired sequence or sets of sequences to accomplish intelligent load shedding in the data center.

To allow power capacity to be upgraded with minimum disturbance to power whips, power distribution components and equipment installed and running in racks.

To enable reporting of a per receptacle power quality with very high accuracy, and allow multiple individual power quality measurements to be integrated into a larger overall report of power quality in the data center for, among other things, isolation and reporting of quality power issues. This capability to “see” the power quality in high detail can also be used to diagnose problems with equipment connected to monitored receptacles because equipment that is starting to fail (particularly in its power supplies) create disturbances in the power waveform that can be recognized and analyzed. This is commonly referred to as “signature analysis.”

To allow detailed control and reporting of the power distribution configuration, and power/security/environment status and energy usage in the data center.

These objectives and others are addressed in accordance with the present invention by providing various systems, components, and processes for improving power distribution. Many aspects of the invention, as discussed below, are applicable in a variety of contexts. However, the invention has particular advantages in connection with data center applications. In this regard, the invention provides considerable flexibility in configuring and reconfiguring data center environments. The invention also assists personnel in configuring and servicing data center equipment as may be advantageous, particularly in co-location data centers. The invention also reduces downtime of data center equipment and facilitates remote operation of data center equipment as well as organized powering down and powering up of equipment.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a method and apparatus are provided for distributing power via plug strip modules. The plug strip modules include a number of plug receptacles, a first connector for interconnecting the power strip module to another power strip module, and a power plug port for receiving a detachable power plug for providing power to the power strip module. The modules can be physically interconnected to form a power strip of the desired size. The modules may also be electrically interconnected to function as a single power strip. Alternatively, each module may have its own power cord thus providing significant operational flexibility. The electrical and mechanical connections can be integrated into a single coupling.

In one implementation, a power strip module has a length that is no more than about one-half the height of a data center rack. The power strip module can be mounted to the data center rack in a substantially vertical orientation using the same hardware that is used to mount a full-height power strip. Moreover, two of the modules may be interconnected to form a full-height power strip. The modules may be electrically interconnected to function as a single full-height power strip, or they may each have a separate power cord so as to provide greater power density to the rack. The receptacle type in a single module can also be different in each module to add deployment flexibility so long as total amperage limits of the branch circuit are respected. This allows modules to be connected with different receptacle types to meet power deployment requirements.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, an intelligent power distribution system is provided. The system includes: a monitoring device for monitoring a power signal delivered to one or more electrical devices via a set of one or more receptacles; a controller for performing a comparison of monitored values to reference values defined by a policy; and a switch system for selectively interrupting the delivery of power to one or more receptacles of the set of receptacles based on the comparison. For example, the intelligent power distribution system may function as a set of intelligent circuit breakers. In this regard, the loading of each receptacle, or each subset of receptacles, may be monitored in relation to a power distribution policy. When a policy violation is identified, power may be interrupted to the monitored receptacle or subset of receptacles. In this manner, the circuit breaker functionality can be implemented intelligently and with respect to specific devices associated with specific receptacles. In addition, the inventive system allows electrical devices to be turned on or turned off in a defined sequence as may be desired particularly in a data center context.

In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, an apparatus and associated methodology are provided for allowing manual configuration of a plug strip or outlet (collectively, “receptacle device”). The system includes a receptacle device having one or more plug receptacles and a controller having a first configuration for monitoring power delivery via the receptacle device and a second configuration for monitoring and controlling power delivery via the receptacle device. For example, in the second configuration, logic may be enabled for remotely controlling one or more of the plug receptacles, for example, to enable or interrupt power delivery via the receptacle. It will be appreciated that some operators may choose to disable such remote operation, at least for certain equipment or at certain times. This may be desired for security purposes.

Accordingly, in one implementation, the controller may be manually operable to select either the first configuration or the second configuration. For example, a key may be required to switch a plug strip between the first and second configurations. In one implementation, more than two configurations may be supported in this regard. For example, a four configuration implementation may include the following configurations: 1) monitored and switched—all receptacles can be remotely turned on or off, 2) monitored only—the last set receptacle on/off configuration remains active, but no changes can be made 3) monitored only—all receptacles on, and 4) all receptacles powered off. In this manner, significant flexibility is provided in allowing intelligent remote operation or conventional operation.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, light signaling is provided in connection with a receptacle device. An associated apparatus includes a receptacle device having one or more plug receptacles, at least one optical device (e.g., an LED) associated with at least one plug receptacle of the receptacle device, and logic for operating the optical device. For example, an operator may thereby control the optical device, e.g., via a LAN or WAN, to activate the optical device. This may be done for a variety of reasons such as to light the vicinity of the receptacle device, identify the receptacle device where servicing is required, to signal state information or display signaling to identify a power source, phase, etc. The optical devices in a plug strip with a number of receptacles can also be used as a group or sub-groups to indicate other information such as plugstrip or equipment cabinet state, location, etc. It will be appreciated that this may be particularly advantageous in co-location data center environments where servicing personnel may be unsophisticated or unfamiliar with the data center configuration.

In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for facilitating reconfiguration of a power distribution environment. An associated method involves redundantly connecting an electrical device to a first receptacle device associated with an A power source and a second receptacle device associated with a B power source, configuring the receptacle devices so that the A and B power sources are provided by separate first and second power supply units, disconnecting the electrical device from the first power supply unit and upgrading one of the first power supply unit and the first receptacle device. In one implementation, electrical devices are associated with multiple power supplies, and each of the power supplies include multiple power sources. Appropriate switches are provided for automatically switching between power sources in the event that a primary power source is interrupted. In this manner, the power distribution environment can be reconfigured without concern regarding interrupting power to critical equipment.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a side access system is provided for use in distributing power to data center equipment. The system is used in connection with an enclosure having a number of vertically distributed shelves, each shelf having a front with a first side-to-side dimension and a side with a second front-to-back dimension, where the second dimension is greater than the first dimension. As noted above, the enclosure may be, for example, an enclosure or rack. The system includes a power strip having a number of electrical outlets spatially distributed along a longitudinal axis and support structure for supporting the power strip on the enclosure such that the longitudinal axis extends along a side of one of the shelves. For example, the power strip may be aligned with a front-to-back axis of the enclosure or may be disposed at an angle relative to the front-to-back axis, preferably any such angle is less than approximately 30 degrees. The power strip may be disposed adjacent a side edge of the enclosure or some space may be provided therebetween. For example, as discussed above, some enclosures include some additional space at the sides for running power cords or for enhancing equipment access/ventilation. In connection with such enclosures, the power strip of the present invention may be spaced from a side edge of the enclosure, for example, by up to about 6 inches. Such spacing would allow the plugs and power cords to be retained within the enclosure as may be desired.

Optionally, more than one power strip may be used in connection with a given shelf of an enclosure. For example, power strips may be provided along both side edges of a shelf. In addition, where the enclosure geometry allows, a power strip may include more than one row of outlets or power strips may be vertically stacked along a side of the shelf. The power strip may also facilitate access to separate power sources, which may be desired, as discussed above, for certain mission critical systems. In this regard, outlets associated with different power sources may be integrated into the power strip or one or more power strips may be used in conjunction with a power distribution unit associated with multiple power sources. For example, a power strip disposed along one side edge of a shelf may be plugged into a first power source of a power distribution unit, and a second power strip disposed along the opposite side of the shelf may be plugged into a second source of the power distribution unit. In this manner, convenient access to redundant power sources can be provided for any equipment in the enclosure or adjacent enclosures. In one implementation, a compact power switching unit, operative to switch between first and second power sources, may extend between first and second power strips (each of which is associated with a separate power source), for example, along a back edge of an enclosure. It will be appreciated that the side access power strips provide easy access, increase the number of outlets that are available and improve routing of power cords and ventilation.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method for using a side access power strip is provided. The method involves providing a power strip with a number of outlets, disposing the power strip on an enclosure such that a longitudinal axis of the power strip extends along the side of one of the shelves, and accessing the power strip via a side of one of the shelves so as to plug a power center equipment device into one of the electrical outlets. As discussed above, the power strip can be immediately adjacent to an edge of the enclosure or spaced at a distance therefrom. In addition, the power strip can be aligned with the front-back access of the enclosure or offset at an angle in relation thereto.

The present invention thus provides a number of advantages in connection with the design, implementation, operation, and upgrading of data center environments. In particular, data centers can be laid out efficiently and in a manner that reduces the need for reconfigurations and allows such reconfigurations to be accomplished efficiently, when necessary, and with little or no down time. In addition, any changes to data center environments can be effectively and accurately executed even by relatively unskilled personnel. Moreover, power is reliably delivered to critical equipment via redundant power sources. Data centers can also be monitored more effectively to identify potential problems or to execute user policies regarding power usage or sequencing for powering up and powering down. The invention thus provides improved operational effectiveness and efficiencies throughout the lifecycle of a data center.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and further advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a power management system in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a back view of a power distribution unit that can be used in the system of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A-3C show a network power strip and network port strip for assembly in a rack system of a data center in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3D show a USB/KVM port strip in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 4A-4F show a double-shot power strip in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing a process for laying out a data center in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 5B shows a data center laid out with prefabricated whips in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure for enabling communications between receptacles and a local controller in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process for matching a power supply from a whip to a piece of data center equipment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a key switch power strip in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process for operating a data center according to user policies in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate alternate configurations for providing power from redundant power sources using power distribution units in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process for upgrading or changing a power source without interrupting power to data center equipment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a process for monitoring data center equipment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating a process for tracking equipment locations in a data center in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a perspective view showing side mounted power strips in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, the invention is set forth with respect to various systems, components and processes for use in a data center environment. It will be appreciated that various aspects of the invention are applicable in other contexts. Accordingly, the specific structure and functionality set forth below should be understood as exemplifying the invention and not by way of limitation. Moreover, for convenience of reference, various systems, components, and methodology are identified by the Zonit trademark. The Zonit trademark is owned by Zonit Structured Solutions, LLC, the assignee of the present application.

I. Introduction

The Zonit Power Distribution System includes certain methodology as described in detail below and apparatus to instantiate or execute the methodology. In one embodiment, the system includes (these items are shown and described in more detail below):

1. Zonit Specification Power Whips

These are prefabricated power whip cables that are keyed to the Zonit design and installation methodology. These whips have several advantages over traditional electrical installation methods. They also can be specified in a way such that power capacity upgrades can be done later with minimal changes.

2. Zonit Power Management Station

Zonit\'s management architecture is designed to meet current and future data center management needs. These are in the areas of power monitoring, control and environmental and security monitoring.

The management architecture 100 may be implemented as a distributed two tier design as shown in FIG. 1. In the illustrated embodiment, individual Zonit Power Distribution Units (ZPDUs) 102 each have an optional embedded control module. This module is a field replaceable unit (FRU) that is field upgradable/replaceable. The module has an embedded hardened Linux (or other suitable operating system) instance that offers easy implementation of current and future network management capabilities. The central management appliance 104 (which can be replicated for availability) communicates with each ZPDU 102 and collects data and offers a central dashboard, policy setting, and control point. All functions can be accessed via a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) secured Web Interface. The access security can be further raised via integration with 2 or multi-factor authentication systems.

A unique feature in the Zonit management architecture 10 is the design of the control and communication mechanism. Each ZPDU uses Z-Protocol, a Zonit defined protocol to communicate with Zonit intelligent adapters, plug strips and receptacles as described below. This enhances security, by using a proprietary protocol. However other proprietary or secure public protocols could be used for this purpose. Each ZPDU 102 communicates with the Zonit Power Management Station 106 via TCP/IP. However, how that communication channel is designed offers two types of functionality. The ZPDU 102 can act as an intelligent intermediary processing node that packages and presents information, status alerts and other data to the Zonit Power Management Station 106. This is appropriate for command and control functions that need or can benefit from quick feedback control or other local supervision.

A second mode of interaction is where each ZPDU 102 acts as a TCP/IP gateway to the set of controlled power monitoring points, ZPDU outlets and attached Zonit G2 intelligent adapters, plug strips and receptacles. In this mode, the ZPDU 102 is a pure communications channel, taking TCP/IP addresses and commands (which may use subsidiary TCP/IP protocols such as Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) and/or TCP/IP based Zonit proprietary daemon processes running on Zonit defined ports) and translating them into Z-Protocol (or other proprietary or secure public protocol) addresses and command codes and returning the resulting data and status codes. The TCP/IP communication method can be made secure by using encrypted TCP/IP links between each ZPDU 102 and the Zonit Power Management Station 106.

This mode of operation is best suited for command and control functions where a central process running on the Zonit Power Management Station 106 accesses and uses the set of Zonit ZPDU functions and ZPDU connected endpoints to do global functions that span the entire set (or a selected subset) of deployed ZPDUs 102. This unique data center power distribution architecture for command and control allows a wide range of functionality to be delivered.

The Zonit Power Management Station 106 enables integration to enterprise network management systems. It allows setting of both global and local alerting and notification parameters. A key design goal is to minimize or remove the complexity of setting alert/notification policies and integration with enterprise management systems as used in Network Operation Centers (NOC). The Zonit management architecture 100 is designed to meet current and future data center management needs in the areas of power monitoring, control and environmental and security monitoring.

3. Zonit ZPDU (Zonit Power Distribution Unit)

These are rack-distributed power distribution units that implement the Zonit methodology and incorporate other Zonit technologies. The ZPDU 102 is a device that takes A-B power source input feeds from the power whips and distributes that power through plug strips and adapters that have the required power capacity and receptacle types. The ZPDU balances loads on each phase using Zonit patented phase rotation technology (U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,009, which is incorporated herein by reference).

FIG. 2 is a back view of a ZPDU showing receptacles associated with the different phases and sources. All the main power connections of the ZPDU use a set of foolproof twistlock NEMA connectors. The power is therefore redundant (the A-B sources are independent and separate) and able to be adapted to any needed power type in 20 A (three-phase, split-phase or single phase) and delivered in any needed receptacle type via the Zonit plug strips or plug adapters. Other amperages than 20 A are possible, but 20 A is the most common amperage limit that most EDP equipment use. The Zonit Generation Two (G2) ZPDU will incorporate embedded hardware that will allow it to perform command, control, management and reporting of power capacity, power distribution configuration, power/security/environment status, energy usage and power quality in the data center, all as described in more detail below.

4. Zonit ZPDU Modular Input Method

This is a modular input method for the G2 ZPDU that allows it to accept a range of power capacity inputs, for example, A-B 30 A to 60 A three phase inputs), combined with an internal power distribution design that can be used with the desired range of input power capacities. This gives the data center manager the ability to upgrade the power capacity in place, without changing anything in the power distribution system at the rack level other than the power inputs to the ZPDU.

5. Zonit Generation Two Powerstrips

These are plug strips that implement power monitoring and switching functionality using Zonit technologies. They are designed to be used with the Zonit ZPDU. They a have unique security control mechanism. Additionally, they incorporate unique LED user interface functionality which is used both individually and in groups or combined with LED\'s on the ZPDU. They also have a method of detecting power cords that are plugged into receptacles but that are not currently drawing power.

6. Zonit “Double-Shot” Generation Two Powerstrips

These are Zonit Generation Two powerstrips that implement a unique single or double density power distribution and mounting method. They share all of the other features of Zonit Generation Two plug strips.

7. Zonit Plug Adaptors & Phase Rotators

These are Zonit specified plug adapters that work with the Zonit methodology to deliver power to devices in the 20-60 A range in three-phase, split-phase, and single phase configurations. The plug adapters either plug directly into a power whip or plug into the Zonit ZPDU. The phase rotator implements phase load balancing as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,628,009, which is incorporated herein by reference. The phase rotator can be a separate in-line adapter or incorporated into a Zonit plug adapter.

8. Zonit USB/KVM Distribution Strips

The Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip 320 in conjunction with the Zoned Power Distribution Unit—Generation Two (ZPDU-G2) (or modular appliance) Protocol Gateway functionality was designed to meet the needs of the modern center by greatly reducing or eliminating the need to run parallel data communication cabling systems for USB or KVM functionality. It does so by providing two key types of connectivity that are needed in the equipment cabinet, USB and KVM. Note: Combined network, USB and KVM connectivity is available by using the NetZonit system as described in PCT Application Number PCT/US08/57154 which is incorporated herein by reference. That system does not require a ZPDU-G2 (or modular appliance) to perform the Protocol Gateway function, it is integrated into the NetZonit unit. The USB/KVM Distribution Strips are Zonit designed vertical distribution strips that incorporate one or more USB ports for each 1U (1.75 inches vertical) of rack space in a cabinet and a matching set of dedicated KVM ports for each 1U. They can be mounted independently or in conjunction with Zonit vertical plug strips, which can have optional mounting brackets to allow the USB/KVM distribution strips to attach to the sides of the Zonit plug strips. The USB/KVM distribution strips each connect to a Zonit ZPDU-G2 unit (or optional modular appliance that does the same job) and use that unit to connect to a data network. The ZPDU-G2 optionally contains hardware and software that is used to perform a protocol gateway function as described in PCT Application Number PCT/US08/57154, which is incorporated herein by reference. This allows each USB port to be put on a “Virtual USB Bus” as described in that patent filing. The KVM ports are connected to the ZPDU-G2 via a special connector and communicate with it via that mechanism. The KVM functionality is as also described in the PCT Application Number PCT/US08/57154 with the Zonit ZPDU-G2 optionally containing hardware and software to performing the roles of KVM and network switch logic.

It is noted that the illustrated equipment mounting system facilitates positioning of power and network strips in a corner of the rack as shown in FIG. 3A. This mounting system is described in detail in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/040,924 which is incorporated herein by reference. In that system, the rail and slider assembly can be mounted on vertical rails on the sides of the rack which provides significant flexibility to configure the rack corners for receiving power and network strips.

II. Data Center Issues

Data centers represent large investments, especially in their core power and cooling infrastructure. Cooling towers, generators, UPS units, transfer switches, raised floor, fire suppression systems and physical security systems are all expensive investments. As a result, data centers have long life cycles and need to be designed to maximize the return on their large capital costs. The highest area of infrastructure change in data center environments is in power distribution to the racks. This is because power must be delivered to every device and the type and kind of power needed for a particular device being installed or moved into a specific rack can and does frequently dictate a change in the power distribution system configuration.

A. Data Center Power Distribution Design and Build-Out Issues

Architects and industrial engineers design the core infrastructure systems of data centers, but in traditional practice do not extend the reach of the design to the floor layout, beyond identifying where the rows of equipment cabinets or racks may be located. This is because the data center manager has control over what equipment will be located in which rack(s) and therefore, the architect and engineers do not attempt to specify this part of the data center. The data center manager generally engages and directs electricians by telling them what type and kind of power receptacles are required for each equipment rack. The electricians install them following the National Electrical Code (NEC). This is the traditional electrical contracting approach. It works well in low-change environments, but is labor intensive and dependent on the expertise and experience of the data center manager and the electricians. In a highly dense electrical environment such as a data center, the results achieved are often more expensive and less than optimum. When high operational change rates are added in, most data centers experience a decline in power distribution organization over time and the costs of making configuration changes remain constant or increase.

The Zonit Power Distribution System addresses the shortcomings of the traditional approach by using a methodology that is repeatable, delivers the same quality every time, reduces material and installation costs and provides a superior operational environment with greatly reduced risks and costs. It also allows the design architects and engineers to extend their design efforts using the Zonit methodology to the data center floor. This delivers a professional, repeatable result, vs. the variable quality of the legacy trade practices used by the traditional methodology. It does so in the following ways:

1. Power Distribution Design Issues The Zonit system separates the design issues of capacity vs. power and receptacle type and isolates their dependencies. This allows the design process to be simplified yet insure the desired results. The whip grid configuration can be specified without worrying about the exact power or receptacle type in the rack. Instead the design process can be focused on matching the whip capacity and location to the desired rack power density throughout the data center.

2. Conduit/Raceway Issues The NEC dictates how conduits and raceways can be installed and used. There are 3 basic ways that power typically is distributed in the data center; Conduits—These are rigid or flexible metal pipes that have wires (“conductors” in NEC parlance) pulled through them. At one end they are terminated in a Power Distribution Unit (PDU), at the other in an electrical power receptacle. The assembly is called a power branch or whip. Raceways—These are metal enclosures that can be optionally sub-divided internally and functions as a conduit. These are operable conduits, i.e., the conduit can be opened up along its axis to allow removal and insertion of conductors. They come in a variety of sizes. Busbar (also called Busway, for example Starline & others) Systems—These are solid metal bars “buses” that connected together to form a power distribution conductor and are used to power circuit breakers near the racks, routed inside of an insulating case. They are expensive and if they fail (usually at their connection joints), can do so quite dangerously, since they carry very high power current. They also have the issue that if they fail, all of the racks powered from them go dark, so they represent a single point of failure with multiple dependencies downstream. In addition, busway systems utilize significantly more copper than traditional wiring methods. Because a busway system must be able to carry the full rated current at any point along its length, the entire buss must be sized at the rated current. Generally speaking, nearly ½ of the copper utilized in a busbar or busway system is excess. This excess is both wasteful of resources and expensive. One of the key issues in conduit and raceway systems is how many conductors can be routed through a conduit or raceway. NEC codes are designed to insure that the heat given off by the conductors in a conduit or raceway cannot reach dangerous levels. In a data center where power distribution levels can reach over 15 kW per rack (or over 40 kW per rack with per rack cooling systems), the problem of how to get so many conductors to each rack becomes difficult. In the traditional approach, conduits or raceways are often used. The NEC code dictates that each conduit (or sub-divided raceway, which is considered a conduit) can only have a certain number of conductors before requiring “de-rating” which effectively means the data center operator must lower the amount of current going through the conductor or alternatively, use larger gauge conductors for the desired current capacity. The effect of this is that a great number of conduits must be provided, which is expensive and can consume valuable raised floor plenum space which impedes cooling airflow. The NEC codes allows conductors as follows: Per conduit 1. Up to 4 conductors (ground excluded) at 100% capacity 2. Up to 9 conductors (ground excluded) at 80% capacity 3. Up to 30 conductors maximum in any one wireway The following example will make clear how in a high power density data center this becomes a difficult design issue. Consider a data center of 14,000 square feet designed to contain 314 racks. An optimized layout could have 3 main raceways with PDU\'s located along those raceways to minimize the length of the conductors run in conduit for the average power whip. In one configuration, each of 14 branch raceways may have about 20 racks on average. To achieve an average power density of 10.3 kW per rack requires one 30 A 208V three phase power whip per every other rack or equivalent. To make the system A-B redundant (fed independently from both an A and B power source) the number of power whips is doubled for the B source. The row of 20 racks will therefore require 20 receptacles, each containing 5 conductors (3 hot, 1 neutral, 1 ground), for a total of 100 conductors. A #8 gauge conductor is required for 30 A current in this example with the applicable NEC de-rating. A #8 gauge wire is thick, with a nominal diameter of 0.22 of an inch and heavy, weighing 1 lb. for each 10 feet. To route 100 conductors without de-rating would take 25¾″ conduits or a raceway 36″ wide. Standard raised floor is built on a 2′×2′ grid with the supports on that modulus, so a raceway that wide does not fit. Clearly, what is happening is that the standard approach does not scale up well to these power densities. It was not designed to supply this level of power in this small of a space. The Zonit methodology addresses this issue and lowers installation costs by allowing for the use of prefabricated redundant A-B power whips in a limited number of configurations as follows; All Zonit ZPDU-G2 units are designed to be fed by two A-B 30, 40, 50 or 60 A 208V three phase wye configured power whips with oversized (+1 gauge) neutral conductors. Other voltage/amperage combinations are possible, but at present these best match the required range of power capacities. The Zonit power whips can be pre-fabricated by using appropriately sized metal-clad “MC” cables with current carrying capacity of 30 A or 60 A and an oversized neutral. The length of each cable can be determined, as will be described in more detail below, from examination of a plan view of the data center with the rack layout indicated. AutoCAD® design templates, developed by Zonit Structured Solutions, LLC, facilitate this process. The designer lays out the power whip paths and specifies their capacity and type and the template calculates a bill of materials for that layout. The completed template is sent as part of the order process to Zonit Structured Solutions, LLC and the bill of materials is confirmed. The power whip lengths are computed from the site plan drawing(s). The metal-clad cables can then be pre-cut to length, labeled properly, terminated and shipped to the data center. This has several benefits; 1. Labor costs are greatly reduced because it is very time intensive for electricians to bend and install hard conduit and/or pull conductors through flexible conduits. The Zonit methodology reduces these labor costs. Also, prefabrication at a site designed for this purpose and operated in an assembly line type environment is intrinsically more efficient. The quality control can be maintained at a higher level, and pre-testing prior to leaving the factory facilitates Code compliance and final quality control. 2. The use of pre-cut MC cable insures that the ends can be properly prepared for installation and carefully labeled and coded to an installation design drawing. The metal-cladding is flexible thus easing installation routing and insuring that no EMI issues occur. It also can be specified with an internal and/or external moisture seal, for environments that need or want this feature and is more water resistant than hard conduit, since it only has one installation “joint”, where it enters the outlet receptacle box. For our example, a space of 12×24″ matching the 2′×2′ floor grid can hold 171 MC cables each of 5 conductor 60 A capacity. 3. Pre-labeling helps insure correct installation both at the PDU and receptacle. 4. The Zonit system is designed to use a modular grid of power whips that are deployed simultaneously at one point in time, preferably at the initial build-out of the data center. The power whips can be any input amperage in the range that the Zonit ZPDU will accept. In one implementation, 30 to 60 A three phase wye configured branch (whip) circuits are used. The choice of what amperage to deploy (30 A to 60 A) of power whip wiring is straightforward and it can be done via various algorithms, including algorithms engineered by Zonit Structured Solutions, LLC. This will allow the design engineer to determine what the maximum cooling capacity of the data center will be and deploy a grid of Zonit specification power whips to match the power distribution capacity to that cooling capacity. If maximum flexibility is desired, it is best to install whips with conductors rated to the maximum power capacity that might be used. By installing 60 A rated whip cables, any desired breaker capacity (30-60 A) can be installed in the PDU and used for the power whip. This allows the data center manager to deliver the amount of power chosen “by the circuit” which is how many co-location facilities sell their power. The rack modulus (how many racks are powered by each pair of A-B power whips) of the grid is determined by the chosen per rack power densities. This can be refined further by choosing areas of the data center that have the best cooling airflow, to have the maximum power density. This allows lower design and material costs, because the whips required are only of two types and therefore can be produced in greater volume, reducing their price and making their layout design easier. The whip capacity can be matched to the cooling capacity, without having to worry about the exact type of power the end user needs in the rack. That is handled by the power delivery options of the Zonit ZPDU which allow power configuration changes to be made at the rack, not the PDU.

The Zonit methodology allows the data center designer to extend the design process to cover the layout of the power distribution system. This in turn helps insure consistent, repeatable, optimized results. The prefabricated materials help insure that installation costs are minimized, installation quality is maximized and errors are prevented.

This process 500 can be summarized by reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5A considered in conjunction with the data center section view of FIG. 5B. The illustrated process is initiated by determining (502) the cooling capacity of the data center on a spatially distributed basis. In this regard, certain areas of the data center may have superior airflow or otherwise have greater cooling capacity. It may be desired to locate high power equipment or high power racks in these areas of the data center. The illustrated process 500 further involves determining (504) the per-rack power densities and determining (506) the rack layout. These two factors may be interdependent and may be determined jointly. That is, as noted above, different power densities may be provided for different racks, and the layout may be considered in relation to the spatially distributed cooling capacity of the data center.

Once the rack layout has been determined, the illustrated process involves determining (508) a rack modulus and establishing (510) a ZPDU layout. It will be appreciated in this regard that the number of ZPDUs required is a function of the rack modulus. The power whip paths can then be laid out (512). As shown in FIG. 5B, the layout for the whips 550 is a function of the number and location of the ZPDUs 554 as well as the location of the PDU power panel 552.

Once the length of the whips has been determined in relation to the layout, the whips can be prefabricated (514) and tested. Approved whips can then be labeled (516) and distributed to the data center site for installation (518). The ZPDUs can then be installed (520) and connected (522) to the whips so as to provide power to the racks.

B. Data Center Communication Cabling Issues

The limiting factor in modern data center deployment density is cooling. The cooling in modern data center racks is almost exclusively air cooling. Air cooling is limited by how much cooling airflow can be delivered to each equipment cabinet and effectively used. A major factor in managing this issue is the number of communication cables that need to be routed to and distributed in each equipment cabinet. A different cabling type can be used for each function within the cabinet, such as USB cables for door locks and sensors, fiber channel and Ethernet cables for data communication and additional cable for keyboard, video and mouse systems. These cables can occupy considerable space in the data center and the cabinet. These cables are rarely cut to the exact length needed, but rather are “stock lengths” with the excess contributing to the increased reduction of airflow. They can contribute very significantly to blocking cooling airflow. They also are so numerous that they become a challenge to install, document and maintain. The most common types of connectivity needed in a data center cabinet are TCP/IP connectivity (usually done via Ethernet), USB or Serial device connectivity (for environmental sensors, door lock status sensors, inexpensive video cameras, etc. and remote keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) connectivity. The system described herein addresses this issue in several different ways. 1. The Net-Zonit Netstrip as described PCT Application Number PCT/US08/57154 which is incorporated herein by reference delivers network and USB/KVM (including the required Protocol Gateway) functionality in one device. 2. The Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip 320 in conjunction with the Protocol Gateway feature of the ZPDU-G2 delivers USB/KVM functionality. The Z-Net (proprietary communications network) functionality of the ZPDU-G2 delivers supplemental limited bandwidth Ethernet and TCP/IP functionality, which is discussed below.

The Net-Zonit Netstrip delivers unified network and USB/KVM connectivity. Any suitable types of network ports, industry standard or proprietary, can be supported. The ports (network, KVM and USB) can be integrated or inserted as needed using plugin modules, which allow the end-user to deploy ports when and where needed in the Netstrip and move them as necessary to insure cable length runs are minimized. In this regard, the illustrated Netstrip 300 (See FIGS. 33A-3C) includes fiber ports 203, Ethernet ports 304 (10, 100, 1000 Base T Modules) and USB ports 306. A KVM module can also be inserted as is shown in FIG. 3C. In addition, the Netstrip 300 includes displays 308 for displaying any desired information to data center personnel as will be discussed below. The Netstrip 300 is dimensioned to be vertically disposed in a rack 310, e.g., in a rear corner area 312 of the rack 310. The Netstrip 300 preferably extends across substantially the full vertical height of the rack 310 to provide ports at all height levels with minimal connecting cable length. The Netstrip 300 can be dimensioned to allow mounting to the rack with standard power strip hardware. In addition, the Netstrip can be provided in two or more sections (similar to the DoubleShot power strip described below) to facilitate mounting in crowded data center environments. In such cases, mating male/female connectors for all communications/power lines can be provided at the section interface(s).

The Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip in conjunction with the ZPDU-G2 (or modular appliance) Protocol Gateway functionality eliminates the need to run parallel data communication cabling systems for USB and KVM functionality. It does so by providing two key types of connectivity that are needed in the equipment cabinet, USB and KVM and eliminates the cable length limitations inherent in those systems. The system described here is a derivative of the NetZonit system that uses the Zonit ZPDU-G2 (or modular appliance) to provide the Protocol Gateway and network connectivity functions. The Zonit Netstrip functions the same as the ZPDU-G2 when performing the Protocol Gateway function for its USB/KVM ports but may have different throughput and uplink speed capacities. Only the ZPDU-G2 is used below in the description of the Protocol Gateway functionality, for purposes of brevity.

The Protocol Gateway provided by the ZPDU-G2 (or Protocol Gateway modular appliance, which will be assumed below in all references to the ZPDU-G2 in this role) is motivated by the desire to reduce cabling volume by eliminating the need for multiple cabling systems as explained above.

The protocol gateway functionality has several features.

1. Universal Serial Bus (USB) Virtual Connectivity Each USB port on a Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip can be connected into a virtual “USB” bus. This bus is defined as a user-selected set of Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip USB ports and/or a set of Net-Zonit USB ports and/a set of Zonit Virtual USB Connectivity ports on computer workstations running this application. These ports are selected via a software interface on an application “Zonit Virtual USB Connectivity Manager” running on the Zonit ZPDU-G2 or a computer workstation or a dedicated Zonit appliance, which have TCP/IP network connectivity between them. The software interface can be done via a command line interface, Web interface or traditional GUI running on a computer workstation. Each Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip USB port is connected to a USB interface device, such as a computer server USB port, a USB thermometer, USB video camera, USB door lock sensor, USB moisture sensor, etc. via a standard USB cable or USB device interface plug. The USB cables can be short since the rack mounted device will be close to the Zonit USB/KVM distribution USB port, reducing cabling clutter. If the device has an integrated USB port, no cable is needed and the device will just plug into a Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip USB port, which provides a useful self-mounting capability. The serial data from a USB port is taken by the ZPDU-G2, encapsulated into a TCP/IP packet, and then routed to all of the other USB ports in the “virtual USB bus” which can be on any other Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip, Net-Zonit, or any computer workstation running a Zonit Virtual USB Connectivity” application. At all the other USB ports on the “Virtual USB Bus” the data from the first USB connected device is de-encapsulated and then directed to the USB port(s) on the bus and/or to a virtual USB port in a connected computer running the “Zonit Virtual USB Connectivity” application. This application takes the incoming TCP/IP data stream, de-encapsulates the original USB data and presents it to the computer application designated to receive the USB data as if it were a local USB connected port. In this way any application or service that can take input from a local USB port can use the “Zonit Virtual USB Connectivity” application to receive it from a remotely Zonit connected USB port.

An important feature of the invention is bandwidth limiting. Based the uplink speed of the Zonit ZPDU-2 or the measured, inferred or user-defined network bandwidth between the two USB endpoints, the speed mode of the USB port or ports on the Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip will be set to be either USB mode 1.1 with a speed of 12 Mb/s or USB mode 2.0 with a speed of 480 Mb/s or USB mode 3.0 with a speed of 4.8 Gb/s. This helps to prevent the USB ports from oversubscribing the uplink capacity of the Zonit ZPDU-G2. The Zonit ZPDU-G2 may also utilize other bandwidth allocation methods to limit the amount of data traffic used by the USB Virtual Connectivity functionality.

2. KVM Functionality The Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip supports a Keyboard, Video and Mouse (KVM) function as follows. The video output of an electronic data processing device can be connected via a KVM adapter to an adjacent USB port (which could be Ethernet or any other suitable data transport mechanism) on the Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip. The video to USB adapter can be used to digitize the analog output (or just input digital data for digital output video) and input it into the allocated USB port. The adapter also extracts the associated keyboard data, and mouse data and routes it via a Zonit Virtual USB Connection according to the user assigned KVM endpoint(s). The USB logic will then take the video data and encapsulate it into a TCP/IP packet, and hand that packet off to the network switch logic. It is then transmitted to the other endpoint(s) of the remote KVM connection. In this manner, the bi-directional data characteristics of KVM connections are managed and routed to the desired endpoints utilizing the USB Virtual Connectivity functionality of the Zonit ZPDU-G2. The connection to the Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip KVM port from the EDP equipment can be done by a special KVM adapter cable. This is common practice. What is unique, is that the KVM video connectivity routing of the KVM connection is done with the USB virtual connectivity function and accomplished by the Zonit ZPDU-G2.

Each KVM port on a Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip can be connected into a virtual KVM connection to other Zonit USB/KVM distribution ports (or Net-Zonit USB/KVM ports), or a dedicated device or computer workstation running the “Zonit Remote KVM Application”. This connection can be and usually is point-to-point or one-to-one-with-shadow-listeners. These virtual KVM connections are defined as a user-selected pairs of Zonit USB/KVM distribution KVM ports (or a Net-Zonit KVM port) plus a set of Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip KVM ports (or Net-Zonit KVM ports) that are in shadow mode and will all receive the video information. These virtual video ports are selected via a software interface on an application “Zonit Virtual Video Connectivity Manager” running on the Net-Zonit or a computer workstation or a dedicated Zonit appliance (like a ZPDU-G2), any two of which have TCP/IP network connectivity between them. The software interface can be done via a command line interface, Web interface or traditional GUI running on a computer workstation. Alternatively, in instances where industry standard PS-2 keyboard and mouse data is not utilized, but rather those functions are transported over the USB interface to the attached computer(s), the keyboard and mouse functionality is handled directly by using a Zonit USB Virtual Bus Connection. This eliminates some complexity in the KVM adapter, and further simplifies the wiring. This connectivity is between a USB port on the EDP device being remotely KVM connected and a dedicated device (ZPDU-G2) or a computer workstation running the “Zonit Remote KVM Application”. This application connects the remote USB port to the keyboard and mouse on the computer workstation in an appropriate manner so that the remote device “sees” the keyboard and mouse as being locally connected and active. It also takes the remote video feed and displays it on the computer workstation in the “Zonit Remote KVM Application” windows by un-encapsulating it from TCP/IP and handing it off to the Zonit application, which displays it. The application allows the user to select any of the remote EDP devices that are remote KVM connected and switch between them. The video for each can be displayed in a separate GUI window and the active GUI window in the application can indicate which remote EDP device is active and will receive keyboard and mouse input. This approach can be extended to multiple computer workstations (or dedicated device) so that multiple users can connect via the remote KVM functionality to the same remote KVM EDP device. Multiple users can be active at once or one can be active and the others in “shadow” mode with no keyboard & mouse input ability. This feature is useful for collaborative work or training A more direct method is to use a “plugboard” approach and use the video and USB connectivity between two Zonit USB/KVM distribution strips (or a Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip and a Net-Zonit) to connect the EDP video and USB ports to a remote keyboard and video monitor. The switching function between EDP devices can be setup by the connected ZPDU-G2 which is controlled by the user via a command line interface or Web interface. The KVM logic in each connected ZPDU-G2 insures that each KVM connected EDP device “senses” a connected virtual monitor, keyboard and mouse when it is not actively connected to the remote actual monitor, keyboard and mouse as needed to insure normal operation. In all cases, since the ZPDU-G2 system has central management responsibility of the various virtual gateway functions, an environment of serial data, PS-2, or USB Keyboard and Mouse Datastreams can be routed appropriately with the attendant video stream associated with each. The end-points do not necessarily have to have the same physical interface as each other. For example, a USB based mouse and keyboard can communicate with a PS-2 host port in the virtual gateway of the ZPDU-G2 environment.

C. Data Center Communication Cabling Issues—Part 2

As described above, the limiting factor in modern data center deployment density is cooling, which was related to the issue of reducing the number of parallel cabling systems that need to be deployed in the data center and especially in the confined space of the equipment cabinet. The NetZonit and Zonit USB/KVM distribution strip were introduced as a method to reduce or eliminate the need for parallel data cabling systems and reduce the required cabling to the shortest lengths possible. We will now introduce the Z-Net method which is focused on the reduction of cabling for TCP/IP connectivity.

The Zonit Z-Net method is used in conjunction with the ZPDU-G2. Z-Net uses commercially available Ethernet over Carrier Current technology, as used in HomePlug®, but uses the ZPDU-G2 to provide a TCP/IP gateway function. This allows any TCP/IP Ethernet device plugged into a HomePlug® 1.0 or HomePlug® AV adapter which is inserted into a Zonit G1 or G2 plug strip to talk to any TCP/IP device that the ZPDU-G2 embedded controller (single board computer or SBC) can talk to. This greatly reduces or eliminates the need to run multiple network cables to the rack for accessory functions such as Ethernet interfaced environmental sensors, video cameras, UPS smart management cards or other data center infrastructure components. The bandwidth provided by the Z-Net system is limited, since the Z-Net system functions like an Ethernet hub (all HomePlug® adapters connected to the plug strips and/or adapters plugged into a single ZPDU-G2 will “hear” the signals on their power wiring, since it is a shared waveguide.

A key point is that each ZPDU-G2 filters out the HomePlug® communication signaling from all attached Zonit plug strips and adapters so that it stops at that ZPDU-G2 and is not transmitted up the A-B power feeds. This stops the HomePlug® signaling from being picked up by another ZPDU-G2 or HomePlug® connected device and limits the Z-net communications domain to only the HomePlug® devices connected to one ZPDU-G2. However, HomePlug® devices can be “chained” together downstream (by plugging one or more plugstrips sequentially together one or more of said plugstrips having one or more HomePlug® devices plugging into them) as needed. On any given set of branch circuits originating from one ZPDU-G2, connected devices can communicate via Z-Net. Limiting the domain of Z-net to one ZPDU-G2 raises the average per device bandwidth available, because without this filtering it would be impractical to use HomePlug® since thousands or tens of thousands of power receptacles are interconnected in a data center power distribution system with all of its branch circuits. This is equivalent to an Ethernet hub with thousands of ports, it just would not scale up and work, there would be too many collisions when all of the ports were trying to talk at the same time. Each ZPDU-G2 provides a TCP/IP gateway for each of its HomePlug® connected devices. The ZPDU-G2 also can act as a TCP/IP firewall for all HomePlug® connected devices if that security functionality is needed.

In this regard, a single transceiver for each power source (e.g., A and B sources) of a ZPDU may be utilized to induce signals in the associated wiring and a single signal canceller or attenuator, as discussed above, may be utilized to substantially prevent transmission of communications to external power lines. This is generally shown in FIG. 6. In particular, FIG. 6 shows a control system 600 for a set of receptacles defining a controlled domain. The receptacles may include a number of receptacle outlets 602 and/or a number of plug strips 604 or adaptors (typical for data center environments) that may be arranged in one or more branch circuits 606.

The receptacles are controlled by a local controller 608, which may be, for example, embodied in a personal computer or in a single board computer incorporated into a PDU of a data center. The local controller uses a transceiver 610 to insert signals into the main 612 and branch circuits 606 for communication to the receptacles and to receive signals from the receptacles. A signal isolation device 614, which may be a signal canceller or a signal attenuator as described above, substantially prevents transmission of these signals to external (outside of the controlled domain) power lines 616. This structure may be replicated for A and B power sources in a data center. It will be appreciated that thus disposing all of the controlled receptacles on a single waveguide (or two waveguides in the case of a data center with A and B power sources) is a cost effective implementation. Communications with separate receptacles can be distinguished by use of an appropriate addressing scheme.

The signal isolation device 614, can be combined with the transceiver 610 as described in the following apparatus. A Pi filter is a device that is used to attenuate electrical signals in a conductor, usually an insulated wire. It contains a transformer core (inductor) and can be designed with additional windings for that transformer core to enable two additional functionalities. i. Current sense capability in the attached conductor ii. Insertion and detection of signaling in the attached conductor for communication purposes (a transceiver using the attached conductor). The design of the additional windings can be done so that the injected communication signaling only is transmitted in one direction down the attached conductor and is attenuated in the other direction by the Pi filter.

D. Data Center Power Distribution Operational Issues

The operational issues a data center or co-location facility faces are many. Once the power whips have been specified and installed, the power requirements of each piece of equipment in each rack must be matched and met. New equipment will arrive over time and be installed and any new power requirements must be satisfied with little or no operational disruption, even if the power requirements are different. Equipment may be relocated in the data center to optimize cooling or meet other constraints such as cable lengths, physical security or ownership. A study by the Uptime Institute measured the change rate at the PDU for 49 Fortune 500 data centers and found that the annual change rate was 12% per year. It is very expensive but required by the traditional methodology to change 12% of the power whips in a data center and it is operationally disruptive.

The Zonit power distribution system was designed to meet the needs of the modern data center with a wide range of installed equipment and high rates of change. Over 90% of all Electronic Data Processing (EDP) equipment in a data center is designed to plug into a 20 A 120V single phase circuit. A more universal way of saying this is that this equipment will never require more than 2400 watts of power and typically will need much less. The remaining 10% of EDP equipment is higher power and typically needs 30-60 A input in 208-240V, in either single, split-phase, or three-phase power. So, ideally a perfect power distribution system is optimized to output power in the types and wattages required by the majority of the equipment but can also easily accommodate the minority of equipment that requires higher power capacity. This is exactly what the Zonit Power Distribution System does.

Changes to the power distribution system are difficult in the traditional approach and have varying degrees of risk. An ideal power distribution system will localize the changes to be made to minimize their risk and impact. It will also enable the changes to be made as easily as possible. Changes in a power distribution environment can be classified as follows:

TABLE 1 Change Difficulty Cost Risk Locality of Change Replace or move highest highest medium Only the whip is normally changed but power whip routing a new whip is difficult and

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