Raritan's remote power solutions simplify access and control of your data center's power resources. Our technology also enables IT administrators and facilities managers to improve systems uptime and staff productivity, make smarter capacity planning decisions, and efficiently utilize energy to save power and money. 

Rack Power Management Software

Our software, through a single Web interface, simplifies management of and data collection for multiple rack PDUs, to help managers improve data center availability, enhance capacity planning and improve energy efficiency. It also provides for accurate outlet group-, rack-, branch circuit- and data center-level power, temperature and humidity monitoring as well as remote outlet switching.

Five top reasons to buy our Power Management Software:

• Trusted solution provider in 50,000 data centers worldwide
• Leading-edge technology – IT device metering, outlet control and reporting 
• Informed capacity planning 
  • Find devices taking space drawing idle or no power
  • Measure actual peak current and compare to branch circuit capacity
  • Perform trend analysis based on actual peak and average data
  • Enforce change control with per outlet power provisioning
• Energy efficiency 
  • Deploy new devices in cool spots
  • Baseline your energy usage by IT device
  • Track improvements of energy saving initiatives
• VMware® Virtual Applicance uses no rack space, uses less power and can be deployed quickly

Rack Power Distribution Units

Our power distribution units (PDUs) provide Data Center Managers with the knowledge and control they need to improve operational productivity and power efficiency. PDUs are mounted in an IT equipment rack and provide electrical power to various IT devices such as servers, routers, firewalls, etc. Today, PDUs come in a number of configurations that help you manage power in the data center.

Five top reasons to buy our intelligent rack PDUs:

• Improve uptime and staff productivity
  • Monitoring power at a PDU level, with user settable thresholds and alerting via e-mail or SNMP, provides awareness of potential issues before they occur. 
  • Remote reboot of servers and IT equipment from anywhere in the world via a Web browser to improve uptime and productivity.
• Efficiently utilize power resources
  • User configurable outlet-level delays for power sequencing prevent circuits from tripping from IT equipment in-rush currents.
  • Keeping outlets off and provisioning outlets only when needed prevents IT equipment from being plugged in to circuits that are already heavily loaded and are at risk of tripping circuit breakers.
• Make informed capacity planning decisions
  • Outlet-level monitoring may identify some simple rearrangements of IT equipment to balance power demands across racks.
  • With PDU-level monitoring it is easy to set thresholds so you know when you’re getting close to circuit limits. With outlet-level monitoring you can identify the equipment that needs to be changed to stay within the margin of safety.
  • Temperature sensing and environmental profiles are important when a data center is rearranged, which can lead to counterintuitive changes in temperature. Our PDUs can help ensure proper air flow patterns to optimize rack level temperature efficiency.
• Save power and money
  • By using outlet-level power monitoring combined with trend analysis, individual servers can be monitored and those that constantly run at 30% of peak power are candidates for virtualization or decommissioning.
  • Remote power cycling saves money as IT managers can quickly reboot hung or crashed servers and IT equipment without having to incur the cost of site visits.
• Take a step towards becoming a more green data center
  • A common data center mistake is overcooling IT equipment. While it is true that excess heat can shorten the life of IT equipment or even cause it to fail, excessive cooling does not prolong equipment life and is wasteful of energy. Temperature and humidity sensors help data center managers optimize their air conditioning and humidification settings and improve efficiency.

Types of rack PDUs

• Intelligent PDUs
  • Summary: An intelligent rack PDU can be controlled remotely via a Web browser or command line interface (CLI). It meters power at both the PDU level and the individual outlet level; supports alerts based on user-defined thresholds; provides security in the form of strong passwords, authentication, authorization and encryption; and incorporates rich environmental management capabilities. Models should also be highly customizable, support the industry’s latest standards-based techniques like SNMP TRAPs/SETs/GETs, IPMI and SMASH CLP, and integrate seamlessly to existing corporate infrastructures like LDAP, Active Directory®, RADIUS and NFS servers. 
  • Pros: State-of-the-art devices, they are remotely accessible via Web browser or CLI. Models include all the features of switched devices (remote power on/off capabilities, outlet-level switching and sequential power-up), plus offer real-time environmental data, standards-based management, integration with existing directory servers, enhanced security and rich customization.
  • Cons: Higher cost relative to basic and metered PDUs due to their greatly enhanced feature set.
    Click here to learn more about our Intelligent PDUs
    
    
• Metered PDUs
  • Summary: Metered rack devices typically meter the power draw, i.e., current, at the PDU level, and display it locally. A few sophisticated models have user-defined alarming capabilities and the ability to remotely access PDU-level metering data over a serial or network port. 
  • Pros: Provide real-time monitoring of PDU current draw. In some cases user-defined alarms alert IT staff of potential circuit overloads before they occur.
  • Cons: Most only provide information locally and do not offer critical environmental data or outlet-level monitoring or switching
    Click here to learn more about our Metered PDUs
    

• Switched PDUs
  • Summary: Switched PDUs provide controlled on/off switching of individual outlets and load metering (see metered PDUs above) at the PDU level. They typically allow users to power recycle devices remotely and apply delay for power sequencing and provide some outlet use management.
  • Pros: Remote power on/off capabilities, outlet-level switching and sequential power-up.
  • Cons: Lack temperature and humidity monitoring. The information provided and functions supported are limited.
    Click here to learn more about our Switched PDUs
    

• Basic PDUs
  • Summary: Basic PDUs are power strips that are constructed out of high-quality components for use in critical environments. They generally support distributing correct voltage and current to several outlets. 
  • Pros: Basic, affordable, proven technology.
  • Cons: Lack instrumentation and are not manageable on any level

Features	Intelligent (PX)	Switched (RPC)	Raritan PM
Power Metering	Outlet, PDU		PDU
Outlet Switching	√	√
Outlet Mapping to KVM	√	√
Environmental Monitoring (e.g. temperature, humidity)	√
User Management (e.g. permission, Active Directory®)	√
Thresholds and Alerts	√		√
SNMP	√		√
Web Browser	√		√
Remote Access	Serial, Ethernet	Serial	Ethernet

Ready to learn more?

• Read more about the myths and realities of power measurement. Request our new white paper on power usage in your data center
• Read more about the role of intelligent power management in IT build outs, consolidations and acquisitions. Request our latest white paper on Data Center Transformations
• Read our white paper on Fuses vs. Circuit Breakers
• Take an Instant Test Drive of the Dominion PX now
• Contact us for more information

Intelligent Power Management

Raritan's Dominion PX intelligent rack power management solutions are secure, reliable rack PDUs that help improve uptime, capacity planning and power use efficiency.