Are 3000va units on the way out....

Most people are familiar with Moore's Law, the doubling of computer power roughly every 18 months.  But  "Koomey's Law" may be more relevant to consumers.

Energy consumption for computing is improving just as fast as processing power.    But,  Koomey's Law is that at a fixed computing load, the amount of battery you need will fall by a factor of two every year and a half.

For UPS customers, it means that your typical server will need less and less power to operate.  We allready see that in our business, where new baseline servers sip power at only a fraction of the older cousins.  In the near future, the same server that meets your business's needs today might run on a Iphone or small frame unit using 30 or 40watts.

Random Part of the Month XIII - QWPAEFFICIENCY-MISC

While APC makes most of their money on products... like everyone else they are now expanding aggressively into services.

This product, the QWPAEFFICIENCY-MISC  is actually a ~$3750.00 report based on the physical site survey of your data center.   The report focuses on efficiency and eliminating waste   (I guess paying nearly $4000 isnt waste to them)  Some of the nuggets of value

• Reports efficiency values for the data center.
• Identify the air distribution methodology.
• Provide projected efficiency improvements for each recommendation to facilitate ROI calculations and capital expenditure justification.
• Using the data center one-line diagram, create a list of all measurements required to accurately characterize the power use of the data center infrastructure elements.

Sign up for some of the other APC services here

New Product - the Ferro-resonant UPS.... FerrUPS

Ferro-resonant UPSes are a 3rd type (or topology) of UPS.  Unlike the line interactive or double conversion, ferro-resonant units use a transformer to hold energy long enough for the UPS to transfer to the batteries.

The most common is the FerrUPS.  Branded under Best Power, Powerware and still made by Eaton.  These type of units are very robust and highly sought.  Many times we have have tried to get customers to leave their FerrUPS to no avail.  So we have now started selling a few models.

FerrUPS are best used in industrial applications where the load may spike under certain condition.  Since it continuously 'saturates' the internal transformer these spikes are absorbed without incident.

Look for our Ferrups 10kva later this month.  Unlike some of the other UPSes, these units need quite a bit of work to be refurbished.  DONT BUY A USED ONE!!!   Buy from a trusted supplier like GreenlightUPS

Know UPS - MATERIAL SAFETY DATA SHEET on batteries

Even though UPS units use safe Sealed Lead Acid batteries, they still are filled with dangerous chemicals... How dangerous?  According to the NFPA, Sulfuric Acid has a Hazard Rating of 3/0/2

While that is pretty scary, the reality is that very few formal Control Measures are required since the acid is safely stored in inside the batts.  Read more from the MSDS sheet from Powersonic

But over 65% of the battery is actually lead compounds.  And while sealed in the battery. its safe, lead overexposure is one of the most common overexposures found in industry and is a leading cause of workplace illness.