In this post, a continuation of an ongoing blog series about colocation power, we will be taking a look at electric utility grids/substations. Keep in mind that this is not meant to be a comprehensive discussion but rather a starting point and high level overview of things to consider in regard to grids/substations and colocation. When searching for a colocation provider, or when verifying that your current provider meets your needs, ask the data center or colocation provider what the makeup is for its power grids. A grid serves a specific geographical area and is a network of all the elements, such as power lines and transformers that are necessary to distribute power to a particular area. Some facilities will only be on one power grid whereas some will have the luxury of dual power grids (some even more). This means that if one side of the grid were to fail for any reason, the second could potentially supply power adding an extra level of redundancy.

If a facility does have dual power grids, I recommend making sure it has an automatic transfer switch (ATS), which will automatically switch from grid one to grid two without manual intervention. Speaking of ATSs, make sure there is also an ATS between the utility power and backup power infrastructure. In fact, be sure to ask to see the generator servicing your equipment. Believe it or not, we are aware of unscrupulous data center operators who claim to have generator support when they in fact do not. We will discuss generator support more in a later post. Another item I recommend checking into is whether the transmission lines between the power plant and substation as well as the substation and colocation facility are underground. I won’t go so far as to say it should be a requirement to have underground transmission lines, but I do think it is a competitive advantage if you are comparing facilities that otherwise appear equal.

Related posts:

1. POWER IN A COLOCATION ENVIRONMENT
2. Kansas City Data Center & Internet Hub Co-Owner Featured on Processor.com About Reliable Power
3. Kansas City Data Center & Internet Hub Addresses Importance of Reliable Electric Utilities

When selecting a colocation provider, many believe that power is one of the most important considerations. Reliable and cost-effective power is imperative to an economically and technically viable data center, as nearly everything in a data center relies on it. It impacts data equipment such as routers, switches and servers. Power also affects supporting infrastructure including everything from lighting to cooling units. Furthermore, power constitutes a considerable portion of the colocation charges incurred by customers. Selecting a facility with not only reliable but competitively priced power is important in order to decrease your organization’s operating expenses. I discussed this in my previous blog post on Aug. 18th and have decided to expand on power in a series of blog posts due to its importance in a colocation environment.

There are many physical components that make up a data center’s power infrastructure. Knowing what these are will help you understand what quality data centers do differently than others who cut corners. The components that I will discuss in the blog series include: the utility company that provides power to the data center, utility grids/substations, uninterruptable power supplies (UPSs), floor level power distribution units (PDUs), cabinet level PDUs (sometimes referred to as power strips) and backup generators. For today’s blog post I am going to cover the electric utility company.

Utility Company
Power is usually supplied to a data center by a large utility company. Different utility companies are more reliable than others and you should take their history of power outages into consideration when choosing your colocation provider. Some areas of the country are simply more prone to events such as brownouts or blackouts due to the age and capacity of the existing power generation and distribution infrastructure. For example, the blackout of 2003 devastated much of the Northeast United States, causing billions of dollars of losses to businesses. While Kansas City has very reliable infrastructure and one of the most reliable utility companies (Kansas City Power & Light) in the country, not all markets are as fortunate. Several areas experiencing explosive population growth and density or those that have recently experienced a high level of increasing demand (i.e. new data centers) that are fed by old or strained infrastructure may be more prone to brownouts or blackouts. This is important to know if you are in a mission critical environment and are considering a data center powered by that utility company. To research the utility company, we suggest contacting the Public Utility Commission and asking for disclosers on the company to learn the frequency and instances of power loss.

Related posts:

1. Electric Utility Grids/Substations
2. Kansas City Data Center & Internet Hub Co-Owner Featured on Processor.com About Reliable Power
3. Kansas City Data Center & Internet Hub Addresses Importance of Reliable Electric Utilities

I came across this article on CNN the other day about power blackouts increasing at an alarming rate. When you are in the data center business, that is not a comforting thought, unless of course your role in the industry is selling generators. As data centers continue to grow, demand more power, and increase strain on electric utilities, some data centers (and their customers as well) are likely to be facing uneasy times. When deciding where to build data centers, it is easy to focus primarily on price. If you are going to be utilizing a lot of power, a low cost per kilowatt hour (kWh) rate is important to the bottom line. At the same time, it is important not to focus exclusively on cost. Instead, it is important to balance risk tolerance with economics and match electric utility costs with both reliability and the ability to scale for future demand.

Organizations that do not build data centers and instead opt for colocation are not off the hook with regard to this either. These are essentially pass through criteria to customers of data centers and can have a profound impact on a company’s uptime, growth, and operational expenses. Fortunately, 1102 GRAND is fortunate enough to have Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) as our electric utility. Not only do they provide competitive rates, but we also have a low risk of black outs thanks to efficient and well designed energy delivery infrastructure systems. In fact, KCP&L is routinely named the most reliable electric utility in the region, and in 2008 they were even named the most reliable electric utility in the nation. Not all data centers can boast that they are fed by such a reliable and cost effective electric utility, and for that we are certainly thankful.

U.S. electricity blackouts skyrocketing

Related posts:

1. Kansas City Data Center & Internet Hub Co-Owner Featured on Processor.com About Reliable Power
2. POWER IN A COLOCATION ENVIRONMENT
3. Electric Utility Grids/Substations