Criteria for emerging telecom and data center powering architectures

Against a global backdrop of green energy initiatives, competitive pressures on Telcos and the changing communications landscape the convergence of telecoms and data centers continues unabated. In Australia the National Broadband Network project is bringing unprecedented change to telecommunications. Brought on by increasingly obscure differences in telecommunications and the Internet, mission critical power is now poised for a major transformation. In recent years a higher voltage DC (380V) has been pursued as an adjunct to the long-established and reliable -48V work horse. By contrast data centers are almost universally powered by AC UPS. The latter have come under considerable criticism against claims of inefficiency due to multiple conversion stages and lower reliability. The industry has responded with a dizzying array of new technology high-efficiency alternatives. Among the contenders vying for succession include a range of rotary, battery-less flywheel alternatives which are gaining popularity in large power applications. Are these alternative technologies capable of delivering the traditionally high reliability levels to mission critical assets? Also, with batteryless solutions being adopted which use less than a minute of energy storage, increasingly the need for traditional long battery reserves is under scrutiny.