Uninterruptible Power Supplies: Distributed vs Centralized?

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Uninterruptible Power Supplies: Distributed vs Centralized?

Electrical Construction and Maintenance
Shaw n Sm ith
Sun, 1998-03-01 12:00

Ifyou base your answ er to this question on a thorough analysis,you could avoid a m ajor blunder as w ell
as unplanned equipm entdow ntim e.

W hich is a better strategy for your U ninterruptible Pow er Supply (U PS)system :centralized or
distributed? To find outw hat's bestfor you and your application,you should do a thorough analysis.
First,you have to know w hatinform ation is im portantto thatanalysis,and how bestto com pare that
inform ation againstboth your needs and constraints.For exam ple,in evaluating the purchase price,do
you look atthe long listofvariables thatconstitute life cycle costs?

In com paring these tw o strategies,be carefulnotto oversim plify.To m ake an intelligentdecision,you

m ustunderstand exactly w hatyou w antyour U PS system to do and how large thatsystem is going to be.

To protectyour equipm entefficiently and com pletely,consider these issues:* Load requirem ents * Life
cycle cost* Pow er conditioning and distance * System m anagem ent* Fire protection * M aintenance *
Service contracts and * Advantages/disadvantages ofcentralized/decentralized system s

H ow do you determ ine how m uch pow er your equipm entrequires? O ne com m on m ethod is to base load
requirem ents on individualequipm entload ratings.A silver labelnextto the inputcord ofm ost
com puters show s how m uch currentthe equipm entcan draw .For various reasons (i.e.,vendors oversize
com puter pow er supplies),this m ethod leads you to oversize the U PS.

Specifiers often oversize U PS system s because it's difficultto m easure proposed loads.Further,they seek
additionalrun tim e and try to provide for future loads.These are notbad reasons for oversizing,but
som etim es specifiers oversize to a detrim entalextent.Consider thata U PS runs m ostefficiently ator
near its rated capacity.So,as your load drops aw ay from the rated capacity ofthe U PS,its efficiency also
drops.The relationship is notlinear;the drop is inconsequentialw hen the load is near the rated
capacity.H ow ever,ifthe load is far below the rated capacity,then so w illbe the U PS's efficiency.A large
discrepancy can resultin lifetim e costs,in w asted electricity alone,thatexceed the U PS's purchase price.

Another com m on m ethod is to m easure various currentdraw s physically.You probably w on'taccount

for inrush current(tw o to three tim es the operating load),as it's notlikely to existw hen you take
m easurem ents.Sw itching loads on and offis generally nota good idea.This m ethod doesn'tallow for
expansion or upgrades.Itleads you to undersize the U PS.

There are tw o variations ofundersizing.The firstis w here the U PS is too sm allfor the load.This can be
disastrous as itcan delay bringing your system s on-line.This m ay lose your com pany business and cost

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you your job.Consultallparties w ho m ay possibly w antU PS coverage,and gettheir w ritten requests

broken dow n into prioritization categories (essential,preferred,non-essential)or rated on a num erical
scale ofim portance (1 through 10).A num ericalscale allow s you to w eightthe various loads in a
spreadsheetand develop a m enu ofpossible load ranges to accom m odate-a budgeting advantage.Those
w ho depend on you to specify the U PS m ay see their ow n needs as m ore criticalthan they actually are,
butyou m ustaccom m odate their perceptions.

The second variation ofundersizing is w here the U PS is too sm allfor future expansion or upgrades.
D on'tsize a centralized U PS exactly to fityour currentload unless you're absolutely certain your load
w on'tincrease.Your bestbetis to calla m eeting w ith every affected party and explain the costofadding
capacity in the future as opposed to adding itnow .H ave a detailed accountofthatcost,including any
structural(or other)upgrades,labor,and transaction costs you'llincur to installthe added capacity.
O nce you have firm com m itm ents ofno load increases,add in a safety factor and consider the nextlarger
U PS.This w illhelp protectyou from calculation errors and the ravages oftim e on the equipm entunder
protection.This w illalso ensure that,as the batteries age,they w illstillprovide atleastthe m inim um
required backup tim e.To determ ine how m uch ofa safety factor to add in,you should contactvendors
and discuss your particular needs and their equipm ent.

To determ ine life cycle costs,you should consider the follow ing:* Initialpurchase price (w ith desired
options)* Shipping costand * Service/m aintenance costs

Be carefulhow you determ ine the initialpurchase price.Som e available options are unnecessary,but
others w illpreventa calam ity thatm ay drive your com pany outofbusiness.N otallvendors offer the
sam e features,so look in-depth atw hat's outthere.Frequently,U PS m anufacturers introduce new
features thatenhance the reliability,m anageability,and scalability oftheir products.

Evaluate each feature on its ow n m erits.Ifyou find itw orthw hile,add itto your listofdesired features.
Then,prioritize the item s on your list.Keep the listaccurate and inform ative to m axim ize its value.O nce
you've specified w hich features you need in your U PS,then com pare other m akes w ith those features.In
other w ords,com pare apples to apples.

D on'tletshipping costbe a m ajor em barrassm ent.Be sure to ask aboutdelivery tim es.Ifyou're ordering
a custom -designed U PS,m ake sure to check into the com pany's record ofon-tim e deliveries.Find out
how m uch you'llpay per pound and totalcostofshipping.Suspectany supplier that's m uch higher or
low er than others.

Evaluate w arranty program s carefully.Som e m anufacturers offer pro-rated and extended w arranties for
little or no additionalcost.Som e w arranties contain exclusions and clauses thatm ake them a poor deal
for you.Som e exclude batteries,and som e even charge for som e types ofrepair w hile the U PS is stillin
w arranty.

Installation costs can becom e significant,ifyou constructspecialroom s and supportsystem s.

Installation costs are alm ostnegligible for decentralized U PS system s.You should develop a detailed
estim ate ofthese costs before com paring overallcosts.Ifyou find the costs w ork againstthe philosophy
you had in m ind,try calculating costs for a hybrid system .You can installm idrange U PSs thatprotect
groups ofequipm ent.So,instead ofa truly centralized system serving an entire building or a separate
U PS for each piece ofequipm ent,you m ay be better offw ith a sm aller U PS in an equipm entroom on
each floor.This w illcutpow er losses due to w ire length from the U PS.You can take this even further and

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divide thatfloor into nodes,circuits,or other groupings to m inim ize the distance over w hich you m ust
distribute your expensive conditioned pow er.

Service/m aintenance costs are difficultto calculate and can be the m ostexpensive.Consider the costs of
the follow ing.* Service contract(large U PS)* Spare unit(s)(distributed U PS)* Inputand outputpow er
connectors * O versizing for future expansion * Battery replacem ent* Installation,ifpartofservice
contract.(See previous discussion.)

And don'tforgetto check w ith the U PS vendors aboutbattery exchange program s.You run a sealed
battery for,say,three years.Atthe end ofthatthree years,your vendor sends you a replacem ent
package.You send your old battery back.They give you creditfor your old battery and billyou ata
reduced price for the new one.These arrangem ents are typically a w in-w in situation for allparties.

There are tw o m ain controllable variables w hen itcom es to operation costs:* Personneltraining/staffing
and * Pow er distribution costs (efficiency losses)

Personneltraining and staffing costs depend on the com plexity ofthe U PS system and w hether you have
a service contract.Ifyour system has a backup generator,chances are you already have a trained
m aintenance staff.A U PS battery room w ould be justone m ore item to add to its listofresponsibilities
and w ould nothave a significanteffecton labor costs.H ow ever,the staffw ould need specialized
training,both for battery safety and the m aintenancesteps involved.Poor battery m aintenance practices
can defeatthe purpose ofhaving a U PS.O n the other hand,you m ay avoid specialized training (and/or
som e service contracts)ifcertain battery technologies w illw ork for you.You m ay,for exam ple,be able to
extend battery replacem entintervals to tw o decades:this w ould reduce m aintenance to m ostly routine
inspections.

Pow er distribution costs are a function ofyour distribution voltages.As the voltage goes up,the current
goes dow n for the sam e kW /kVA load.The low er the current,the sm aller the voltage drop.Three-phase
distribution is far m ore efficientthan single phase.D istribute atthe higher voltages and three-phase
w henever possible.W hen you distribute conditioned pow er,your losses are m ore expensive than for
ordinary pow er,so you further m axim ize efficiency as you m inim ize distribution ofconditioned pow er.

Essentially,you can affectpow er quality only after the pow er enters your property.A centralized U PS
has ram ifications related to the distance betw een itand the protected equipm ent.A decentralized U PS
has ram ifications related to m aintenance,control,and fire safety.

Pow er conditioning and centralized U PSs:As the distance betw een the U PS and protected equipm ent
increases,the chances ofa pow er problem on the AC line increases.Therefore,a U PS's effectiveness
tends to decrease as the distance to the application increases.This isn'ta problem ,ifyou can ensure the
environm entthrough w hich the outputAC m usttravelw on'tinduce noise into the clean pow er.W hile
notim possible,creation ofsuch an environm entis a form idable,and often expensive,task.

Pow er conditioning and decentralized U PSs:The distance betw een a decentralized U PS and the
protected equipm entis usually the sam e as the pow er cord's length (i.e.,6 ft).Consequently,the chances
ofpow er problem s injecting into the AC lines betw een the U PS and application are m inuscule.

Advances in netw ork m anagem entsystem s now allow you to m anage distributed pow er protection
system s from a single m anagem entstation.This station can be the sam e one thatm anages the other
netw ork com ponents.This netw ork controlis im portantbecause hundreds ofU PSs in a decentralized

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environm entcan be a logisticaland m anagerialheadache.Ifyou can'tcontrolyour U PS(s)from a central

location,consider a hybrid system or centralized U PS.Ifthe U PS itselfprevents netw orking,consider
replacing itw ith a differentm odel.

For fire protection,the N EC (in Secs.645-10 and -11)requires com puter room s to have speciallabeling
and a m eans ofdisconnecting the U PS system s from their loads-from the principalexitdoors.

W hataboutdistributed U PSs thataren'tin a com puter room ? Sec.645-11,Exception 2,specifically

excludes U PSs rated under 750 VA.M ostindividualunits for w orkstations are w ellunder this lim it.
You'llfind further inform ation under Sec.645-11,Exception 2 and under Art.685,Integrated Electrical
System s.

G enerally,distributed U PS system s do notrequire specialattention for fire protection.It's a good design

practice,how ever,to review your proposed system w ith the localauthority having jurisdiction (AH J)and
w ith the technicalliaison ofyour fire departm ent.

Every U PS w illeventually failw ithoutm aintenance,and som e m aintenance requires dow ntim e.You
m usthave a plan thatw illm inim ize the im pactofU PS dow ntim e on the users.Consider the follow ing.

* Advance notification system s:Som e U PS system s periodically testthe battery system and w arn the
user ifbattery condition is poor or failure is im m inent.They allow for scheduled m aintenance,thus
allow ing users to w ork around system dow ntim e.

* O ff-line capability:Som e U PS system s can go off-line for m aintenance,repair,or replacem entw ithout
interrupting the load.This capability is essentialw hen there are no "after hours" situations.

* Service contract:Your system configuration m ay require you to engage a service contract.The service
provider norm ally guarantees a m axim um service response tim e.D eterm ine w hat"response" m eans and
exactly w hatthe contractguarantees.For exam ple,w illthe service technician sim ply bypass the U PS,or
w illhe or she m ake every reasonable attem ptto restore itto fulloperation as soon as possible? W hatis
the ratio oftrained service people to installed base? W hatfactors affectyou due to your geographical
area or particular configuration? W hatfactors could overload the service system justw hen you need it
m ost;as in the case ofvery bad w eather? Your contractshould provide a financialpenalty to the provider
for perform ance failure.

Failure m inim ization:That's the cornerstone ofthe centralized/decentralized debate.In other w ords,
you can either putallyour eggs in one basket(centralized U PS)or you can diversify (decentralized U PS).
H aving allyour eggs in one basketisn'tnecessarily a bad idea,as long as you w atch thatbasket.You can
have a backup U PS,so your totalU PS installation 5 n32.The other option,diversification,m eans your
totalU PS installation 5 n12 (or 1,or w hatever num ber you deem is sufficientbackup).

Im m ediate business concerns m ay force you to run equipm entw hether your U PS is w orking or not.You
can reduce or elim inate risk w ith a redundantU PS thatbacks up the firstunit,or w ith a m odular U PS
thathas user-replaceable m odules (w hich you keep onsite).For distributed U PS system s,you can either
size the units such thatneighboring units have enough capacity to assum e the load ofthe failed unitor
keep spare units onsite.Spare units need notgo to w aste,butcould be used on w orkstations untilcalled
into service,or sim ply rotated in and outofservice on a m onthly or quarterly basis.

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So,w hat's your bestchoice? Thatdepends.You have to w eigh the advantages and disadvantages ofeach
strategy.For centralized U PS system s,the m ain advantage ofcentralizing your U PS to a single location is
thatby doing so,you also isolate allyour m aintenance,repair,replacem ent,and security to thatsam e
single point.The m ain disadvantages to a single location are the distribution-related pow er-quality
problem s,the higher costofoperation,and (in m ostcases)installation.

For decentralizing your U PS across m ultiple locations,the m ain advantages are the lack ofpow er
distribution-related pow er quality problem s and a cure to single-pointfailure.The m ain disadvantages
are the added m anagerialcom plexity and a possible decrease in security.

You can centralize individual-equipm ent-sized U PS to one location (group sm allones together),butyou
cannotdecentralize a w hole-building-sized U PS (break a big one into sm aller pieces)across individual
equipm ent.W hichever approach you choose,the capitalinvolved m eans you m ustm ake your decision
carefully after proper analysis.

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