Monitor and manage power to balance loads and prevent downtime before it happens.
While many find themselves continuing to work from home, it is important to ensure that back end infrastructure is as reliable as it can be while working remotely. With limited access to IT assistance, remote workers need to rely on the efficiency of their technology to make sure they stay productive and are able to continue working as easily as they could in the office. When workers experience downtime, it can cause loss of productivity and efficiency, and cause mass inconvenience. Even if the problem is dealt with quickly, this could still lead to falling behind on workloads until the system becomes available again. The best way to ensure that downtime doesn’t interrupt the workday, is to prevent downtime before it happens.
Power Distribution Units (PDUs)
One of the most certain ways to make sure downtime doesn’t occur, is through the use of PDUs. Tripp Lite offer hundreds of single- and 3‐phase PDUs with a variety of price points and features, including remote management of distributed and edge infrastructure. Both the single- and 3-phase PDUs have an extensive offering of power distribution to multiple devices, load balance and overload prevention, remote monitoring and control, amongst other features important for maintaining efficient power distribution and preventing system downtime.
Choosing your PDU
While all of the PDUs can assist with efficient power distribution to prevent downtime, each has its own features that may make it more or less suitable for each individual. Basic PDUs, for example, are dependable, space efficient and cost-effective, and are the easiest way to distribute facility UPS or generator power to multiple rack loads. However, Metered PDUs are especially helpful in preventing downtime, as they can locally monitor load level and avoid potential overloads. This function is also met by the Monitored PDU, which can additionally remotely monitor single- or 3-phase voltage, frequency, and load levels in real-time via a built-in network connection, with a visible meter that can warn of any potential overloads before they happen, and prevent downtime pre-emptively. Switched PDUs can also be especially helpful with maintaining efficient power distribution, as they too allow remote monitoring with a digital meter, as well as granting the ability to connect or disconnect data centre loads, allowing it to help avoid potential overloads and downtime. Similarly, the Automatic Transfer Switch PDU can eliminate equipment downtime by automatically switching to a secondary power source if the primary source fails or requires maintenance. This means that, in an event which may usually result in downtime, the PDU can intercept the problem and provide you a solution that won’t affect productivity or workflow.
Automatically prevent downtime
PDUs are great tools for maintaining efficient power distribution, and monitoring loads to prevent downtime before it can become an issue. However, those PDUs with Tripp Lite’s exclusive Auto Probe feature are granted an additional layer of protection against downtime, and the inconveniences that come with it. The Auto Probe feature allows for automatic detection of lost internet connectivity, by enabling the PDU to communicate with one or more connected device on the same network, using the WEBCARDLX Auto Probe technology. The ping communication response is then consistently monitored by the PDU, allowing it to immediately detect risk of downtime. If, after multiple attempts, the ping communication response cannot be detected, Auto Probe will automatically perform actions to fix the issue, meaning no more manual rebooting connected devices to get back online. Some of the user-configurable actions that the Auto Probe feature can perform include
- Rebooting multiple loads/outlets
- Sending an email
- Sending an SNMP trap
- Performing a control, such as rebooting the network card
- Performing an SNMP v1, v2 and v3 set on a remote device
- Triggering a shutdown of a computer running Tripp Lite’s PowerAlert Network Shutdown Agent (PANSA)
While a PDU on its own can maintain efficient power distribution and prevent downtime, a PDU with Tripp Lite’s exclusive Auto Probe feature can automate this process, saving even more time by automatically monitoring and applying solutions to issues that may arise with connectivity. As well as being more convenient for those working from home, it also saves time, both through automatically solving issues that would otherwise need to be handled manually, and preventing downtime which negatively impacts efficiency and productivity.
Many who are working remotely may find that being away from the office can impact their focus and productivity. And no longer having an in-house IT professional only adds stress to the situation if things go wrong. For this reason, it’s important that the technology necessary to continue working maintains the highest level of efficiency at all times. With PDUs and Tripp Lite’s exclusive Auto Probe feature, remote workers have one less thing to worry about with the knowledge that their power loads are being efficiently balanced, and that risk of downtime is significantly reduced.