DC Power Demonstration

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DC Power for Data Centers demonstration
summary
My Ton Ecos Consulting Brian Fortenbery EPRI
Solutions Bill Tschudi Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory
Sponsored by California Energy Commission
(CEC)-Public Interest Energy Research
(PIER), California Institute for Energy
Efficiency (CIEE).
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Overview Phase 1
Rationale for the study
Background on power conversions and their
efficiencies
Demonstration objectives
Industry partners
Configurations
Results
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Thomas Edison
My personal desire would be to prohibit entirely
the use of alternating currents. They are as
unnecessary as they are dangerous. I can
therefore see no justification for the
introduction of a system which has no element of
permanency and every element of danger to life
and property.
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California Energy Commission Public Interest
Energy Research High-tech Buildings Project
Objectives

• Research, develop, and demonstrate, innovative
  energy efficient technologies
• 10-year initiative focusing on high-tech
  industries e.g. data centers
• Help move the market to more efficient
  technologies
• Research and demonstration projects include
  technology transfer

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Why look at Data Centers?

• Data center power use nationally is large and
  growing.
• Two prior studies estimated data center energy
  use
• 2004 EPRI/Ecos estimated 14.8 TWh
• 2000 Arthur D. Little estimated 10.1 TWh
• 0ne terawatthour 1,000,000,000 kilowatthours or
  
• one million megawatthours
• Saving a fraction of this energy is substantial

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Representative Data Center Power Use
50 Power Efficiency
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Source Intel Corp.
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Power to meet a 100 W Computing Load
Load 100W
Total 275W
VR 20W
PSU 50W
Server fans 15W
UPS PDU 20W
Room cooling system 70W
Source Intel Corp.
source Intel Corporation
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DC Demonstration Timeline

• Stakeholders first met Fall 2005
• Kick-off meeting April 2006
• Equipment assembly May 2006
• Initial Team Open House June 7, 2006
• Public Open House events June 21,
• July 12, 26 Aug 9, 16
• End date August 16, 2006

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Industry Partners Made it Happen
Equipment and Services Contributors

• Alindeska Electrical Contractors
• APC
• Baldwin Technologies
• Cisco Systems
• Cupertino Electric
• Dranetz-BMI
• Emerson Network Power
• Industrial Network Manufacturing (IEM)

• Intel
• Nextek Power Systems
• Pentadyne
• Rosendin Electric
• SatCon Power Systems
• Square D/Schneider Electric
• Sun Microsystems
• UNIVERSAL Electric Corp.

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Other Partners Collaborated
Stakeholders

• Morrison Hershfield Corporation
• NTT Facilities
• RTKL
• SBC Global
• TDI Power
• Verizon Wireless

• 380voltsdc.com
• CCG Facility Integration
• Cingular Wireless
• Dupont Fabros
• EDG2, Inc.
• EYP Mission Critical
• Gannett
• Hewlett Packard

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Data Center Power Use

• Data center power use nationally is large and
  growing.
• Two studies estimated data center energy use
• 2004 EPRI/Ecos estimated 14.8 TWh
• 2000 Arthur D. Little estimated 10.1 TWh
• 0ne terawatthour 1,000,000,000 kilowatthours or
  
• one million megawatthours
• Saving a fraction of this energy is substantial

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• This demonstration focused on reducing power
  delivery and conversion losses observed in our
  prior work

Power Supplies in IT equipment
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS)
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UPS and Power Supply efficiency

• We observed a wide range of performance from the
  worst to the best
• Our original goal was to move the market to the
  higher performing systems
• Incentive programs, labeling, education programs
  were all options and still are

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Data Center Power Delivery System
DC/DC 78 - 85
Power Dist 98 - 99
UPS 88 - 92
Power Supply 68 - 72
The heat generated from the losses at each step
of power conversion requires additional cooling
power
HVAC Power for cooling can equal or exceed the
direct losses
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The questions we were addressing
Could some of the conversion steps be eliminated
to improve efficiency? Could a demonstration be
devised to measure actual savings?
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DC Demonstration - Objectives
The demonstrations original objectives were to
show a rack level solution

• DC powered server equipment exists in the same
  form factor or can readily be built from existing
  components
• DC powered server equipment can provide the same
  level of functionality and computing performance
  when compared to similarly configured and
  operating AC server equipment
• Efficiency gains from the elimination of multiple
  conversion steps can be measured by comparing
  traditional AC delivery to a DC system
• DC system reliability could be as good or better
  than AC system reliability

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The project team soon defined additional
objectives

• Demonstration of 380 V. DC distribution at the
  facility level compared to conventional AC
  systems
• Demonstration of other DC solutions (48 volt
  systems)
• Evaluation of safety considerations
• Demonstrate ability to connect alternative energy
  solutions (PV, fuel cells, etc.)

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What the demonstration included

• Side-by-side comparison of traditional AC system
  with new DC system
• Facility level distribution
• Rack level distribution
• Power measurements at conversion points
• Servers modified to accept 380 V. DC
• Artificial loads to more fully simulate data
  center

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Additional items included

• Racks distributing 48 volts to illustrate that
  other DC solutions are available, however no
  energy monitoring was provided for this
  configuration
• DC lighting was included!

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Typical AC Distribution Today
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Facility-Level DC Distribution
380V.DC
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Rack-Level DC Distribution
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Demonstration Layout
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Details

• Safety was reviewed by a committee of the
  partners. No significant issues were identified.
  Only concern was whether fault currents would be
  large enough to trip protective devices. Final
  report will address safety and applicable codes
  and standards
• All distribution equipment is UL rated for DC
  applications

• No standard connector has been agreed upon
  for the server DC connection
• With widespread adoption, reliability should be
  improved fewer potential points of failure.
  Eliminating heat sources should help.

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Measured Results

• Facility level overall efficiency improvement
• 10 to 20
• Smaller rack level overall efficiency improvement
  but other benefits include
• Thermal benefits
• Smaller power supply in server
• Transition strategy for existing centers

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AC system loss compared to DC
9 measured improvement
2-5 measured improvement
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Implications could be even better for a typical
data center

• Redundant UPS and server power supplies operate
  at reduced efficiency
• Cooling loads would be reduced.
• Both UPS systems used in the AC base case were
  best in class sytems and performed better than
  benchmarked systems efficiency gains compared
  to typical systems could be higher.
• Further optimization of conversion
  devices/voltages is possible

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Data Center Power Delivery System
XFMR 98 - NA
UPS 87 - 92
Power Supply 90 - 92
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Data Center Power Delivery System
Power Dist 98 - NA
UPS 85 - 92
Power Supply 73 - 92
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Results

• What does 15 increase in efficiency mean
• to the electrical power grid?

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DC Power - next steps

• DC power pilot installation(s)
• Standardize distribution voltage
• Standardize DC connector and power strip design
• Server manufacturers develop power supply
  specifications
• Power supply manufacturers develop prototypes
• UL and communications certification
• Address other types of IT equipment (storage,
  switches, etc.)

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Follow progress on DC power in data centers
on-line

• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• websites for more information
• http//hightech.lbl.gov/
• http//hightech.lbl.gov/dc-powering/

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Additional Information

• Project Coordination Contacts
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Bill Tschudi, Principal Investigator
• wftschudi_at_lbl.gov
• Ecos Consulting
• My Ton
• mton_at_ecosconsulting.com
• EPRI Solutions
• Brian Fortenbery
• bfortenbery_at_eprisolutions.com