Molex Uninterruptible Power: At the heart of mission-critical continuity in the data center

The data center's thirst for energy is enormous and will only increase as the digital world continues to expand. The good news is that uninterruptible power systems (UPS) keep data centers up and running during power outages, ensuring that critical applications continue to run in our connected world.

Data centers have become the backbone of our new digital economy. Not only do current technologies provide the computing power, storage, and networking resources needed, they also enable many emerging technologies.

With the advent of a new era of interconnected systems with AI large models under the wave of artificial intelligence, the demand for power in next-generation data centers is increasing. New technologies, such as those supporting 224 Gbps-PAM4, will help improve efficiency, and the pace of new and expanded data centers underscores the need for high-quality, reliable power solutions to optimize energy management in data centers - most importantly during outages and surges.

Data center performance can be measured in uptime. After all, downtime is costly and disruptive in terms of time, resulting in lost revenue, reduced productivity, and damaged brand reputation for data center owners and customers who rely on data centers for day-to-day operations. A recent study conducted by the Uptime Institute found that more than 60 percent of unplanned shutdowns cost affected businesses at least $100,000. And the $1 million loss keeps piling up. It's just economic damage. Lives can be put at risk if critical applications fail, such as connected medical devices that rely on the operation of data centers to ensure timely notification of fluctuations in patients' vital signs.

For manufacturers and suppliers of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), a key component of an effective data center battery backup system, there is little room for error. The question now is, how can design engineers cope with these higher loads when UPS is most needed and ensure uptime for critical applications?

Data centers need seamless power conversion

UPS is determined by its topology and comes in three basic types: offline (or passive) backup, line interactive, and online dual conversion, each with the same basic features. In all cases, the UPS utilizes batteries and inverters to power connected systems and devices in the event of failure. The difference is how the battery is charged, how the battery is taken over, and to what extent the UPS maintains or improves power quality.

Online dual-change uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) are preferred in data centers, providing uninterrupted transition to backup power and continuous protection against surges, spikes and power attenuation. Unlike offline backup UPS, which take milliseconds to start in the event of a power outage, and line-interactive UPS, which provide a seamless experience only for low-load applications, online UPS can operate continuously. Mains power first goes into the rectifier, purifies the signal during conversion to direct current (DC), and charges the battery. This is then converted back to alternating current (AC) by the inverter, which is then fed to the connected system. In daily operation, the online UPS ensures a consistent supply quality to protect equipment and power transmission. In the event of a failure, the battery will immediately take over until it is exhausted.

Three-phase online dual-conversion UPS delivers power at 415V instead of single-phase 230V, making this uninterruptable power supply (UPS) more popular for large and mission critical data centers. Although the design of this uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is more complex, it is more reliable, efficient and scalable than single-phase uninterruptible power supply (UPS).