Power Assure®, Inc. has released its latest update to the PAR⁴ Measurement System, an integrated test environment that combines the STARLINE Plug-In Raceway and power monitor meters with the Power Assure measurement system to measure actual idle and peak power consumption of individual IT equipment and IT racks leveraging standardized and patented measurement procedures for accurate, reliable and repeatable results. Integrated with various inventory systems, these measurements can be used to place equipment to the right rack and location in a data center without risk of overloading circuits but maximizing the amount of equipment placed into each rack. Seeing improvements of over 30% in IT capacity for a given data center have validated the need and importance of accurate IT equipment measurements.

When selecting a new generation of server to provision, IT typically uses performance indicators based on processing capacity expressed in transactions per second. However, the energy consumption can differ significantly between equipment with similar performance characteristics and capabilities. Additionally, comparing performance and energy efficiencies between different generations of IT equipment can generate a very appealing ROI for early hardware refresh cycles.

Many data centers operate with standard rack configurations. In these cases, racks are pre-configured and populated with a standard set of servers and other devices to a standard “total rack” design. Therefore data center operators are interested in establishing the power consumption profile of the entire rack. The mobile PAR⁴ Measurement System and the PAR⁴ software have been designed to allow for either a single machine or, by using a double set of parts of the equipment, an entire rack to be PAR⁴ tested.

“Power Assure combined the STARLINE Plug-In Raceway and meter with its own power measurement software to make it easy for data center operators to measure idle and peak power of IT equipment and racks at the time such equipment arrives at the data center,” said Clemens Pfeiffer, CTO, Power Assure. “Our mutual customers will benefit from being able to accurately place equipment in the data center by leveraging the Plug-In Raceway. We can now offer a solution that can be self-adopted to any circuit type from single phase 120V to 3-Phase dual power circuits with various connectors to servers and racks that can be easily changed without the need for electricians.”

Mark Swift, marketing/business development manager for Universal Electric Corporation stated, "This is a great use of both products to deliver an innovative solution for end users. Having the ability to benchmark your IT gear to better understand your power usage is critical in today's data center environment, and this tool provides the means to accomplish this necessary task."