When large chunks of Manhattan were in darkness a month ago after Hurricane Sandy ripped along the East Coast of America and took out electricity suppliers, New York’s data centre community took a direct hit.

At least eight New York data centres struggled with connectivity and service issues and flooding submerged and destroyed diesel pumps, preventing fuel from being pumped to back-up generators. Some large organisations, including the Huffington Post, went offline and the New York Stock Exchange shut down for a number of days.

Around 650,000 householders and businesses in NYC and Westchester County were without power. Many New York and New Jersey data centres (those that were not flooded and able to run on generators) were still running on generator power several days later, which in itself brought problems in replenishing fuel supplies as delivery lorries could not get through the floods.

Criticism has been levelled at failure to implement back-up power supplies properly so that back-up generator switchover is successful. Many data centres have generators located on higher levels than fuel storage and pumps, which means that although the generators themselves were not flooded, fuel lines were. In one case, crews of staff had to carry diesel fuel in buckets up 17 floors!

Rather than pointing the finger of blame, it’s better to look at what lessons can be learnt from this. There are some disasters that just can’t be imagined and therefore cannot be prevented, which is why data centre emergency planning is as important as having power protection UPS (uninterruptible power supplies) and emergency standby generators onsite –preferably somewhere that won’t flood but that’s not always possible in built up, coastal cities. Beyond that, for data centres, it’s a case of having back-up locations as part of your emergency response plan.

They say that disaster brings out the best in people and it’s refreshing to see that kindness does exist. Michigan company Waveform Technology allowed companies affected by the storm to install their servers on its colocation floor and keep them there for two months – free of charge!

When looking to install back-up standby power generation, it’s important to talk to your supplier, such as Riello UPS, about emergency response. The company is one of the most experienced in the business and offers more than just the hardware.

Hurricane Sandy, which struck the East coast of America last month, brought many city hospitals to their knees when it caused flooding that took out several major power plants. Operations were cancelled and patients evacuated to other hospitals as onsite, emergency back-up generators failed to start.

It’s been suggested, however, that the issue of onsite generators not starting is not due to technological fault but down to procedural failing. Hospitals are not taking what the Americans call ‘preparedness’ and what we call ‘business continuity’ measures.

Basically, hospitals are not testing their generators experts say.

On site standby generators are supposed to be tested monthly, at least, for no less than 30 minutes under load conditions but at many sites that just doesn’t get done. So, when something happens and mains power is lost, people are left scratching their heads in disbelief that the generator does not work.

In my experience, there are countless generators sitting idle that are not tested from one year to the next. It is standard practice for newly installed standby generators to undergo a load test during commissioning. This proves the performance of the generator and all its ancillary equipment – exhaust system, cooling, switchgear and power protection.

Standby generators are meant to sit idle but they need to be tested and serviced regularly to ensure they can be relied upon when needed and that they are, in actual fact, on ‘standby’.

If you want to know more about where to source quality standby generators and emergency gensets, visit Riello UPS – the power protection specialists based in Wrexham, North Wales. They’ve a complete range of Elcos generators up to 3MVA in size and all the ancillary products.

As technology converges to Power over Ethernet (PoE) and VoIP, there is a far greater need for power filtering, conditioning and surge protection, which you typically get from UPS installation.  

As an enterprise technology, Ethernet has resided inside a building where it only has to contend with minor surge-related issues like cable discharge and disconnect events. PoE expands use of the technology and takes it outside to security cameras, WiFi access points, or fiber-to-the-home. Suddenly it becomes more prone to lightning and other, more serious, surge-related issues. In emerging countries like China, Russia, or India, were power is not as tightly controlled as it is in Western Europe and North American, serious power surges can be a real problem.  

An effective UPS solution will contain filters and frequency conditioners that shield and protect upstream equipment and loads from power quality problems. But power protection should always begin with a power quality review to asses the actually quality of mains supply and the level required. This should also include future demands, sources of alternative power on site and priority-based load shedding and shutdown.  

For more information on power quality issues and how they can be addressed through the strategic use and implementation of UPS, see The Power Protection Guide, written by Robin Koffler and Jason Yates of Riello UPS and published by entiveon, or visit Riello UPS at Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPS) – Riello UPS Ltd – Power Protection.

We picked up these snippets from Channel Show Website the other day. “In the thick of storm season, lightning can strike small firms twice: in productivity and on the bottom line, a new study warns. Last year the Tornado and Storm Research Organisation (TOSRO) recorded 300,000 lightning strikes across the UK. The Met Office recorded 5,271 lightning strikes between 11 and 15 July. Its detection system has been known to pick up 130,000 lightning discharges in a single day.”