In the critical, "24x7" operating environment of today's data centers and telecommunications installations, the availability, reliability, and quality of the power systems that serve them is of prime importance. An unexpected power interruption lasting less than one second is enough to bring most sensitive operations to a halt and cause data and telecommunications systems to need to be restarted. Designing facility power systems to prevent such occurrences requires special planning, with careful attention paid to such factors as the projected operating parameters of the facility and impact of disruptions, construction budgets, electrical service available from the utility, and the difficulty involved in planning scheduled downtime to allow power system maintenance activities to be performed.

A wide range of options are available for the level of availability and reliability that may be designed into the critical power distribution system. The design must be tailored to suit the needs of the specific installation. System components may include such equipment as Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems utilizing storage battery or flywheel technology and emergency generators. The system may also include such elements as redundant system or sub-system components, redundant electrical services from the utility provider, and multiple power distribution paths. All of these elements, of course, have associated costs which can be quite substantial. The final electrical system configuration often represents a compromise between the level of availability and reliability that is desired and that which budget constraints will allow.

When a data or telecommunications center is to be constructed within an existing building, the level of complexity of the planning and design process increases. In addition to the factors outlined above, one must also consider such elements as the capacity of the existing electrical service and power distribution system to support the increased load of the critical operations and support systems, physical space available for UPS and/or generators, and the suitability of the existing building structure to support such system components as UPS batteries. The impact of upgrading such building elements on budgets and any on-going operations in the facility must be taken into account.

The engineers of JanCom Technologies, Inc. have the knowledge and experience to work with the owner or user to evaluate the level of availability and reliability that's appropriate for a given facility's operations and to design the critical power distribution system to meet those needs. Once the design is completed, JanCom personnel works with the contractor to determine that the installation is in accordance with the intent of the design. JanCom's services in this area also include the development of detailed commissioning procedures for the various component systems, direction and coordination of the start-up activities, and the preparation of detailed operating procedures for use by the owner's operations and maintenance personnel.