Capacity planning, reliability and availability for Internet data center facilities

Consumers are increasingly sending e-messages, purchasing products, managing finances, and locating information on-line by accessing the World Wide Web via the Internet. The demand for e-services and the installation of telecommunications and Internet equipment is occurring at a very rapid pace resulting in the construction of many Internet data center (IDC) facilities. The productivity and profits of IDCs, Internet Service Providers, and e-businesses solely depend upon providing power through an appropriately-size utility service feeder(s) for the operation of missioncritical equipment 7 days a week, 24 hours a day (i.e., 24 x 7), no exceptions. This growth has caused concerns among utilities regarding capacity planning requirements of IDCs. Additionally, the reliability of utility power-99.9 % (39's)-is also a concern when IDCs try to meet the power reliability and availability requirements of 99.9999 % (69's) and higher that IDCs are contracted to provide to e-businesses who lease IDC space. Through a better understanding of the power requirements and loads in IDCs, this paper addresses the capacity planning issues associated with IDCs and how distribution generation and alternative energy-storage technologies may be applied to provide high-availability power. Collaborative power quality research and testing being conducted by EPRI and EPRI PEAC to identify solutions to these problems is also discussed