Emerson Network Power Announces Software-Based Scalability for Liebert UPS Systems
Emerson Network Power announced its SoftScale™ technology. SoftScale, which the company claims is the first software-based approach to UPS scalability, allows enterprises to purchase the UPS capacity they need today while providing the flexibility to unlock additional capacity in the future through a software download.
SoftScale is said to deliver on the promise of Liebert Adaptive Architecture by providing IT and data center managers with increased operating flexibility, higher availability, and lower total cost of ownership. Operating flexibility is enabled through faster response to unpredictable changes in data center equipment or power requirements. UPS systems with SoftScale offer improved availability by growing capacity without adding hardware, minimizing the parts count and maintaining the simplicity of the UPS system. Cost of ownership is reduced by eliminating the cost associated with UPS installation when additional capacity is required.
"If your power system can’t adapt to change, your data center can’t adapt to change," said Peter Panfil, Vice President of Power Engineering for Liebert Solutions, Emerson Network Power. "With SoftScale, we are providing IT managers with a new, non-intrusive way to add UPS capacity as their needs change. Imagine if a growing family could buy a five-bedroom home for the price of a three-bedroom home and use only three bedrooms until they need more space, then obtain keys to the additional rooms. That’s the kind of flexibility SoftScale provides."
SoftScale is enabled by advances in UPS design that optimize the UPS efficiency curve. This allows the UPS to operate with the same high efficiency at 50% utilization as it does at 100% utilization, eliminating any efficiency penalties of operating a UPS at a reduced load. SoftScale technology has the added benefit of allowing smaller data centers to take advantage of the higher reliability and lower cost per kilowatt of a large UPS compared to a smaller UPS.
SoftScale is claimed to be well-suited for organizations with small and medium size data centers that are facing unpredictable demands on their IT systems or are anticipating future growth but want to limit capital spending to current needs. In a recent Emerson Network Power study of this market, capacity growth was cited as one of the top three criteria purchasers and influencers consider when selecting a UPS system.
SoftScale will be available in early summer of 2007 in the Liebert NX product line. Systems will scale from 40 to 80kVA, or from 80 to 120kVA, in 20kVA increments.
