All About Power Cords in Your Data Centers

For every power supply, there is a separate cord that supports its work. Server power cord plays an important role in connecting the servers and PDUs. It is vital to choose the suitable network systems as power cord standards differ on the basis of the countries.

In this article, we will discuss the server power cords and their applications.

You can use power cords or jumper cords to connect with the server. They consist of three necessary components i.e. plug, cord, and receptacle. There are different types of cords available across the globe. But, amongst all, the most common ones are the IEC60320 power cords and nema power cords.

IECs are available in North America and other countries have NEMA cords. Going further among these server power cables, the most common among the vendors like Dell, HP, and many others are C13 to C14 power cords. There are many different types in these two types of cords.

Let's understand the applications of these power cords in different cabling systems:

1. Cabling in Low Density System:
   It is easy to install cords for low density systems. For example, you need to take a server in a tower configuration, it needs to use a country-specific cord for direct connection to a facility AC feed.
   The server availability requires providing redundant AC power to the server in the form of a redundant AC bus or a UPS.
   Remember connecting with the local AC outlet requires you to have optional country-specific cords for each of the power supply.
2. Cabling for Medium Density:
   Medium density system is a bit complex compared to the low density system. Hence, there are different types of accessories needed to achieve an effective connection.
   Some servers contain hot pluggable fans accessible for sliding the chassis out on rails. Make sure that the cords or jumper cables connect to the server at the adequate length and slack to allow chassis movement and stay connected and running.
3. Cabling for High Density System:
   Power cords used in high density systems are short as cable movement is little. There are three ways to connect enclosures to AC power:
   • C13 to C14 cords are useful to connect a single supply server to a vertical mount PDU and it is suitable for low density installations.
   • C13 x4 to C20 fixed cord extension bars: it is a method recommended for extreme density installations which uses redundant power supplies.
   • In the third category, it uses C13 x2 to C20 Y cable. It is useful for connecting a server with dual 1200 watts power supplies directly to a PDU core with C19 outlets.
   There are many cables which are useful for high density systems and for systems like this, color coding is a useful method.
   Going further let's have a look at the best practices of these cords in the data centers and connecting with the power plug adapters.
   While designing the data centers or mapping the racks, we often tend to forget the cords. But, choosing the correct cord helps you in lessening energy consumption, data center uptime, and service response times.

Without further ado, let's begin:

1. Length Cord:
   The most important rule that you should have to build an efficient data center cord is choosing the right length. Shorter the length the better it is. Sometimes, there is power lost in the cords due to longer lengths, and this results in loss of hundreds of dollars annually.
   The length of cords also plays a major role in the airflow within the data cabinets and longer cords cause a blockage.
2. Using the Correct Gauge:
   It is important to select the correct gauge cord. The large diameter conductors carry electrical current more efficiently and it can be a fire hazard to use a cord using gauge that is too thin for the requirements.
3. Using color coded power cords:
   Tracing a cord from source to equipment is foolproof if you are using different color cords. This can help you identify redundant power paths and can prevent unwanted disconnections while moving.
4. Use shielded pairs:
   EMI is a serious issue in the data center. Usually, Ethernet cables have the connections made of unshielded twisted pair grade cable. If the unshielded twisted pair is within the proximity of an unshielded AC power cord, then EMI can occur. This results in performance degradation. Whereas, shielded cords can reduce the irregular data problems which can positively affect your organization.

Conclusion:

Server cords play a vital role in bridging the network device power supply system. One also needs to make sure about the power plug adapters they are using in data centers. Power cords are multipurpose and each of them has their own benefits.

Source: https://www.sooperarticles.com/shopping-articles/electronics-articles/all-about-power-cords-your-data-centers-1778156.html