Posted by Brooke Just
Crestchic Loadbanks, a manufacturer of load testing equipment, has recently expanded its range of load testing products for the data center sector, adding a new server emulator load bank solution to its rental portfolio.
As power consumption increases and the addition of more server technology generates additional heat, it is becoming more important that new data centers accurately test the infrastructure of the server hall. This is done before the installation of the IT hardware, allowing operators to simulate the potential airflow and heat in the server hall as part of the testing and commissioning of the facility. Failing to do so could result in the servers overheating, causing unnecessary and expensive downtime.
Paul Brickman, from Crestchic Loadbanks, explains, “Heat load testing data halls is really important both in ascertaining the air conditioning capacity required and in terms of testing how the system would perform in the event of a cooling failure. In smaller data centers, in particular, it’s not unusual for operators to use small-scale heaters or fans to simulate server heat loads. Crucially, by using server emulator load banks, we are able to replicate the heat signature of the actual server, not just in kilowatts but in terms of the airflow and distribution around the hall. We emulate the exact heat distribution - helping to identify and eliminate hot spots - enabling testing to be equally distributed around the room just as it would be at installation.”
For large data centers, using smaller fans can be a manual and time-consuming process, with unreliable results. As well as being cumbersome, this type of test can make it difficult to accurately control the test parameters. Using a server emulator load bank, connected to Crestchic’s intelligent control system, operators can adjust the load accordingly, monitoring the results and adjusting the parameters as required.
The 6kW server emulator load bank from Crestchic can be integrated into a rack, allowing users to replicate the setup of a standard server rack. The load banks can be configured with six different load steps - from 500 to 2kW - and an operating temperature of between -10C and 50C, allowing test parameters to be set according to user requirements. The system has also been built with safety in mind, with thermal overload protection as standard.
Crestchic is no stranger to the development of bespoke solutions for the data center market. Along with a range of long-established rental and permanent solutions designed for testing of back-up power generators, the company has also recently launched a trailer-mounted loadbank. The solution, which allows sites to move the load bank from one generator to another, was designed to meet the ever-growing number of sites with multiple generators, reducing the time and complexity of the testing process by facilitating easy movement of the testing equipment.
For more information about Crestchic’s range of load testing solutions for the data center market, including the new server emulator load bank, visit https://crestchicloadbanks.com/loadbank-applications-datacentre-sector/.
