How to protect data center power systems from winter threats

For many people, the cold winter months are upon us. While they may bring some beautiful views, they can also severely affect power supply in some cases.

For example, a sharp drop in temperature could affect power transmission, causing power lines to shrink and strain. In more extreme cases, accumulated ice and snow could break power lines, one of the seasonal disasters that causes power outages.

Whatever the reason, one thing is certain: Unexpected power outages occur more frequently in the winter. Between 2009 and 2017, Eaton’s Blackout Tracker recorded 7,260 power outages during the winter, totaling 122 days of power outages and affecting more than 14 million people. Not surprisingly, more than a third of these outages were caused by Mother Nature.

While knowledge is power, it can be futile if best practices aren’t applied to your uptime strategy. Explore the dangers that persist during winter and take the appropriate steps to prepare for power outages.

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Assessing the threat posed by winter

As if dealing with cold weather wasn't enough, there are a number of winter-related dangers that can lead to power outages. Here's an overview of some of the threats winter brings.

• Snowstorms: Snowstorms cause travel disruptions and poorer visibility for those who go outside, not to mention the havoc they can wreak on power systems. A recent climatology study found that the number of snowstorms in the United States has increased significantly over the past two decades.
• Ice Storms: Ice storms are characterized by freezing rain that forms when raindrops in cold air near the ground freeze on contact with the ground, trees, power lines, and other objects. While ice storms have a variety of negative effects, power outages are the most common and long-lasting adverse effect.
• Extreme cold: Normally, electrical equipment is somewhat immune to extreme heat or cold weather, provided it is not subjected to additional stress. But extreme temperature changes, such as when cold air strikes, can cause many devices to operate less efficiently than normal, especially when they are being loaded.
• Grid Stressed/Aging Infrastructure: The U.S. energy sector faces significant challenges from an aging grid infrastructure. During severe weather events, breakdowns in supply, security, reliability, and resiliency pose a threat, jeopardizing public safety and economic development. While power outages caused by an aging U.S. grid can occur in any season, winter is the most significant season.
• Animals: Animals may be cute, but they are responsible for hundreds of power outages every year. Power outages are primarily caused by squirrels and birds, but they also include other animals like bears, cats, snakes, beavers, and even mountain lions!
• Vehicles: The increase in vehicle-related outages is not surprising given the hazardous driving conditions winter weather creates. In fact, 32 percent of all vehicle-related outages recorded by Eaton’s outage tracking system occurred during the winter.

Since data centers are more vulnerable to downtime threats during the winter, it is time to take a step back and evaluate their disaster recovery processes. A number of solutions can achieve continuous uptime.

Reliable power supply protection

Although power failures may occur due to weather and unforeseen events, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) deployed together with backup generators can provide reliable power during power outages so that data centers and IT functions can remain up and running. These systems can help organizations avoid data loss and hardware damage, providing availability for networks and other applications in the event of a power event.

Enhanced UPS functionality, power monitoring and power management solutions provide data center and IT professionals with the ability to remotely monitor UPS power supplies up to the enterprise power network, while UPS power supplies have multiple devices and components from different manufacturers. More importantly, they provide a wide range of advantages that help optimize power, including increased efficiency, improved data protection and reduced overall costs. With sufficient backup runtime, the software can automatically and securely move data to the backup site seamlessly to maintain business continuity.

In addition, remote power management can provide a wealth of benefits, enabling managers to oversee the entire network from anywhere in the world. Many companies use remote solutions to manage servers in offices and branch offices that do not have IT staff. From powering servers and devices to troubleshooting issues, remote management eliminates unnecessary service visits to isolated locations.

By strategically aligning power management solutions, and combining advanced hardware and software systems, organizations can ensure they have robust power protection in case of emergencies.

In addition to seasonal weather, power outages can be caused by equipment failure, human error, thieves, and even drones, balloons, wildlife, etc. Any factor that interrupts power can bring a company's business to a standstill.

To optimize power systems and avoid the danger of downtime, organizations and their IT teams need good power protection solutions to ensure that power always runs smoothly. A strategic disaster preparedness plan with protective hardware and software will help organizations prepare for the cold winter months.