Branch circuit monitoring

In a Branch Circuit Monitoring configuration, the system works as if you had configured power measurements at rack PDU level, only these measurements are really retrieved at PDU, RDP, or PP level. You must have a valid ITA: Capacity license to configure Branch Circuit Monitoring. Modular power distribution If your data center configuration includes modular power distribution, configure the connection between the power breaker modules and the rack PDUs (Figure 1). Right-click a modular PDU in the layout, and select Properties. Click Power and select output voltage. In Power > Breaker Panel configure the connection between the breaker modules and the rack PDU. Repeat the above step until all connections have been configured between the breaker modules and the rack PDUs. Associate the corresponding PDU device to the PDU in the floor layout by dragging it from Unassociated Devices to the PDU in the layout. Figure 1 Modular Breaker Panel ITA_modular_breaker_panel_1_360036174554.png Non-modular power distribution If your data center configuration includes non-modular power distribution, you must associate devices and then configure the connection between the expert sensors and the circuit numbers. Choose Device Association in the Planning pane. Associate a device to a PDU, RDP, or PP component in the floor layout by dragging it from Unassociated Devices to the component in the layout.  Sensor Mapping will now appear in the right-click menu of the associated component. Add sensors by clicking 102240447_360036174554.png. Use Ctrl-click to add multiple sensors at a time. You can also use the search bar. The sensors can now be found in the Sensor Mapping table. Click Breaker panel and Position and choose the power values from the drop down menu. The Multiplier value converts the unit of measurement for the device type into Watts. The Total values must be in Watts. For example, if the measured values are in kW, type 1,000, or if the measured values are in A, type the factor to convert it to Watts. Notice how the circuit numbers in the breaker panel (Figure 2) match the circuit numbers in Sensor Mapping (Figure 3). When you have saved your configuration, and the system has retrieved the first measurements from Data Center Expert, Measured Peak Power values appear in Properties > Power Distribution (Figure 1). It may take a while before they appear, depending on your settings. In System Setup > External System Configuration, you can configure a shorter Power information retrieval interval to see the values quicker. Figure 2 Non-modular Breaker Panel ITA_non-modular_breaker_panel_360036174554.png Figure 3 Sensor Mapping ITA_sensor_mapping_360036174554.png Note The measured values in Figure 3 are instant values from Data Center Expert whereas the measured values in Figure 1 are peak values gathered over time. Since these values are different in nature, the values differ. Each time you edit the sensor mappings, the measured data for that device will be deleted (the next time the ITA server gets data from Data Center Expert), and peak and average data will only be collected from that point in time and onwards in contrast to the normal 30 days "catch up" behavior.

You must have a valid ITA: Capacity license to be able to configure Branch Circuit Monitoring. Please note that Branch Circuit Monitoring only works for AC equipment. Rack PDU level or PDU level power data You can configure retrieval of power measurements from a rack in one of the following ways: Configure power distribution, retrieving measured values at rack PDU level Configure power distribution, retrieving measured values at PDU, RDP, or PP level through Branch Circuit Monitoring The system works with the same measurements regardless of method. A PDU breaker module number in the Power Distribution Properties connects the PDU modules with the rack PDUs and allows the system to retrieve the rack PDU level data. This means that all functions in the system using the power measurements (for example, capacity calculations and recommendations) work as if you had configured measured values at rack PDU level even if these values are really retrieved at PDU, RDP, or PP level through Branch Circuit Monitoring. ITA_branch_circuit_monitoring_360036683073.png Modular or non-modular power distribution Modular power distribution The Branch Circuit Monitoring configuration for modular PDUs is supported from Data Center Expert version 7.1. When configuring Branch Circuit Monitoring, you configure the PDU breaker module number, which is necessary for the system's power data configuration. Measured Peak Power: When Data Center Expert integration has been configured, and the system starts retrieving measurements, this field will automatically be populated with measurements. Non-modular power distribution Non-modular power distribution requires a bit more configuration. See Configuring branch circuit monitoring for more information. Collecting multiple measurements for one component in the floor layout In the non-physical representation in Data Center Expert, a physical PDU, RDP, or PP is represented as multiple measurement points (devices). In the physical representation in IT Advisor, a physical PDU, RDP, or PP is represented in the layout as one component and, normally, one device from an external system is associated with one component in the layout. However, if the physical and non-physical representations do not match, you can drag and drop sensors from multiple devices in Unassociated Devices to one PDU, RDP, or PP in the layout. Modular breaker panel ITA_modular_breaker_panel_360036683073.png Configuring branch circuit monitoring Working with branch circuit monitoring

When you have configured the Branch Circuit Monitoring, you can work with the ITA: Capacity features in the same way as if you had configured measured values at rack PDU level. Alarms on a breaker module in the PDU, RDP, or PP display as an issue on the entire PDU, RDP, or PP. The impact of a failure displays as if all rack PDUs connected to the power distribution are at risk, even if the failure really only impacts the rack PDU connected to the particular breaker. When collecting multiple measurements for one component in the floor layout, alarms on a breaker module in an additional device do not display on the associated PDU, RDP, or PP. These alarms only display on the device in the Unassociated Devices view and are not included in the impact analysis. See also Branch circuit monitoring Configuring branch circuit monitoring