American Power Conversion's New Thermal Guarantee(TM) Equipment Protection Program Offers $150,000 of Security Against Hardware Damage from Thermal Events
APC's Thermal Certification Increases Reliability and Peace of Mind for Blade Server and Other High Density Installations
WEST KINGSTON, R.I., Dec. 18 -- American Power Conversion (NASDAQ:APCC) (APC), a global leader in power, cooling, and management solutions, today announced its Thermal Guarantee Equipment Protection program that provides financial compensation for properly protected and certified installations that are damaged by a thermal event, an increasing risk in today's high density data center environment. APC's revolutionary InfraStruXure® Hot-Aisle Containment System and its Rack Air Containment System deployed in new or existing environments can achieve program certification, which will ensure the repair of or reimbursement for up to $150,000 of protected hardware damaged by a thermal event.
Data center professionals today face increasing challenges to ensure adequate distribution of cool air, removal of hot air and sufficient cooling capacity as compaction of IT equipment and simultaneous increases in processor power consumption rise. Changes in air intake temperature resulting from loss or inadequacy of cooling equipment, or nonperformance of monitoring equipment to appropriately regulate adequate air temperature or alert appropriate first responders, can cause heat related IT equipment failure and damage, and result in costly downtime.
"While events like power surges and blackouts are well-known in the IT and facilities communities, many customers are just now comprehending that IT equipment also has a thermal envelope specified for proper operation," said Aaron L. Davis, chief marketing officer at APC. "Exceeding high or low temperature thresholds too quickly can create thermal surges, and complete loss of cooling, called cooling blackouts, and can lead to immediate and unintended server shutdown in the exact same manner as during power blackouts. A key difference is that power blackouts give ample notice through loss of lighting but loss of cooling may go unnoticed until it's too late."
To enable Thermal Guarantee certification at a customer site, APC utilizes a partnership approach toward managing a customer's power and cooling environment. A team of certified APC professionals design a customized plan for each customer that achieves IT system availability targets and provides substantial total cost of ownership (TCO) savings. To ensure a smooth implementation process, APC works closely with each customer to execute the plan so the installation does not interfere with day-to-day operations.
To earn a Thermal Guarantee certification, a customer must agree to the following five steps:
o Assessment - A comprehensive analysis of a customer's existing capacity
with consideration of current and future power and cooling objectives.
o Design - Utilize assessment results to develop a high density
InfraStruXure solution to meet computing objectives at minimal TCO.
o Implementation - Deployment and certification of designed InfraStruXure
solution utilizing APC's cutting-edge Hot-Aisle Containment System or
Rack Air Containment System.
o Post-Implementation Monitoring - 24 hours/7 days a week of physical and
environmental monitoring of a customer's NCPI environment.
o Periodic Review - Semi-annual assessment and preventive maintenance of a
customer's power and cooling, combined with next day on-site service, to
ensure the implemented solutions continue to operate at optimal
performance.
APC's InfraStruXure Hot-Aisle Containment System and its Air Rack Containment System use an exclusive InRow(TM) design to ensure cooling predictability, capacity, and efficiency. The system's hot air containment feature eliminates hot spots by preventing hot air recirculation into sensitive IT equipment. This close-coupled cooling approach minimizes the distance between cool air intake and hot air return for maximum efficiency. Robust monitoring options provide the industry's best solutions for thermal management and notification of out of bounds conditions.
"With APC's new Thermal Guarantee, customers can rest assured that their hardware is protected by APC if damage results from a thermal event," added Davis. "There are many confusing and conflicting claims about the right approach to data center power and cooling, and this latest certification continues our history of providing not only innovative technology, but also maximum clarity and peace of mind to our customers."
APC's Thermal Guarantee Equipment Protection Program is currently available in North America after December 15, 2006. To learn more about APC's award-winning InfraStruXure solutions and the Thermal Guarantee Program, please visit www.thermalguarantee.com or call APC at 800-877-4080.
About American Power Conversion
Founded in 1981, American Power Conversion (NASDAQ:APCC) (APC) is a leading provider of global, end-to-end solutions for real-time infrastructure. APC's comprehensive products and services for home and corporate environments improve the availability, manageability and performance of sensitive electronic, network, communication and industrial equipment of all sizes. APC offers a wide variety of products for network-critical physical infrastructure including InfraStruXure®, its revolutionary architecture for on-demand data centers, as well as physical threat monitoring products through the company's NetBotz® division. These products and services help companies increase the availability and reliability of their IT systems. Headquartered in West Kingston, Rhode Island, APC reported sales of $2 billion for the year ended December 31, 2005, and is a Fortune 1000, Nasdaq 100 and S&P 500 Company.
FCMN Contact: chet.lasell@apcc.com
Source: American Power Conversion
CONTACT:
Media
Juli Dexter
APC senior media relations manager
+1-800-788-2208 ext. 2373
juli.dexter@apcc.com
Web site: www.apc.com/
http://www.thermalguarantee.com/
