Data Center Market: Growth and Emerging Needs

The proliferation of cloud services, AI, 5G, and IoT is expected to significantly boost the demand for data centers and servers. Surging data volumes and the requirement for real-time processing increase the need for high-capacity, high-performance servers. Moreover, the shift towards a sustainable society is accelerating investments in green data centers and intensifying the focus on energy efficiency.

Especially AI servers, which process significantly more data than conventional servers, must meet large power demands.
In addition to CPUs, AI servers are equipped with GPUs, which consume tens to hundreds of kW of power and must quickly respond to sudden changes in input power.

Kikusui Electronics offers a variety of optimal solutions for evaluating power supplies for servers and data centers.
Regulated AC power supplies and electronic loads are an excellent choice for evaluating server power conversion units and battery backup units. Regulated DC power supplies can be used to power server units. Kikusui Electronics also offers various safety-related testing equipment for evaluating insulation performance.

Evaluation of Power Conversion and Battery Backup Units

Power Supply Units (PSUs) that supply power to servers have different input/output voltages and power capacities depending on the type of server, its purpose, and the installation environment. Kikusui Electronics’ PCR-WEA/WEA2R series of AC-regulated power supplies can switch between single-phase and three-phase output (limited to models with 3 kVA or more) and support a maximum output voltage of 320 Vrms. In addition, this series can be expanded up to three-phase 540 kVA in parallel operation, meeting the growing demand for higher capacity.

Furthermore, for the evaluation of the DC output of PSUs, we also offer various electronic loads with different power capacities, such as the PLZ-5W series of electronic loads and the PXZ series of regenerative electronic loads. These devices provide an optimal evaluation environment, regardless of the scale and requirements.

Load Characteristics/Efficiency Testing

Withstanding Voltage and Insulation Resistance Testing

Server Unit Evaluation

The PWR-01 series of wide-range DC power supplies is recommended for powering server units. Because of its broad output range, this series can operate at full load within its power rating, whether the driving voltage is 12V or 48V. For the evaluation testing of POL (Point of Load) inside servers, we recommend the PLZ-U series of multi-channel electronic loads and the PLZ-5W series of multi-functional electronic loads.

The PLZ-5W series can operate from a low voltage range starting at a minimum operating voltage of 0.25V and has a high-speed response with a maximum slew rate of 60A/μsec. This series is an excellent choice for POL load transient testing, which requires fast response characteristics.