The demand for high-power UPS systems is driven by the growth of compute-intensive applications and the ongoing need for reliable power solutions, including services and applications to support AI growth and edge computing. Following industry and market expansion, these studies highlight the increasingly critical role of UPS systems’ resilience in critical digital infrastructure design.
As these infrastructures become increasingly integral to everyday functions, the reliability of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems cannot be understated. Designing for reliability (DFR) is a cornerstone in maintaining uptime, offering a comprehensive approach to creating resilient and efficient UPS systems. Our newest insights paper, “Enabling Uninterrupted Power: Design for Reliability in UPS Systems,” delves into the basic principles of DFR and its application in UPS systems design, underscoring its operational and technical significance for data center operators and IT engineers.
Understanding design for reliability (DFR)
DFR is an engineering approach that integrates reliability into every stage of product development, from conceptualization to lifecycle management and obsolescence. It is a series of procedures and tests on products, applications, and processes that happen from the planning and design stages to the development stage of a project development cycle. DFR is meant to examine a project's performance and functions within specific or extreme environments and situations over an identified and expected lifecycle duration for:
- Cohesion and integrability with systems
- Reliability
- Optimization (as an extended, forward-thinking consideration)
From an operational perspective, considering reliability from the outset tends to be more cost-efficient than testing for reliability post-implementation. Concurrent engineering practiced in DFR enables engineering teams to come together and collaborate on the anticipated concerns from various viewpoints, removing engineering silos that can cause problems expected to be overlooked: power requirements, limitations for assembly, restrictions in manufacturing, supply chain constraints, environmental considerations, failure-inducing loads, and causes of premature deterioration are just some of the concerns that different teams will have to operationalize during development. By coming together during the design through prototyping and testing stages, teams can have benchmark data and insights during the product development process for reliability, reduce and optimize development and deployment times, and enable systems, components, programs, and procedures that can be duplicated and standardized.
Figure 1. The wet dust test is one of many verification tests to consider real-world environmental conditions for outdoor-installed equipment.
For UPS systems, DFR involves rigorous analysis, testing, and feedback mechanisms to minimize failure risks, protect business operations and invested assets, and enhance performance under diverse conditions. By prioritizing reliability from the outset, UPS systems can better protect sensitive equipment and enable continuous operation, even during power anomalies or failures.
Product reliability
At the heart of DFR is the Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (DFMEA), a systematic approach to identifying potential failure modes and their impacts. Engineers can fortify product designs by leveraging lessons learned from customer feedback and rigorous verification tests. For instance, the Vertiv™ Trinergy™ UPS system incorporates features like distributed batteries for improved fault tolerance and self-isolating cores to prevent fault spread, enabling continuous runtime and operations even under extreme conditions.
Verification and validation tests are also critical in confirming that UPS systems meet stringent performance standards. These tests, including engineering validation tests (EVT) and design validation tests (DVT), assess the resilience of UPS systems under various operational conditions. Additional tests, such as seismic resilience and highly accelerated life testing (HALT), simulate real-world scenarios to validate the durability and reliability of UPS systems.
Application reliability
AI variable loads, high temperatures, and humidity levels are among the evolving parameters that DFR continuously investigates, tests, and verifies. The rise of AI applications presents new challenges for UPS systems. Unlike traditional IT loads, AI variable loads exhibit rapid and intense power fluctuations. UPS systems must be designed to handle these dynamic profiles without compromising stability. Advanced UPS solutions, such as those with large overload capabilities and adaptive control algorithms, are essential to effectively managing the power demands of AI applications.
Moreover, data centers are in different kinds of environments and meet harsh conditions such as extremely cold or hot temperatures and high humidity. UPS systems must maintain performance and reliability even when environmental controls are compromised. Features like high operating temperature tolerance and humidity management capabilities enable UPS systems to withstand harsh conditions and reduce the risks of downtime.
Process reliability
Embedded quality processes and controls must be included in every phase of the manufacturing process. Compliance with quality management systems (QMS) and certifications, such as ISO9001, maintains that products consistently meet stringent reliability standards. Monitoring key metrics like field failure rate (FFR) and first pass yield (FPY) helps achieve and keep high-quality outcomes. Supplier quality is also critical, with regular audits and improvement programs in place to monitor that rigorous standards are met.
Conclusion
DFR is more than a theoretical approach that guides engineering teams. It is a streamlined framework that can be used to analyze, control, and anticipate reliability to reduce defects, problems, and premature material degradation over an intended period. As operators address the evolving legal mandates, resource consumption, and the rapid changes in invested technologies, enterprises should match their respective objectives and consider the long-term usability and applicability of the currently available technologies more than ever.
Investing in UPS systems engineered for reliability is crucial for data center operators and enterprise IT engineers. DFR, as a comprehensive approach covering conceptualization to end-of-life, can be used to maintain and confirm that UPS systems can withstand diverse operational demands, from AI variable loads to harsh environmental conditions. Manufacturers can deliver UPS solutions that provide reliability and continuous power by embedding quality processes and leveraging advanced testing methodologies. The role of DFR in UPS design will become increasingly important in safeguarding critical digital infrastructures and enabling seamless business operations.
White paper: Enabling Uninterrupted Power: Design for Reliability in UPS Systems
Learn how applying DFR in UPS systems enhances the resilience of critical digital infrastructures and protects crucial assets throughout their lifecycles.
