It is my opinion that this is EXACTLY why you shouldn't just call up any old electrical contractor and tell them you need a generator of X kW or kVA capacity. A home/consumer grade generator is most likely NOT the way to go if you are serious about your data center.
I would contact the manufacturers themselves, whether your choice is Generac, Cummins, Caterpillar, APC, etc, and have the manufacturer run a sizing program before I committed to purchasing anything. They will be able to point you to a competent and qualified contractor with design/build capabilities to make sure you get it done right the first time. The sizing program from the manufacturer will take into account not only the running current requirement, but also the startup current requirements for your intended loads. Just like in UPS sizing, you'll want to try and project out how much additional load you think you might need to add over the next 3 years or so, if possible. Here are some whitepapers from APC that may be helpful: http://www.apc.com/prod_docs/results.cfm?DocType=White+Paper&Query_Type=99&keyword=standby&wpnum= Jonathan L. Raper, A+, MCSA, MCSE Technology Coordinator Eagle Physicians & Associates, PA [email protected]<BLOCKED::mailto:%[email protected]> www.eaglemds.com<BLOCKED::http://www.eaglemds.com/> ________________________________ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 9:49 AM To: NT System Admin Issues Subject: RE: Portable A/C for computer room? Thanks. This is what the contractors are looking into. That is, how brief, and how to make *$&# sure that brief load doesn't trip something. -- RMc "Maglinger, Paul" <[email protected]> wrote on 08/11/2010 08:40:46 AM: > That's a start current and is typically pretty brief. The actually > running current would be much less. > > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 8:20 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: Portable A/C for computer room? > > > Our (a hijacker!) current problem is, we have been told the start-up > draw on the server room A/C unit we want (this is a real one for > real server rooms, not a portable) is 100 Amps. That doesn't seem > like much, except the compressor runs on something like 408 VAC. > > SO, such a generator would need to be about 45k Volt-Amps just for > the room cooler start-up. Contractors are now investigating this a > bit further... > -- > Richard D. McClary > Systems Administrator, Information Technology Group > ASPCA(r) > 1717 S. Philo Rd, Ste 36 > Urbana, IL 61802 > > [email protected] > > P: 217-337-9761 > C: 217-417-1182 > F: 217-337-9761 > www.aspca.org > > The information contained in this e-mail, and any attachments > hereto, is from The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to > Animals(r) > (ASPCA(r)) and is intended only for use by the addressee(s) named > herein and may contain legally privileged and/or confidential > information. If you are not the intended recipient of this e-mail, > you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, > copying or use of the contents of this e-mail, and any attachments > hereto, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in > error, please immediately notify me by reply email and permanently > delete the original and any copy of this e-mail and any printout thereof. > > > "N Parr" <[email protected]> wrote on 08/11/2010 08:00:08 AM: > > > You could probably run your entire server room on a 12-20k generac > > guardian and be done with the whole thing. 7k unit runs pretty much my > > whole house. And it puts out clean enough power that my APC's don't > > complain. Power goes off and 30 sec later it comes back on. Natural > > Gas or LP Powered. It's a lot more expensive that the portable air > > conditioner you started out wanting but if your supporting all the > > locations you say then it would pay for itself in a few hours of lost > > production. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Ben Scott [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2010 4:03 PM > > To: NT System Admin Issues > > Subject: Re: Portable A/C for computer room? > > > > On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 4:58 PM, David Mazzaccaro > > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > We have 8 remote locations (WAN) that all rely on us to be able to do > > > anything. > > > All of our resources are here, and the remote sites run all apps over > > > Citrix, and all phones are run VoIP from here. > > > So if we go down... Everyone goes down. > > > > These discussions should always be build around cost of downtime. > > If you really mean "everyone goes down" (and it sounds like you do), > > then I'd say your cost of downtime would be quite large. Given that, I > > would say you should absolutely get an auto-start generator and an > > automatic transfer switch, hard-wired so that they power your computer > > room chiller and your UPS. Don't futz around with mickey-mouse > > solutions. > > > > -- Ben > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ > > <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > > > > > ________________________________ Any medical information contained in this electronic message is CONFIDENTIAL and privileged. It is unlawful for unauthorized persons to view, copy, disclose, or disseminate CONFIDENTIAL information. This electronic message may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and/or entity named as recipients in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete this material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message, and do not disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information that it contains. Any medical information contained in this electronic message is CONFIDENTIAL and privileged. It is unlawful for unauthorized persons to view, copy, disclose, or disseminate CONFIDENTIAL information. This electronic message may contain information that is confidential and/or legally privileged. It is intended only for the use of the individual(s) and/or entity named as recipients in the message. If you are not an intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and delete this material from your computer. Do not deliver, distribute or copy this message, and do not disclose its contents or take any action in reliance on the information that it contains. ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
