We talk to the influential scientific journal about how uninterruptible power supplies play a key role in a rigorous HPC maintenance regime.
High performance computing (HPC) is essential across many aspects of science and engineering. But such ‘supercomputers’ are expensive and sensitive pieces of machinery. Any system downtime is costly in terms of productivity and loss of vital work.
The influential global magazine Scientific Computing World dedicated its June-July edition to the subject of robust HPC maintenance. And with uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units playing a pivotal role in protecting against power outages, our General Manager Leo Craig was an obvious person to speak with.
The magazine’s editor Robert Roe interviewed Leo as part of an in-depth feature about HPC maintenance. The chat covers how a UPS can defend against a whole range of power problems.
While a UPS’s key function is to provide battery backup in the case of power outage, Leo explains how a UPS can also mitigate against power fluctuations such as spikes, surges, and frequency variation. In addition, he highlights the benefits of preventive UPS maintenance.
With an increased emphasis on renewable energy, the interview also covers grid switching.
“Instead of having a few larger power stations we have got lots of smaller generators like wind or solar farms.
“Renewable energy is causing a problem for the National Grid in terms of much more frequent grid switching, and that grid switching creates noise and spikes which is damaging to computing equipment.” – Leo Craig, Riello UPS General Manager
The interview also raises the stricter regulations being brought in to regulate the use of diesel generators.
Read the full article including Leo’s interview on pages 4-5 of the June-July edition of Scientific Computing World
