A power distribution unit (PDU) is a device that delivers and manages electrical power to multiple pieces of equipment within a data centre rack or row. It takes input from an upstream supply such as a UPS or the building electrical feed and distributes regulated, often metered, power across many outlets. Modern intelligent PDUs add remote monitoring, per-outlet switching and environmental sensing to support availability and energy-efficiency goals.
Overview
- A PDU sits between an upstream power source and the equipment it feeds, providing a controlled set of outlets at the rack level.
- Basic PDUs simply split a circuit, while intelligent (metered, monitored or switched) PDUs report consumption and allow remote control.
- PDUs are a core element of data-centre power architecture, contributing to availability targets and to power-usage-effectiveness measurement.
Key aspects
- Outlet density, form factor (vertical/horizontal) and supported voltage/current ratings.
- Metering granularity (inlet, branch or per-outlet) for capacity planning and billing.
- Remote switching for staged power-up, load shedding and recovery automation.
- Environmental sensing (temperature, humidity) integrated for thermal management.
Applications
- Rack-level power delivery in enterprise and colocation data centres.
- Per-outlet metering for chargeback and energy-efficiency reporting.
- Remote reboot of unresponsive equipment without on-site staff.
- Capacity and redundancy planning across A/B power feeds.
Provenance
- This class was materialised to resolve existing inbound references in the knowledge graph.