Customer case: Schleifenbauer’s Definilink has been at BIT’s data centres for over 10 years.


  
 
About BIT

BIT is a business internet service provider that specialises in colocation, internet connections, managed hosting and outsourcing. BIT manages three data centres in Ede (the Netherlands), all fully owned.

In terms of colocation, BIT offers various options: from a single server, a quarter rack, half rack or full rack to a ‘private cage’. Reliability is the starting point of the service provision, so that customers can concentrate on their core activities without worries. BIT manages as much of its own infrastructure as possible to minimise its dependence on external suppliers or jointly used infrastructure. This enables it to give its clients firm guarantees about performance.

 
Collaboration between BIT and Schleifenbauer

For over 10 years, Schleifenbauer has supplied rack PDUs and energy meters to BIT. The collaboration can be called special in a positive sense, whereby Schleifenbauer has also fulfilled the specific wishes and needs of BIT through product development over the years.

Timo Gerritsen, data centre manager at BIT: “About 10 years ago, our CTO Alex Bik asked Schleifenbauer whether it was possible to separate the measuring part and the part of the power distribution within the PDU. Based on his experience, there is a good chance that the measuring unit needs to be replaced sooner than the power distribution section. He was looking for a solution in which the measuring unit was ‘hot swappable’. At that time, there was no suitable product available on the market for this. Schleifenbauer then worked out a concept, which resulted in the Definilink product. It is a product that we still use in our data centres to our complete satisfaction."

Jos Janssen, head of sales & marketing at Schleifenbauer: “A good basis for our collaboration is the shared passion for technology. Both parties have it in their DNA that they would rather think about a suitable solution than come up with a standard answer. On this basis, we have also put together a specific offer for BIT.

But in addition to the conscious choice for the technical solutions of Schleifenbauer, BIT also appreciates the way of working together, which is characterised by good communication and fast service. “The mutual communication is smooth and we know the data centre engineers well. They can come to us directly with questions or problems. And if necessary, we are on site with the customer within a day," says Konings.

 
Definilink as a suitable solution

These days, Definilink is frequently used and applied by BIT in its data centres. Whereas an ‘intelligent PDU’ normally consists of one component in which everything is provided for, this is different with Definilink. Here, the solution consists of two physical parts, in which the electronics (measuring unit) are separated from the electromechanical components, namely:

  1. A Definilink controller: This is the part containing the measurement electronics, controller and data bus connection.

  2. A Basic PDU: In this type of PDU there is no so-called ‘intelligence’. This part consists of the outlets and possible fuses.

The main advantage of this is that the controller can be connected or replaced without having to interrupt the power supply. This is also called ‘hot swappable’.

Visualisation Definilink*:
schleifenbauer definilink pdu(*resides a computer visualisation)

BIT has a number of specific reasons and arguments for choosing this solution:

  • The data centre can, on its own initiative or on the initiative of a customer (in the case of co-location), decide at any time to measure its power consumption. In that case, energy measurement can be added via a Definilink controller without interrupting the power.

  • In the event of a failure or malfunction, the controller can easily be replaced without interrupting the power.

This situation is plausible, since the technical lifetime of the controller is normally shorter than that of the basic PDU. For BIT, both items contribute significantly to maintaining maximum continuity and availability within the data centres, which in turn benefits its clients and users.

 
More information

Do you want to know more about this collaboration, or are you interested in Schleifenbauer’s products and services in the field of energy measurement and power distribution? Check out our website or contact our sales team at info@schleifenbauer.eu.

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