Oxford University

The UK’s number 1 university, Oxford University, orders two UPS systems from Power Control.

Oxford University has purchased the units to support an additional data centre located in the basement of the Oxford Molecular Pathology Institute, playing a critical role in hosting the University’s administration system as well as servicing over 50,000 active email accounts.

The solution and results

The order was secured after independent reseller, Buckingham based NSSE Ltd, was able to demonstrate not only Power Controls green credentials but also significant cost savings over comparable UPS equipment.

NSSE Ltd, who is a Power Control premier partner, was able to build on its long-standing relationship with Oxford University’s Computing Services to show that the B9600 ECO-UPS has an operating efficiency of 95% in true online mode which will therefore save the University significant operating costs over comparable non-eco-friendly equipment. Oxford University were also impressed with its Energy Technology Listing (ETL), which is one of the few UPS units to qualify.

The order comprising of two of Borris B9600 400kVA UPS systems are now being used to provide power back-up to a new shared data centre for members of Collegiate University. The configuration used at the University involves two Borri B9600 400 kVA systems installed in an N+1 parallel configuration to ensure that one system always remains operative in the highly unlikely event of a UPS failure.

Two chilled water air handling units provide resilient forced air cooling to ensure the UPS’ and batteries operate in a suitable temperate environment to prolong operation and usage. In fact Oxford University’s computer services team and data centre manager, David Birds, were so impressed that they requested Oxford University to instruct a ‘change variation’ to the M&E contractor who had originally planned to install competing equipment to ensure that the University bought  Borri B9600 ECO-UPS systems.