Case Study: AMD's Mission-Critical Servers And Testing Equipment Protected By Tripp Lite

Customer
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) is a semiconductor company that develops computer processors and related technologies for commercial and consumer markets. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, AMD's main products include microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, embedded processors and graphic processors for servers, workstations and personal computers, and processor technologies for game consoles.

With approximately 11,000 employees and 80 offices worldwide, AMD is the second-largest global supplier of microprocessors based on x86 architecture, and the third-largest supplier of graphics processing units. In 2007, AMD ranked eleventh among semiconductor manufacturers with approximately $6 billion in revenue.

Goal
After his team was tasked with analyzing data from video chips in developmental and production stages, AMD Engineering Services Group Manager Frank Spagnuolo set two goals: 1) provide complete power protection for the mission-critical 124 test stations and 6 servers at AMD's Automated Test Stress Lab in Markham, Ontario; and 2) meet the company's time-to-market goals by utilizing continual power to assure quality test results.

"It's crucial for us to have reliable power protection during video chip testing," said Spagnuolo. "Twenty-four hour continuous testing is critical to ensure that we gather as much data as possible during R&D product cycles. Downtime could affect us in two ways. First, it could set back deployment and testing by weeks, resulting in major costs and delays for AMD. Second, downtime could compromise our time-to-market goals, which rely on the flawless execution of testing procedures."

In need of a reliable and cost-efficient power protection solution, Spagnuolo first contacted another UPS manufacturer. He found, however, that the company could not deliver a solution within the specified timeframe. Following a recommendation from his local reseller, Sustema, he then turned to Tripp Lite. After consulting with Don Monahan, Tripp Lite Regional Sales Manager for Eastern Canada, to determine which solution would best meet AMD's needs, Spagnuolo chose the SmartOnline™ Hot-Swappable Modular UPS Systems.