Double Duty: Aqueduct Brings Power Protection In-House

By Bill Annino, Aqueduct and Fran Harrington, Eaton

Aqueduct Technologies is one of the fastest-growing private, hybrid and public cloud solutions providers in North America. Serving nearly 300 customers throughout New England, the company’s areas of focus include enterprise networking, advanced security, collaboration, data center solutions and carrier services.

Amid the company’s rapid growth, Aqueduct decided to relocate its Waltham, MA headquarters. With the move came a unique opportunity to modernize and redesign its data center from the ground up. As the company transitioned to mostly digital operations in workflow across departments — from accounting to sales — ensuring business uptime became a primary objective.

Aqueduct decided it was time to take power management to a new level to ensure systems remained up-and-running for employees and assist teams in driving dependable service to customers.

Building The Blueprint

Designing a new data center from scratch, Aqueduct sought best-of-breed technologies to create a redundant, resilient power protection solution. By establishing objectives on the front end for its new facility, the company would be able to implement a more strategic disaster preparedness plan.

To protect electrical systems and defend against downtime, Aqueduct decided to overhaul its entire power infrastructure – including uninterruptible power systems (UPSs), power distribution units (PDUs) and equipment racks. In evaluating new devices for power backup in the new data center, the company identified several overarching requirements: dependability, cost-efficiency and supportability.

Because of its considerable experience as a VAR deploying Eaton UPSs at customer sites, Aqueduct recognized the opportunity to bring Eaton solutions in-house and safeguard its facility.

Making Moves

For its new data center, Aqueduct chose to install two Eaton 9PX UPSs designed to deliver premium, double-conversion backup power and scalable battery runtimes. A second pair of 9PX units were deployed to provide continuous uptime in the company’s Interoperability Lab – a dedicated chamber where customer equipment is staged and tested before being deployed in client environments.

Accompanying Aqueduct’s UPSs were four Eaton RS Enclosures, which help the company meet a variety of application demands. The enclosures gave Aqueduct customizable and flexible mounting options, high-flow doors for maximum airflow and a wide array of cable management configurations. With a highly secure combination lock, the solution also helped IT staff ensure physical security for the new data center.

Further streamlining both protection and efficiency were a dozen Eaton ePDU G3 in managed, metered and basic models. With managed technology, Aqueduct can achieve billing grade accuracy monitoring at the outlet level; outlet switching; and a robust design that is UL-rated to operate at 140° F (60° C) for containment and high temperature environments. Furthermore, the high accuracy meter measures current, voltage, power and energy for load balancing, capacity planning, efficiency monitoring and energy usage reporting.

A Noticeable Impact

Keeping equipment tidy always has been important for Aqueduct to make a solid first impression with customers. From day one, Aqueduct knew that its new data center would be a customer-facing environment reflecting the value that it offers. With the new, integrated power management solutions deployed together, Aqueduct was able to turn what could traditionally be an unsightly mess into a worthy equipment showcase – one that has been well-received by customers.

Another significant advantage to Aqueduct’s power management solution has been the ability to simply ‘set it and forget it.’ Having a robust system in place for power back up allows employees to do their jobs without distraction, even when technicians aren’t actively managing it. With an efficient system to protect against downtime, Aqueduct also freed up resources to work on other tasks – including growing the business and making sure that customers get the best Aqueduct experience.

A Partnership That Pays Off

Partnering with Eaton — not only for internal projects but also as a reseller — has afforded numerous benefits for Aqueduct. With the Eaton solution deployed in the company’s headquarters facility, the company was able to ensure high availability and continuous uptime to all of its critical equipment. The experience also has put Aqueduct in a unique position to extend the expertise it gained from collaborating with Eaton to help clients power their own facilities.

The combination of Eaton UPSs, rack PDUs and enclosures provided the optimal solution for Aqueduct’s new data center – both from a protection and aesthetic standpoint. With Aqueduct now planning to add another location in Providence, Rhode Island, the company is excited about the possibility of expanding its data center footprint into another region. And when the time comes, the organization can rest easy knowing that Eaton will be there to back them up.

About The Authors

Bill Annino is Southern New England Senior Vice President and General Manager for Aqueduct.

Fran Harrington is Director, Northeast Midmarket Team for Eaton.