Schneider Electric: HARTING Partnership Enables Seamless Plug-and-Play Data Center Solutions [Case Study]

Schneider Electric partnered with HARTING to develop custom connectivity solutions to meet their growing data center power requirements.

HARTING Connectivity Solutions: Enabling Plug-and-Play Data Center Infrastructure

Simplified installation and deployment

Improved efficiency and cost savings

Enhanced reliability and scalability

The Schneider Electric Innovation Hub is a state-of-the-art facility that helps customers solve distributed IT challenges. With over 100,000 square feet of collaborative spaces and labs, the hub supports innovative solutions for data centers and edge environments. Schneider Electric delivers cutting-edge technologies to more than 6,000 customers worldwide each year. The company has partnered with HARTING to develop innovative solutions for its critical power systems, cooling solutions, rack systems, and prefabricated data center modules.

"HARTING is always at the forefront of interconnect technologies. And they’re always approaching us with new ideas to make our solutions better for our customers."

Scott Neal

Director of Prefabricated Data Centers, Schneider Electric

Challenge # 1: The need for a universal PDU connector

As a global data center operator, Schneider Electric works with different power voltage ranges at locations across the world. Supplying these locations with reliable and standardized solutions is a constant challenge.

Because of the lack of a standard solution, their teams had to manage a range of components, with each local rack configuration requiring a different PDU. With operations spanning five regions, this resulted in five distinct part numbers. Schneider approached HARTING to simplify their supply chain and part management, a crucial goal for cloud and service providers working with thousands of racks. Streamlining deployment and eliminating inefficiencies would yield significant cost savings.

"They had a key piece of the technology for us, the Han-Eco® Connector, which [we adopted as our] universal PDU connector."

James Kummer

Rack Systems Product Manager, Schneider Electric

Challenge # 2: The need for a Plug-and-Play solution

Schneider Electric's prefabricated data centers address a growing need in the industry. Many organizations require data centers in remote or hard-to-reach locations. Building in these regions can be challenging due to labor and material logistics issues. Local regulations, access to qualified labor, and parts sourcing are other challenges. The deployment of these data centers can be time-intensive because of their complexity.

The faster data centers can be brought online, the sooner they can start generating revenue. Schneider has prioritized plug-and-play technology solutions to shorten their build and installation time whenever possible.

Challenge # 3: Meeting the needs of the Schneider Electric's Ecoflair system

Schneider developed a new indirect air economizer solution, called Ecoflair, aimed at improving efficiency in climate control systems. This solution is ideal for data centers, because of the massive strain on traditional HVAC systems in keeping rooms cool.

Ecoflair enables data centers to reduce operating costs by as much as 60%, compared to other cooling solutions. To make it easier and faster to install these systems, Schneider needed a plug-and-play connectivity solution.

Solution: The Han-Eco® connector

Schneider adopted the Han-Eco® connector as their universal PDU connector. The innovative Han Eco is a rugged, molded plastic connector which enables the design of PDU infrastructures within a range of amperages and voltages. The result is a true plug-and-play PDU connector to enable easy, and data center deployment. HARTING was the only manufacturer that could provide a custom solution meeting the required power specifications and lead time — delivery within eight weeks In addition, the Han-Eco met the precise specifications of their proprietary Ecoflair system. Beyond power requirements, Han-Eco’s rugged construction stands up to the harshest environments, enabling reliable connectivity and power generation.

Results:

The collaboration between Schneider Electric and HARTING has led to a successful outcomes for Schneider Electric and their data center customers. By using HARTING's Han-Eco® connector, the system achieves efficient and reliable electrical distribution across it’s many implementations across the globe. The connector's design has also prevented incorrect installation, reducing the risk of human error and downtime. Schneider also adopted HARTING's PushPull Connector with pre-link technology to facilitate command signals for their system's analog devices. This enables reliable and efficient communication within the Ecoflair devices.

The collaboration also simplified maintenance and repairs of Ecoflair in the field The HARTING connectors allow for quick and easy replacement of parts, boosting uptime, minimizing the need for complex repairs, and maximizing revenue for data centers.

The connectors are quick so you don’t have to worry about point to point wiring in the junction box.

Jeff St. Clair

Cooling Product Line Manager, Schneider Electric