The importance of accurate power measurement for power analyzers in the context of the surge in demand for data servers and data centers:

With the rapid advancement of digitalization, the amount of data is growing exponentially, driving the increasing demand for data centers and further expanding their role in data storage infrastructure. At the same time, the continuous strengthening of climate protection regulations and resource conservation requirements has brought dual challenges: on the one hand, it is necessary to comprehensively improve the performance of IT infrastructure, and on the other hand, it is also necessary to improve its energy efficiency. This challenge covers power supply for the entire data center, power distribution for individual data centers, and even server and component levels, affecting both component manufacturers and data center operators. In this context, accurate power measurement has become increasingly crucial, becoming a core element in ensuring energy efficiency, operational reliability, and economic feasibility. To meet this demand, we provide measurement equipment and solutions tailored to industry needs.

Author: Patrick Fuchs, Business Development Manager at ZES ZIMMER Electronic Systems GmbH

The latest report shows that the demand for data centers will continue to rise in 2025. According to JLL Research, a total of 10GW of connected load data center construction will be launched globally, with 7GW expected to be completed within the year. This has generated a huge demand for energy supply, while still adhering to global climate protection goals and resource conservation commitments. Although there is still controversy over energy sources, the industry generally agrees on the necessity of improving energy efficiency in data centers. This article will delve into this key issue and analyze in which core application areas precise power and energy measurement can effectively address the energy consumption challenges of modern data centers in terms of regulations, economy, and environment.

Power supply and uninterruptible power supply system for data servers: focusing on energy efficiency

The power supply of servers ranging from low power to high power levels plays a crucial role in determining the energy consumption, heat dissipation, and operating costs of data centers. The increasingly compact design has driven higher system density and improved reliability through redundant power supply units. Therefore, data center operators are increasingly inclined to adopt power solutions that meet high energy efficiency standards.

In the United States, the Energy Star Environmental Certification requires server power supplies to meet at least the 80 PLUS Silver certification standard. To maintain technological advancement, power manufacturers constantly innovate power electronics technology, striving to achieve or exceed higher levels of certification such as 80 PLUS Titanium P, with peak efficiency of up to 96% at 50% load.

To meet the efficiency measurement requirements during the development and testing phases, we offer the LMG600 series high-precision analyzer, which is widely used to evaluate, optimize, and validate the energy efficiency of power products. Focus on evaluating the relationship between input and output power under different load conditions during testing. As shown in the following figure, it is a schematic diagram of using LMG641 power analyzer to measure the efficiency of server power supply.

We provide the following high-performance measurement channels to meet the requirements of different measurement objects in terms of accuracy, bandwidth, sampling rate, and synchronous measurement of narrow bandwidth and wide bandwidth:

LMG600 B channel: suitable for general measurement, accuracy ± (0.05% reading+0.02% range), bandwidth 500 kHz, sampling rate 150 kS/s

LMG600 S channel: suitable for high-precision broadband measurement and optimized DC accuracy, accuracy ± (0.015% reading+0.01% range), bandwidth 10 MHz, sampling rate 1.21 MS/s

The LMG600 series power analyzer supports modular configuration of these channels, suitable for single-phase or multi-phase measurement, with a measurement range of up to 32 A (rms) and 1000 V (rms).

For high current applications, we offer PCT series high-precision current sensors that support measurement of thousands of amperes and are suitable for energy efficiency evaluation of high-power power supplies and large capacity UPS batteries.

Ensure data servers comply with regulations - LMG Test Suite helps on the road to compliance

Governments and regional organizations have set energy efficiency targets at the national or EU level, promoting the development of standards and regulations that align with local sustainable development goals. Data centers and servers must operate under conditions that are as energy-efficient and climate friendly as possible to ensure compliance. For example, the EU requires data servers installed to have a CE Declaration of Conformity that complies with EMC standards (EN/IEC 61000-3) and energy consumption measurement standards (EN 50564).

To ensure certification compliance, reliable testing must be conducted. The LMG Test Suite software we provide for the LMG600 power analyzer enables compliance testing on the PC end, evaluating key parameters including harmonics, power factor, voltage fluctuations, and standby power consumption

☆ EN/IEC 61000-3-2/-12 (harmonic limit)

☆ EN/IEC 61000-3-3/-11 (Voltage fluctuation and flicker)

☆ IEC 62301/EN 50564 (standby power consumption)

The LMG600 power analyzer complies with the harmonic (EN/IEC 61000-4-7) and flicker testing (EN/IEC 61000-4-15) standards. At the same time, for compliance testing, we provide dedicated high-precision measurement channels:

☆ LMG600 C channel: specially designed for 50/60Hz compliance testing, accuracy ± (0.03% reading+0.01% range), bandwidth 10 kHz, sampling rate 150 kS/s

Optimizing system energy efficiency during server operation: SPECpower benchmark test

In order to process large amounts of data quickly and reliably, servers typically adopt a multi-core CPU structure. As the computational load changes, the power efficiency also changes, resulting in fluctuations in the energy efficiency of the entire system with the operating mode. Energy efficiency is typically expressed as the system performance per watt of power consumption.

In order to continuously optimize the system's operational efficiency, data center managers need to select and validate server hardware based on load characteristics, and improve the average performance to power ratio during the actual working cycle. To this end, the SPECpower committee under SPEC (Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation) has launched the SPECpower_stsj2008 benchmark test to standardize the energy efficiency performance of servers under different loads.

The LMG600 series power analyzer from ZES ZIMMER is one of the devices supported by SPEC certification. The following is a representative measurement setup diagram.

The benchmark test results of LMG611 can be used as a basis for evaluating the current energy efficiency level and reporting to national regulatory agencies. This result is particularly applicable to mandatory data center energy consumption declarations in Germany and throughout the European Union, which are submitted to the Energy Efficiency Register for Data Centers. With the help of SPECpower benchmark testing and our LMG600 series power analyzer, data center operators have a validated measurement solution that can efficiently meet various regulatory compliance requirements.

Efficient Transformer: Improving PUE by Reducing Power Consumption

The load of data centers often exhibits nonlinear characteristics (such as servers, distribution unit PDUs, frequency converters, etc.), which poses challenges for transformers connected to the power grid. If the harmonic current is not effectively suppressed, the transformer load rate will increase, the operating efficiency will decrease, and the key energy efficiency indicator PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of the data center will be affected.

Blindly increasing the capacity of transformers is not an economically feasible solution, but rather increases no-load losses. Therefore, regulations such as DOE 2016 (US Department of Energy) and the EU Ecodesign Tier 2 have mandated the use of high-efficiency transformers (such as those with amorphous alloy cores and K-13 harmonic tolerance). These transformers can achieve an efficiency of over 99.5% within the load range of 50% -75% and effectively suppress harmonics.

Such low power consumption places high demands on testing equipment. The LMG671 analyzer from ZES ZIMMER (paired with A or S channels) can provide the required measurement accuracy, bandwidth, and harmonic analysis capabilities. In addition, its PSI interface can be connected to temperature sensors for temperature drift compensation during transformer short-circuit testing (for copper loss measurement), and the testing process can be automatically processed through a built-in script editor.

We also provide high-precision current and voltage sensors (such as PCT series current sensors and HST high-voltage dividers), supporting power measurement extensions from hundreds of kVA to several MVA

Conclusion

Against the backdrop of increasing energy consumption in data centers and servers, and increasingly stringent regulatory requirements, accurate power measurement has become a key element in improving system energy efficiency and achieving compliance. By using ZES ZIMMER's LMG600 series power analyzer and its accompanying accessories, manufacturers and developers of power supplies, power distribution units, and high-efficiency transformers can optimize performance and validate energy efficiency based on precise measurement results.

From compliance testing that meets standards such as 80 PLUS, ENERGY STAR, DOE 2016, to EU Ecodesign, to SPECpower standardized energy efficiency assessments, our testing platform provides comprehensive solutions for data center operators to optimize server operational efficiency and fulfill their energy consumption reporting responsibilities.

The combination of LMG600 series power analyzer and LMG Test Suite software not only ensures compliance with various energy efficiency standards, but also provides strong support for promoting the development of data centers towards green, sustainable, and economically feasible directions.