Data Centers And DC Power

mstansberry writes "In the final article in a series on the price of power in the data center, IT pros weigh the pros and cons of direct current-powered servers. A limited number of companies make servers with the power supplies removed with DC power distributed to multiple machines from a single unit. It saves power by skipping an extra conversion from alternating current (AC). Telcos have been using this method for years, but some data center pros are leery of taking on the new systems. It's not something people are familiar with and if they break down, you have to hire a specialized engineer to come fix them. But if they're saving even half of what they're reported to save on the electric bill, companies could afford to hire the engineers." We've reported on previous articles in the series.