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48 Is the New 12
Server Power in the Rapidly Growing Digital Universe
Written by: Maurizio Salato
Director, Power Systems Engineering
April 2014

Introduction
The digital universea measure of all digital data created, replicated, and consumed in
a yearwill reach 40 zettabytes (40 x 1024 bytes) by the end of 2020a 50-fold increase
from 2010 (Reference 1). According to projections from Cisco Systems, annual Internet
traffic alone will cross the 1 zettabyte mark by the end of 2015 (Reference 2).
These trends are but two indicators of changes to the data environment that are
driving scale in both medium- and large-size server applications.

Growing Access, Denser Content, Expanding Sources

Consumer Internet traffic is representative of the unprecedented growth in worldwide
data transmission. Cisco predicts a 23% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for
consumer IP traffic between 2012 and 2017, led primarily by users in the North America
and Asia Pacific regions (Figure 1). The growth rate of new users, however, is less than
5% in all regions worldwide (Table 1).

Figure 1
Annual consumer IP traffic
worldwide is projected to grow
at 23% CAGRfar faster than
the new-user rate
would support.
Data source: Cisco Systems.

Table 1 Region Population with Y-Y Change

Market penetration of Internet Access 2012 2011-12
access worldwide by region. North America 81.6% 3.2%
Data source: United Nations. China 42.3% 4.0%
East Asia & Pacific 41.4% 3.6%
European Union 75.3% 2.1%
Europe & Central Asia 63.2% 2.9%
Latin America & Carribbean 43.5% 4.6%
Middle East & North Africa 35.3% 0.4%

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 Three key factors are contributing to rapid traffic growth far beyond the organic rate of
new Internet users. Typical mobile phone users check their devices on average about
144 times per day, generating IP traffic 46% of the time (Reference 3). Thanks to public
hotspots that offer essentially ubiquitous access, portable devices provide convenient
24/7 access to information, communication, and entertainment services to users outside
the confines of office and home. Since 2009, portable devices accounted for a growing
fraction of overall traffica trend that is accelerating and, on its current trajectory, will
reach 30% by mid 2015 (Table 2).

Table 2. Date Mobile Percent of Global Traffic

Mobile traffic as a percentage of May 2009 0.9%
total Internet traffic,
May 2010 2.4%
2009 2013.
Data source StatCounter. May 2011 6.0%
May 2012 10.0%
May 2013 15.0%

Content, too, has shifted from predominantly text-based to predominantly media-based.

A picture may be worth 1,000 words but one image can easily occupy the data space of
a half million words or more. Video is an ever-growing part of the data mix. YouTube
uploads alone have grown from 20 hours of video per minute in 2009 to 100 hours per
minute in 2013. Content providers have made full television episodes and full-length
films available online through a variety of anything-on-demand (XoD) portals. Most
production facilities have switched over to high definition (HD) video format, which
requires four to five times the bandwidth of standard definition (SD) video. Traffic
for video clips and streaming television programming is expected to exceed web and
Internet traffic in 2015 (Reference 4).
There are now more connected devices than there are people on earth and the device
growth rate exceeds that of the human population. Cisco projects that there will be
6 billion devices in machine-to-machine (M2M) applications contributing to IP traffic
by 2017.

Increasing Server Density

To support this unprecedented traffic growth, the worldwide average fixed broadband
speed is increasing from 11 Mbps in 2012 to an expected 39 Mbps in 2017. Infrastructure
projects like those supporting Google Fiber may result in fiber to the premises (FTTP)
providing as much as 1 Gbps service.
In response, servers have adopted multi-core processors and increased the number of
processors per board. Overall rack density has grown as well, from 7 servers per rack in
1996 to 20 servers per rack in 2010. Rack power has increased in kind, from 1 kW/rack
in 2000 to 10 kW/rack in 2007 to beyond 20 kW/rack for many new installations today.
For new facilities and those undergoing server upgrades, these trends have made it
difficult to continue distributing power at rack level at 12 V using single-phase
AC-DC converters.

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 Challenges to 12 V Power Distribution
Typical server racks based on 12 V power distribution use a power delivery unit (PDU)
comprising EMI line filters and a Y-configured transformer with a 480 V three-phase
input and 277 V single-phase output, which powers the racks AC-DC converters.
To power a 10 kW rack, the AC-DC converters, referred to colloquially as silver boxes,
must combine to supply over 800 A to their IT loads. A schematic example is shown
in (Figure 2)

Figure 2.
Schematic representation
of high-density computing
rack with single phase AC
distribution and 12 V server
motherboards

The silver boxes operate independently without synchronization, resulting in

significantly richer harmonic content on their input-current waveforms. The converters
power-factor correction (PFC) circuits correct input current waveform phase relative to
the input voltage waveform, but as silver box manufacturers strive to increase power
conversion efficiency, the harmonic content on the AC line increases (Reference 5).
For example, silver boxes that qualify for 80-Plus Gold certification deliver 92% peak
efficiency and produce about 5% total harmonic distortion (THD) of their input-current
waveform (with respect to fundamental frequency). AC-DC converters qualifying for
80-Plus Titanium certification deliver 96% peak efficiency but generate about 12% THD.
Moreover, silver boxes operate asynchronously, therefore the harmonic currents that
are generated interact on the upstream AC line, and usually combine at the three-phase
transformer within the PDU or the uninterruptable power source (UPS), generating an
even wider spectrum of low and mid frequency harmonics (few Hz up to few kHz).

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Recent studies (References 5, 6) have shown that when THD of the current waveform
in a line transformer exceeds 5%, for every 2% THD increase an additional 1% total
power losses are generated, typically in the PDU (or UPS, or both). For a 10 kW system
powering 80-Plus Titanium AC-DC converters, that corresponds to at least 350 W
dissipated in the PDU just due to current THD. System designers must size the PDU
to accommodate the additional losses, increasing the installed cost of the rack, and
affecting overall system reliability.
Eventually, as rack power continues to increase, 12 V distribution starts to run into
problems that are more fundamental. As individual motherboards add cores, memory,
and I/O, the ability to subdivide power sources becomes limited and current maximums
for practically and affordably sized bus bars and power-entry connectors negatively
affect overall rack density. At 20 kW/rack, 12 V power shelves have to deliver a net 1.7
kA, and rack power delivery requirements havent stopped there.

48 is the new 12
48 V power distribution designs differ from 12 V systems in important ways beyond the
distribution schemes operating potential. Most notably, 48 V distribution systems can
replace the PDU transformer and silver boxes with a 400/480 V three-phase rectifier
(a schematic example is shown in (Figure 3). A modern rectifier produces about 3%
THD and rarely exceeds 5% even under light loads. The reduced number of rectifiers
(given the higher per-unit power) and the inherent lower harmonic content of the line
currents they draw result in far lower current-waveform harmonics at system level.
Server operators can take advantage of the economies of scale for existing 400/480 V
three-phase AC to 48 V DC apparatus in use extensively for telecom and other existing
48 V applications. A typical 10 kW unit requires only 2U (89 mm) of rack height and
delivers conversion efficiency 97% and THD < 5%. By contrast, 400/480 V three-phase
to 12 V rectifiers are not practical, given the extremely high current output.
Conduction losses and practical limits on conductor size constrain the distance at
which power can be economically transmitted (for 12 V rack-based systems) to about 5
kW. 48 V power distribution using the same delivery infrastructure can deliver 20 kW
enough to source a full server rack from a single three-phase rectifier.
A DC distribution strategy that eliminates single-phase AC in the rack also simplifies
battery-backup implementations: battery stacks need not up convert through a UPS
inverter that, in turn, drives AC-DC converters. Instead, 48 V backup batteries can drive
IT loads through a minimal control interface that manages switchover, battery charging,
battery monitoring, and status reporting.
The growing shift toward 48 V power distribution has system designers rethinking
their board-power strategies. Several options exist but a few are simpler and smaller
than those that 12 V designs use. One example is Vicors 48 V Intel VR12.5 compliant
reference design, which can eliminate an interstitial conversion stage. Vicors approach
avoids multi-phase conversion topologies, reducing component count, and allowing
direct interface to sources (including backup) in the popular 36-60 V telecom voltage
range. The component count reduction and smaller energy storage requirements allow
designers to bring the power train closer to the processor, reducing losses and parasitic
inductances that are roughly proportional to PCB-trace lengths.
For on-board loads other than processor and memory, single stage bucks are foreseen
enabling 48 V distribution across the entire server board.
With demand for increasing power density, thermal design is a growing concern.
Packaging technologies such as Vicors Converter housed in Package (ChiP) platform
are compatible with two-sided cooling, which can simplify the thermo-mechanical
design.

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 Overall, 48 V power distribution designs use less material than 12 V schemes. They
exhibit shorter bills of materials and require less copper at the rack level. With Vicors
48 V Intel VR12.5 compliant solution, they also avoid electrolytic capacitors. The net
effect is higher reliability, better scalability, and greater power density.

Figure 3.
Schematic representation of
high-density computing rack
with 54 V DC distribution and
integrated short-term backup

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 Summary
Server farms have increased their power demand from 1 kW/rack in their early years
to 20 kW today. Data traffic trends have accelerated and demands of 30 kW/rack are
expected in the near future.
Practical limits on current magnitude and power delivery over a distance are forcing
high-density server installations to switch from 12 V power distribution to 48 V designs.
The switchover brings benefits that arent available to 12 V systems.
48 V power is particularly attractive when on-board converters are operating directly
from 48 V. These topologies can reduce component count, energy storage, and losses
while increasing reliability. New packaging technologies such as ChiP allow for
two-sided cooling and simplify thermal designs.
48 V DC distribution provides high power density that can scale with foreseeable server
deployments.

References:
1. Digital Universe Study, IDC, Sponsored by EMC, December 2012.
2. Cisco Visual Networking Index: Forecast and Methodology, 2012-2017, Cisco Systems, May 2013.
3. Meeker, Mary and Liang Wu, Internet Trends D11 Conference (presentation), KPCB, May 29, 2013.
4. Surge in video will drive global data traffic to more than 60,000 Petabytes in 2016, ABIresearch,
May 10, 2011.
5. Data Center power system harmonics: an overview of effects on data center efficiency and reliability,
The Green Grid, 2013
6. The cost of Harmonic Losses and mitigations in distribution systems, 18th International Conference
on Electricity Distribution, 6-9 June 2005

The Power Behind Performance

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