Pergravis, LLC Receives UPS Maintenance Contract from US Department of Veterans Affairs

Maintenance Services will Ensure Facility Resilience to Power Outages

Tampa, September 17, 2013 – Pergravis, LLC has received a $74,000 contract from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for uninterruptable power supply (UPS) maintenance services at the Department of Veterans Affairs Tennessee Valley Health Care System Alvin C. York Campus.

 

The UPS maintenance contract integrates three critical services - periodic preventative maintenance, emergency response and supply of replacement parts, all of which will ensure the facility’s ability to withstand an electrical power outage.

 

"Fully integrated preventative, emergency and parts procurement services provides tightly controlled coordination of maintenance activities for these critical systems. This streamlined approach improves the overall quality of service." said Steven Ritzi, Pergravis Managing Director.

 

The initial base year contract for UPS maintenance services was awarded on September 16, 2013. The contract includes four option years running through 2017 if exercised by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

 

Pergravis, LLC is a mission critical facility services firm providing facility consulting, design, improvement, maintenance and migration services to a broad range of private and public sector clients. Headquartered in Tampa, FL, Pergravis delivers services throughout the United States, Caribbean and Latin America.

 

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Pergravis, LLC Awarded $10.8 Million Dollar Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Critical UPS Battery and Equipment Services (CUBES) Contract

Tampa, FL – Monday, April 9, 2012 - Pergravis, LLC, a Tampa, Florida based critical facilities services firm, announced today that it was awarded a $10.8 Million Dollar (contract life) contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) for maintenance of uninterruptable power supply (UPS) systems at sites across the United States.

Pergravis will supply DISA with periodic preventative maintenance service and thermographic inspections on numerous UPS systems and their related battery strings. The contract has a one year period of performance with four additional one-year options.

Speaking from Pergravis Tampa headquarters, Managing Director Dominick Rappa said, “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to serve DISA and the Agency’s mission. This award validates our unique service delivery model that provides best of breed services at a highly competitive price which is essential in today’s Federal contracting environment.”

Data Center World Spring 2012

We've been attending Data Center World Spring 2012 the last few days and DCIM seems to be the breakout technology/buzzword this year.  The number of vendors with DCIM offerings is impressive.  As data center managers have made improvements to cooling hardware, implemented containment solutions, etc. it seems that environmental data gathering, analysis and infrastructure control is now the low hanging fruit in pursuit of greater data center efficiency.

The feature sets vary considerable among the products we saw and time will tell which will ultimately dominate the DCIM market.  Our prediction is that several contenders will emerge with the key differentiators being price point and feature sets optimized for the small, medium and large enterprise markets.

Electrical Loads: How Should Data Center Systems be Protected?

We are routinely asked how various data center systems should be protected. Usually the customer wonders what systems should be protected by an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) and what loads should be placed on a backup generator.

In the average data center we find several critical systems: the enterprise itself, precision cooling, fire suppression, life safety, physical security, etc. All of these systems are critical to normal operations, but in the event of a power outage, how are these systems prioritized and how are they protected? The answer is relatively straight forward; the UPS should be dedicated to supporting the enterprise. Regardless of the facility’s operation strategy for power outages, (be it to achieve an orderly shut down of the enterprise or to operate the enterprise until the facility’s backup generator comes online) the UPS is present to provide short term, interim protection for enterprise hardware.

The reason for this prioritization is straight forward, the loads associated with the cooling plant, such as compressors, pumps and fans are so large as to make it impractical to support them on UPS power. In addition, most data centers can operate during a brief outage of the cooling plant. For these reasons cooling plant components can be protected by backup generator power without a requirement for UPS power.

As for fire protection systems, data center fire detection and suppression systems should be placed on the backup generator supplied emergency power circuits, but must also incorporate their own battery backup system. Typically a maintenance free battery and charging system is built into the facility fire panel. It is imperative that the battery be maintained and replaced per the manufacturer’s recommendations. Failure to do so could result in the system not activating when needed, or in some failure modes, causing an inadvertent discharge of the suppression system.

Likewise, key life safety systems, such as emergency lighting should be engineered to operate independently of the UPS. As with the fire protection systems, emergency lighting batteries must be maintained per manufacturer’s recommendations and be connected to generator supplied emergency power system.

Normal facility systems, such as lighting and comfort cooling outside of the data center, are somewhat of a mixed bag. Often normal data center lighting will be placed on backup generation to allow continued operations in the facility. Generally speaking comfort cooling is not a priority as it is not necessary for most data center operations.

Management may also wish to consider defining telephone equipment as mission critical and placing it on UPS power as well. This will ensure uninterrupted voice capability in the event of a power outage. While a power outage may curtail normal office operations, communications in and out of the building would be an essential service for data center personnel and any skeleton staff asked to occupy the building during an extended outage.

While on the subject of UPS and generator systems, deployment of a UPS and/or generator is only the first step in protecting a data center. A commitment to periodic testing and maintenance of these systems must be made by data center personnel and management. While UPS and generator systems are very robust, they are like any mechanical system and require ongoing maintenance to ensure they work properly when needed. UPS systems should be maintained by factory trained personnel at least once a year.

Back up generators should be tested at least once a month and allowed to run long enough to attain normal operating temperatures. Like UPS systems, generators should be inspected and serviced at least once a year by factory authorized technician,s to ensure the system is fully functional and available when it is needed. Generators also require a programmatic approach to ensure availability. Data center or facilities managers should ensure their generator has sufficient onsite fuel storage to run continuously for extended periods of time. Generally 24 hours of operation at full load is a good target to aim for. Also, management should have pre-existing contracts in place for re-fueling and be assured that their fuel vendor will be able to deliver fuel even in adverse conditions.

A few other items that should be kept in mind in regard to generators include maintaining basic spare parts onsite. Extra engine oil, serpentine belts, filters, hoses and basic tools will give you a fighting chance to make simple repairs if needed. One item that is often overlooked is the generator starting battery. Generator batteries should be float charged and tested periodically to ensure they are in excellent condition and able to start the generator when needed.

UPS and backup power systems are essential for reliable data center operation. Design and deployment of these systems is not difficult, but do require solid planning and a commitment to good maintenance and operational practices. A few dollars spent on system consulting from a qualified vendor will not only ease the system design and deployment process, but will also reduce the chance that your essential back up systems will fail when needed most.

Human Error in the Data Center Environment

One of the things we stress with our customers is the fact that no matter how robust data center facility systems are designed, the "human factor" can always find a way to wreak havoc.  Computer World published a great article on this topic in their August 12, 2010 online edition titled: "Stupid Data Center Tricks".

The take away of the article, and of our discussions with our clients, is that training of data center staff is an essential part of data center operations.  If staff isn't intimately familiar with systems operatation, or how to perform in time of an emergency, the investment in redundant systems can be negated in a heartbeat.

We've Moved!

We're pleased to announce that we have relocated our offices to larger, more comfortable quarters in Tampa's Cypress Point Office Park.  One of the main "perks" of our new offices are expanded conference facilities and we'll be offering a number of in-office and webinar "Lunch & Learn" sessions in which manufacturer and industry leaders will present on topics of interest to the data center community.  Watch our blog and Twitter posts for updates.

Our new address is:
Pergravis, LLC
10012-B North Dale Mabry Highway
Suite 109
Tampa, FL 33618

Now Offering Global Colocation Services!

We are very pleased to announce that Pergravis now offers global colocation services to our customers.  If you need high availability data center space to support disaster recovery operations, reduce latency for critical applications or support remote office operations, we can offer service at any one of 35 global facilities including locations in London, Paris, Beijing, Cape Town, Seoul, and Hanoi.  We also offer domestic colocation services at our network of 13 data centers.

While our colocation servcies are new, our hardware migration services are not.  We can provide total support in the relocation of existing hardware or installation of new hardware in the colocation facility of your choice.  All moves are fully insured, executed by trained IT personnel and hardware is packaged to some of the most stringent requirements in the industry.  Feel free to contact us at your convenience for your colocation and physical migration needs.