Eaton Corp. is introducing its Power Xpert Architecture today at the AFCOM Data Center World Conference in Las Vegas. It includes a combination of power meters and other hardware that Eaton says will help data centers determine when their power supplies are acting funny.

The power meters – already in Eaton’s portfolio – come in three different versions, the 4000, 6000 and 8000. The higher the number, the more the capability; for example, the 4000 meter records 1,024 samples of the power per cycle, while the 8000 records 100,000.

Those readings can then be viewed on the Web so IT folks can determine irregularities. Jim Thompson, a product line manager at Eaton, said the Power Xpert Architecture works with Eaton and non-Eaton power equipment. It also includes a 1U rack server that synchronizes time between multiple power devices, so when data centers want to backtrack to investigate a power hiccup, all the hardware is in tune.

“It detects small events so you can be proactive,” Thompson said. “One of the biggest issues is you end up with manufacturers pointing fingers at each other. A server manufacturer will walk in and say the server is locking up because of the power. By putting a power meter on the line, you can turn around and say, ‘No, it’s not.’ It gives you visibility into an item that historically has been dark for IT professionals.”

The power meters are $4,000 to $8,000, and the time synchronization server is about $4,000, Thompson said.