Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton Corporation has announced Power Xpert Architecture. The architecture is a further development of Eaton’s PowerChain Management solutions, which help enterprises manage their power system as a strategic, integrated asset.

Power Xpert Architecture is a versatile web-based solution for measuring, monitoring, connecting and managing power systems. Modern networking technology, based on such prevalent communications standards as SNMP and Modbus TCP, enables organizations to integrate multi-vendor power and facilities infrastructure equipment into a seamlessly unified system. For the first time, IT and facility managers have complete visibility of and access to real-time, accurately synchronized information related to power quality at both the system and equipment levels.

“Because an enterprise’s power system evolves as the business evolves, over time it can become more complicated, inefficient and more difficult to manage,” said Jim Thompson, product line manager for Eaton’s Power Quality Solutions Operation. “In many cases, power anomalies are the underlying cause of equipment downtime issues that often go unidentified. Power Xpert Architecture provides the necessary tools to bridge the gap between IT and facility management.”

Power Xpert Architecture addresses some of the key issues that result from a lack of timely, actionable knowledge about power quality events and their potential negative effects on each piece of gear within a power system. IT managers can use the information delivered by Power Xpert Architecture to curb the need to prematurely replace equipment as a result of damages caused by poor quality power. In turn, facility managers may use Power Xpert Architecture to accurately monitor critical power environments and take proactive steps to prevent power failures.

“Once data is gathered, you need a framework to help you integrate and analyze the data. You need management tools to choose the right course of action.You need to analyze events, decide what to do, and then take action,“  Thompson said. “By communicating relevant information to each user group, Power Xpert Architecture ensures optimal use of enterprise equipment and capital.”

Power Xpert Architecture is based on the Ethernet protocol that is standard for modern local area networks. It provides a seamless pathway for large volumes of data collected across the power system.

The Power Xpert Architecture is composed of several software and hardware components:

• Power Xpert Meters measure and monitor critical information about the power system in real time.
• Power Xpert Gateways link Eaton and non-Eaton equipment to Ethernet and the web to produce a comprehensive picture of the entire system. In addition, the gateways allow SNMP traps to be created to alert IT managers if problems arise.
• Power Xpert Network Time Servers synchronize the timing of network devices over Ethernet TCP/IP. By allowing IT and facility managers to access complete and accurate timing for all possible power quality events, Power Xpert Network Time Servers deliver the knowledge needed for future planning.
• Power Xpert Software further expands IT and facility managers’ strategic capabilities, enabling them to analyze energy consumption, perform cost allocations and design system layouts in a virtual modeling environment.

Eaton’s Power Xpert Architecture is fully scaleable and may be deployed in basic, expanded, advanced and customized formats.