Infrastructure
Gold Award:
Upsite Technologies' HotLok Blanking Panels
In today's data centers, where efficiency has become such a big focus, making the cool air work for you is of utmost importance. Which is why Upsite Technologies' HotLok Blanking Panels is SearchDataCenter.com's infrastructure product of the year. As one judge put it, "In this era of combating bypass air and lowering [power usage effectiveness], this is nice!"
There are other blanking panel manufacturers out there, but the HotLok's main competition is nothing at all, or custom-built blanking panels that industrious data center operators build themselves. So what makes HotLok panels worth the price ($51 for a carton of 5 2U panels)?
"The idea of 'snap-in' blanking panels is not new," wrote one judge, "but everything about the actual design of these panels is innovative -- particularly the optional incorporation of a Temperature Sensing Strip and the availability in two panel heights."
The panels are a fire-resistant recyclable thermoplastic and come in 1U and 2U forms. The installation (and removal) is key, as the panels include one finger grip on each side so they can be snapped in and pulled out with ease. As Instor Solutions, a data center infrastructure value-added reseller wrote, "It's toolless!" You can leave your screwdriver at home.
The blanking panels can come with an Upsite temperature strip, which determine temperature at that spot within one degree Celsius. Most importantly, the panels do what they're supposed to do -- block bypass air. According to the HotLok Blanking Panel spec sheet, the product uses cantilevered sealing vanes to eliminate gaps between blanking panels or with installed equipment to provide an effective seal of 99.97%.