Laurens County Schools aces uptime challenges with help from Eaton

Across all nine of the Laurens County Schools campuses, students rely on technology to perform day-to-day learning activities, from visiting educational web sites to participating in state-mandated online testing. The pandemic spurred uptime requirements to an even more critical level, as students required access to the district’s network to engage in distance learning. Each student is assigned their own device as part of a 1:1 technology program, so the district supports upwards of 7,000 Chromebooks. 

At the recommendation of its service provider, Grainger Technology Company, Laurens County Schools replaced its previous UPS solution with one from a different manufacturer: Eaton. The district began by deploying a 12kVA Eaton 9PXM UPS to safeguard the transfer switch of its backup generator, as well as protect multiple servers, core network switching and security cameras. The scalable, modular UPS combines the highest levels of reliability and the lowest total cost of ownership, with a patented design that allows the district to add capacity or redundancy and increase runtime as its power needs change. In addition to offering plug-and-play power and battery modules that are lightweight and user replaceable, the 9PXM boasts a small footprint that can easily be converted for rack installation. 

To support uptime in the network closets throughout its campuses, Laurens County Schools chose the Eaton 5P UPS. Rolling out a total of 53 units, the district placed a 3000VA UPS within each main distribution frame (MDF) and a 2200VA model in every intermediate distribution frame (IDF). The enterprise-class backup power solution ── which can be deployed in a tower, wall-mount or rackmount configuration ── is primarily tasked with protecting network switches throughout the schools, as well as access door controllers and intercom systems.

Laurens County Schools has been especially impressed by Eaton’s exclusive ABM technology, which has solved its previous battery failure issues. ABM not only increases the service life of UPS batteries by 50%, but also provides the fastest safe recharge time, and provides reliable advanced notice when batteries need replacement. 

Complementing the UPS fleet are 20 Eaton managed rack PDUs, which provide information at the outlet receptacle level on critical factors such as voltage, current and power factor. The units also feature remote on/off outlet switching that allows rebooting of connected equipment, as well as the ability to turn off outlets to prevent unauthorized use.

The district completed its backup power solution by pairing the Eaton Gigabit Network Card (Network-M2) with every UPS. The communication card, the first in the industry to comply with the UL and IEC cybersecurity standards, provides remote monitoring and management of all connected equipment through Eaton’s Intelligent Power Management (IPM) disaster avoidance software. Part of the Brightlayer Data Centers suite, IPM provides tools to monitor and manage all power devices on the district’s network, ensuring system uptime and data integrity. Both the HTML5-based software and the PDUs are managed as a service for Laurens County Schools by Grainger Technology Group.