APC by Schneider Electric

Last updated

APC by Schneider Electric
FormerlyAmerican Power Conversion Corporation
Company type Subsidiary
IndustryElectrical equipment
Founded1981;43 years ago (1981)
Headquarters West Kingston, Rhode Island, United States
Products Uninterruptible power supplies, data center, servers, storage, software, services
Revenue$3.5 Billion (2007)
Number of employees
12,000 (2007)
Parent Schneider Electric
Website www.apc.com/us/en/ OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

APC by Schneider Electric (formerly American Power Conversion Corporation) is a manufacturer of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), electronics peripherals, and data center products.

Contents

In 2007, Schneider Electric acquired APC and combined it with MGE UPS Systems to form Schneider Electric's Critical Power & Cooling Services Business Unit, [1] which recorded 2007 revenue of US$3.5 billion (EUR 2.4 billion) and employed 12,000 people worldwide. Until February 2007, when it was acquired, it had been a member of the S&P 500 list of the largest publicly traded companies in the United States.

Schneider Electric, with 113,900 employees and operations in 102 countries, had 2008 annual sales of $26 billion (EUR 18.3 billion).

In 2011, APC by Schneider Electric became a product brand only, while the company was rebranded as the IT Business Unit of Schneider Electric.

History

APC was founded in 1981 by three MIT Lincoln Lab electronic power engineers. Originally, the engineers focused on solar power research and development. [2] When government funding for their research ended, APC shifted its focus to power protection by introducing its first UPS in 1984.[ citation needed ]

Acquisition by Schneider

Schneider Electric announced its acquisition of APC on October 30, 2006 [3] and completed it on February 14, 2007. [4] APC shareholders approved the deal on January 16, 2007. [5] The European Union authorized the merger, provided that Schneider divest itself of the MGE UPS SYSTEMS global UPS business below 10kVA. [6] Late in 2007 Eaton Powerware bought the MGE Office Protection Systems division of Schneider.

Product lines

APC datacenter cooling APCDatacenterCooling.jpg
APC datacenter cooling

The company focuses its efforts on four application areas:

Symmetra

APC Symmetra LX is a line of uninterruptible power supply products, aimed at network and server applications. Symmetras come in power configurations ranging from 4 kVA to 16 kVA. Symmetras are built for use in a data center (in a 19-inch rack for example). They include features such as integrated manageability, hot-swappability, user-replaceable power, and battery and intelligence modules.

Smart-UPS

APC Smart-UPS is a line of smaller units intended for home and office use, available as floor-standing and rackmount versions. With the exception of the Smart-UPS Online series (SURT and SRT models), Smart-UPS units are line-interactive UPS systems, running their outputs off the inverters only when the grid power is unavailable.

PowerChute

PowerChute is a computer program by APC designed to control and manage UPS systems. It facilitates unattended shutdown of servers and workstations during extended power outages and provides monitoring and logging of UPS status. Versions vary to cater to different user needs and environments.

PowerChute Business Edition requires servers to be connected via serial port or USB to the monitored Smart-UPS equipment. It provides UPS management and safe server shutdown for up to 25 servers. [7] UPS Network Management Cards made by APC enable UPS management by directly connecting the UPS to the network with its own IP address, avoiding dependence or the need for a server, which can be useful in wiring closets where no servers are present. PowerChute Network Shutdown, together with the UPS Network Management Card, enables safe server shutdown by communicating over a network to any network-enabled APC Smart-UPS (those that contain a UPS network management card). [8]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3Com</span> Former American maker of computer network products

3Com Corporation was an American digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe, Howard Charney and others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981. Metcalfe explained the name 3Com was a contraction of "Computer Communication Compatibility", with its focus on Ethernet technology that he had co-invented, which enabled the networking of computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uninterruptible power supply</span> Electrical device that uses batteries to prevent any interruption of power flow

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or uninterruptible power source is a type of continual power system that provides automated backup electric power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from a traditional auxiliary/emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from input power interruptions by switching to energy stored in battery packs, supercapacitors or flywheels. The on-battery run-times of most UPSs are relatively short but sufficient to "buy time" for initiating a standby power source or properly shutting down the protected equipment. Almost all UPSs also contain integrated surge protection to shield the output appliances from voltage spikes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABB</span> Swedish–Swiss multinational robotics and electrical equipment company

ABB Ltd. is a Swedish–Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Västerås, Sweden, and Zürich, Switzerland. It is traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zürich, the Nasdaq Nordic exchange in Sweden and the OTC Markets Group's pink sheets in the United States. It was ranked 340th in the Fortune Global 500 list of 2020 and has been a global Fortune 500 company for 24 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eaton Corporation</span> Multinational power management company

Eaton Corporation plc is an Irish/American multinational power management company, founded in the United States and incorporated in Dublin, Ireland, with a primary administrative center in Beachwood, Ohio. Eaton has more than 85,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 175 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BEA Systems</span> Defunct American software corporation

BEA Systems, Inc. was a company that specialized in enterprise infrastructure software products, which was wholly acquired by Oracle Corporation on April 29, 2008.

Invensys Limited was a multinational engineering and information technology company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. At its height, the company had offices in more than 50 countries and its products were sold in around 180 countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blade server</span> Server computer that uses less energy and space than a conventional server

A blade server is a stripped-down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power consumption and other considerations, while still having all the functional components to be considered a computer. Unlike a rack-mount server, a blade server fits inside a blade enclosure, which can hold multiple blade servers, providing services such as power, cooling, networking, various interconnects and management. Together, blades and the blade enclosure form a blade system, which may itself be rack-mounted. Different blade providers have differing principles regarding what to include in the blade itself, and in the blade system as a whole.

MGE is a three letter acronym, which may mean:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emerson Electric</span> American multinational corporation

Emerson Electric Co. is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Ferguson, Missouri. The Fortune 500 company manufactures products and provides engineering services for industrial, commercial, and consumer markets. Emerson has approximately 86,700 employees and 170 manufacturing locations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yokogawa Electric</span> Japanese electrical engineering company

Yokogawa Electric Corporation is a Japanese multinational electrical engineering and software company, with businesses based on its measurement, control, and information technologies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schneider Electric</span> French multinational digital automation and energy management company

Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational corporation that specializes in digital automation and energy management.

The Smart-UPS is a series of enterprise-level uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) made by American Power Conversion (APC). Most of the units have a SmartSlot which accepts an optional interface card providing features ranging from network connectivity to temperature and humidity monitoring. With the exception of RT and SRT series, Smart-UPS units are line-interactive UPS systems, only running their inverters when the grid power is unavailable.

Oracle Fusion Middleware consists of several software products from Oracle Corporation. FMW spans multiple services, including Java EE and developer tools, integration services, business intelligence, collaboration, and content management. FMW depends on open standards such as BPEL, SOAP, XML and JMS.

Apcupsd, short for APC UPS daemon, is a utility that runs on Linux, UNIX, macOS and Windows. It allows the computer to interact with APC UPSes. Apcupsd also works with some OEM-branded products manufactured by APC.

Opengear is a global computer network technology company headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, U.S., with engineering in Brisbane, Qld, Australia and production in Sandy, UT.

Chloride is a global company that specializes in the design, production, and maintenance of industrial uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to ensure a reliable power supply for critical equipment across multiple industries. Formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of FTSE 250 index, the company has become privately-owned since 2021.

Liebert Corporation was a global manufacturer of power, precision cooling and infrastructure management systems for mainframe computer, server racks, and critical process systems headquartered in Westerville, Ohio. Founded in 1965, the company employed more than 1,800 people across 12 manufacturing plants worldwide. Since 2016, Liebert has been a subsidiary of Vertiv.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eaton BladeUPS</span>

The Eaton BladeUPS is a modular three-phase UPS system consisting of individual 6U 12 kW UPS units which can be paralleled together to create up to a 60 kW N+1 redundant UPS. A feature of the BladeUPS is that the 6U cabinet houses both the UPS electronics and batteries; other modular systems house them separately. The high power density and 6U form factor of the BladeUPS are targeted at the growing power demands of IT servers and equipment, especially blade servers.

Network UPS Tools (NUT) is a suite of software component designed to monitor power devices, such as uninterruptible power supplies, power distribution units, solar controllers and servers power supply units. Many brands and models are supported and exposed via a network protocol and standardized interface.

Vertiv is an American multinational provider of critical infrastructure and services for data centers, communication networks, and commercial and industrial environments.

References

  1. Moltzen, Edward F. (February 14, 2007). "Schneider Electric Wraps Up APC Acquisition". CRN . Retrieved May 13, 2020.
  2. "Milestones and awards in the history of the APC brand". www.apc.com. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  3. Acquisition presentation document Archived July 5, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , .
  4. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 15, 2007. Retrieved March 25, 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. Schneider Electric – Electrical Distribution and Automation and Control.
  6. Schneider Electric – Electrical Distribution and Automation and Control.
  7. "PowerChute Business Edition – UPS Energy Management Software". APC. Retrieved October 3, 2014.
  8. "PowerChute Network Shutdown – Network Power Management Software". APC. Retrieved October 3, 2014.