Data center & server room
Rack-level power distribution for data centers
Servers take their last metres of power from the rack PDU. GuardDC manufactures those units — basic through switched — and the SPDs that sit uGUARD / ENGINEERING CASE STUDY 001
ZTE Pakistan Data Center
Customized 26-Outlet Rack PDUs for Centralized Monitoring and Remote PDU-Level Switching
Representative 26-outlet rack PDU | 20 × IEC C13 + 6 × IEC C19
| Client & application | ZTE | Data center infrastructure in Pakistan |
| Representative platform | 26-Outlet Rack PDU | 20 × IEC C13 + 6 × IEC C19 |
| GUARD scope | Mechanical adaptation, monitoring software, control logic and manufacturing |
| Project milestones | First solution in approx. one month; batch production completed in three months |
01 Project Context & Customer Requirements
The ZTE data center project in Pakistan called for more than high-density rack power distribution. The PDU solution needed to work alongside a centralized management environment, consolidating operating information, locating outlet-related status feedback and enabling remote power operations.
Building on a longstanding relationship with ZTE and prior experience in intelligent rack PDUs, GUARD proposed a customized solution balancing required functionality, engineering feasibility and procurement cost, and was selected for the project.
02 Engineering Challenge: Practical Intelligence at the Right Cost
The 26-outlet assembly had to fit within rack installation constraints while accommodating power distribution, incoming cabling and management electronics. The existing monitoring software could capture aggregate PDU power information, but the project also required more useful identification of feedback associated with individual outlet positions.
Rather than redesigning the entire hardware platform, GUARD focused its customization efforts on mechanical integration, feedback association and software-based management functions.
03 Solution: Time-Sequenced Feedback Identification
GUARD introduced project-specific Time-Sequenced Feedback Identification logic. By correlating status feedback returned from designated outlet positions at predefined time intervals, the management software could associate relevant signals with their corresponding power outlets. This made operational status information easier for data center personnel to locate and interpret.
The lightweight approach leveraged an existing PDU monitoring architecture, helping meet the project’s status-identification goals without adding a dedicated high-cost metering device to every outlet solely for identification.
The project-specific implementation also provided Remote PDU-Level Power Switching, allowing the central management terminal to operate the power state of an entire PDU. Software and control features were customized for the deployed solution.
Product structure | high-density rack distribution platform
04 Development, Iteration & Delivery
GUARD began with mechanical design and software validation, delivering its first solution in approximately one month. The enclosure and installation design met the rack requirements, while the initial software required further refinement in data logging and outlet-related feedback correlation.
The engineering team iterated the feedback timing and data-handling logic before submitting the completed project solution. GUARD then organized batch manufacturing across the project’s configurations and finished production within three months. The project team received recognition from ZTE for its execution.
05 Representative 26-Outlet Rack PDU Specifications
The following publicly documented AC380V/32A configuration illustrates the underlying 26-outlet hardware platform. Project-specific remote switching and software functions were implemented as customized features.
| Parameter | Representative public configuration |
| Model | GDE-32A-20C13+6C19-FT-ZN |
| Input rating | AC380V / 32A |
| Outlets | 20 × IEC C13 + 6 × IEC C19, retention design |
| Dimensions | 1790 × 110 × 63 mm |
| Installation | Vertical rack mounting; 1767 mm mounting-hole centers |
| Power input | Top terminal box; 5 × 6 mm² conductors; PG25 cable gland |
| Finish | RAL9005 black |
| Display & management | LCD; IP-based web access; master-PDU cascading |
| Alerts & interface | Audible/indicator alarms; external temperature/humidity sensor interface |
06 Verification & Customer Value
Related 26-outlet models underwent third-party EMC testing against applicable standards under EU EMC Directive 2014/30/EU, including EN 55032 and EN 55035. Separate reliability reports document low- and high-temperature operation, temperature cycling, damp-heat cycling, power-supply bias, switching and pre-aging tests.
The project demonstrates GUARD’s ability to combine proven rack PDU hardware with focused software customization, cost-conscious status identification, remote PDU-level control and scalable manufacturing for demanding data center deployments.
Discuss your customized rack power distribution project · www.guarddc.ai/contact/
Technical references: GDE-32A-20C13+6C19-FT-ZN AC380V/32A A1 specification; HUAX250922308KR EMC report; BJ-R250909106A-02-EN reliability report.
Named deliveries
- China Unicom data centers — 26,900+ PDUs; more than 20,000 intelligent
- Tencent Cloud Chongqing and Qingyuan — 9,000+ basic and 4,600+ intelligent; 13,600+ total
- Alibaba Cloud Japan, Shenzhen, and Shenyang — 17,000+ basic and 3,200+ intelligent; 20,200+ total