What Is a PDU (Power Distribution Unit)?
A PDU distributes electrical power to the equipment in a rack. A rack PDU takes one or more feeds and splits them across many outlets for servers, storage, and network gear.
Four Levels of Rack PDU
Basic
Reliable power distribution, no measurement.
Metered
Reports total or per-outlet current draw.
Switched
Remote on/off control of individual outlets.
Intelligent
Per-outlet metering, switching, and environmental sensors.
The PDU Is Where Capacity Is Won or Lost
Rack power is a hard limit. Without per-outlet data, teams leave capacity stranded — under-filling racks out of caution — or risk tripping a breaker by overloading a circuit. Intelligent PDU telemetry turns power from a guess into a plan, especially as AI racks push circuits toward their limits.
Bring PDU, device, and thermal data into one view
Sensaka collects power and environmental telemetry alongside hardware health, so capacity and energy planning work from real numbers.