Centralised and decentralised UPS solutions are the opposite side of the same coin. Delivering the same fundamental power protection as one another, but with different pathways to achieving those goals.

Centralised is basically a single UPS pathway that protects all critical devices. Usually, the solution is delivered from a single UPS, but it may be parallel systems (N+1 redundant) in order to provide back up.

Decentralised is the concept of utilising multiple UPS, locally protecting critical devices across an estate.

Unsurprisingly, as with most things in life, there is no right or wrong answer. The application, budget, manufacturer of choice and many other factors will help to point clients to the best answer for them.

Some positives for centralised UPS include, usually a lower TCO thanks to a longer expected life-cycle among other things, often easier to maintain and less engineer-hours required onsite and a location can be selected which is ideally suited to the UPS solution.

Decentralised on the other hand allows for more points of failure. Whilst this can be seen as a negative, it also means a single point of failure isn’t present. However, centralised systems can work around that with N+? redundancy, for example. There may not be adequate space on site for a centralised system, meaning multiple smaller UPS are more practical. If this is a new installation, rewiring of a building's electrical infrastructure may be required for a centralised UPS system, but is possibly not required for a decentralised solution.

Recently, we had this exact conversation with a client. Historically, purchasing a number of small, single phase UPS that were distributed across their sites. Other the past few months, we have helped to design a centralised system which is being rolled out across their newly acquired estate. This is just one thing our sales team can help with.

Whether you’re looking at centralised Vs decentralised, or any other burning UPS question, don’t delay, call the experts today!