SNCF (French National Railway)

“Cellwatch has proven its accuracy and is a core part of our data center infrastructure.” – Data Center Manager, SNCF

Situation

Operating large multi-site rail systems requires a mission critical solution where every site can be relied upon to perform at all times. With disperse locations the cost of operations is significant and unmonitored systems can hide potential problems until the moment of truth. The cost of losing power is measured in millions of Euros. As transportation services grew and IT systems expanded, data center technicians for France-based SNCF (French National Railway) realized the significance of preventing their reservations and ticketing networks from going offline. In 2000, the organization installed its first battery monitoring system to prevent an unplanned outage. After nearly five years of false alarms and struggling to manage their batteries effectively with two different battery monitoring solutions, the battery monitoring system was removed and evaluations of another system began.

Solution

In 2006, a Cellwatch® battery monitoring system was selected because of its ability to provide continuous monitoring of ohmic value, voltage and temperature, providing complete visibility of battery status, and delivering immediate notification of any faults. Shortly after installation, Cellwatch triggered an ohmic alarm on three jars that had just been installed twelve weeks earlier. Had Cellwatch not discovered the failing jars, the data center could have experienced a complete system failure with what they believed to be healthy batteries supporting their backup systems.

Results

Because of the data that Cellwatch provided, data center technicians were able to submit a report along with the failed jars to the battery manufacturer. The manufacturer confirmed what the Cellwatch data reported. Based on its stellar performance and financial benefits Cellwatch battery monitoring systems are now required to monitor the health and performance on all new battery installations.

Comments

“Cellwatch has proven its accuracy and is a core part of our data center infrastructure. With continuous predictive monitoring we are able to identify deteriorating jars before they reach failure. Our team of engineers can now take a proactive approach in the case of a defective jar. Having tried out two other battery monitoring systems, we can speak from experience that Cellwatch is easy to install and use, is reliable and even scales simply as we expand our data center capacity. We rely on Cellwatch to keep us up and running, and help maintain our leading customer service status. In addition to monitoring all of our UPSs, Cellwatch is now monitoring 48V DC chargers that protect site security. We are now truly protected from battery failure.” –Data Center Manager, SNCF