The Reliable Power Supply – an Oxymoron? Can a power supply actually be reliable? Is there such a thing as a Million Hour Power Supply? Can you just specify the reliability and get it? Picking a good supplier is important, but is it enough? How about MTBF calcs? --stress analysis? – ---What kind of testing?

In Search of Dependable Power Pick a good supplier Specify the important stuff Trust but Verify Measure Field performance

You want a Good Power Supply? No matter whether OEM or Custom: Check out your supplier!

Important Specifications Field MTBF Life Expectancy Require Failure Analysis of returned units MTBF Calculation?

Supplier check list – ISO certification; Quality Manual – Design (review and test) – Manufacturing (FA and CA process) – Material control (AVL) – Effective QUALITY Management – Reliability reporting and feedback

Stick to New Technology

Picking a good Supplier Youre going to have problems: make sure you pick one that you can deal with – Accessibility of responsible personnel – Receptive attitude – Dialog Make sure he understands that Failure Analysis is not the same as Repair

Proof of the Pudding Dont expect the Field to take care of itself – Real-time field tracking exposes problems as they happen Design problems Revision incompatibility Customer specific Supplier process problems

Field Data Tracking HP NonStop Tracking Databases

How Good is Good? Range from 300,000 to 1.6 Million hours

Two Vendors, Same PS One years Field Data

Early Wearout Wearout began at ~2 years

Tales from the Crypt AVL Control Customer environment Fan Selection Design problem Board layout Manufacturing process

Conclusion: In Search of Dependable Power Pick a good supplier Specify the important stuff Trust but Verify Measure Field performance