PDU - Power Distribution Management

Filter by input plug, voltage, outlet mix and monitoring level below, or contact us / call (800) 217-8085 with your rack layout and we’ll work through the spec with you. Over 5,000 PDUs, most shipping in 5–10 business days.

How to choose a rack PDU in five questions

1. What circuit feeds the rack? Match the PDU’s input to the branch circuit exactly: voltage (120 V, 208 V, 240 V or 400/415 V), single- or three-phase, and breaker rating (15, 20, 30, 50 or 60 A). A 30 A three-phase 208 V feed delivers about 8.6 kW at the 80% continuous-load rating; a 60 A feed about 17.3 kW.
2. Which plug? The input plug is set by the circuit — NEMA L5-20P/L5-30P for 120 V, L6-20P/L6-30P for 208/240 V single-phase, L21-30P or L15-30P for three-phase, and IEC 60309 pin-and-sleeve for 50/60 A and 400 V. Filter by input plug below and the wrong ones disappear.
3. Which outlets, and how many? Count your equipment cords: C13 for most servers and switches, C19 for high-draw gear such as blade chassis and large storage. Locking outlets stop cords backing out. Choose a PDU with headroom for growth — outlet count is the spec you cannot change later.
4. How much visibility do you need? Basic distributes power only. Metered adds a local display of input load so you never trip a breaker. Monitored puts that data on the network. Switched lets you remotely power-cycle individual outlets. Outlet-level metering shows draw per device. See our cross-vendor decoder of intelligence tiers.
5. Where does it mount? 0U vertical PDUs mount in the rear of the cabinet and keep rack units free; 1U/2U horizontal units suit shallow or shared racks. Dual-feed (A/B) racks want two PDUs on separate circuits.

The full walkthrough — load calculation, redundancy and environmental sensors — is in the rack PDU sizing and engineering guide. Terms you meet along the way are defined in the PDU feature glossary.