Our schools use APC. We use a mix of server systems (Linux, MacOSX and Windows), and all of them support the APC units for graceful shutdowns. Also, we have purchased our first APC Netshelter rack, which we chose as it looked extremely expandable with power and air venting modules.
Unfortunately for us, the move from the SmartUPS 2200XL to the SmartUPS RT 3000VA requires an upgrade to our power feed. It appears that our dated system cannot handle the 240V with the high load which we require. The various power planning is taking much longer that we would like, and we expect the end cost to do this power upgrade to be quite high. All the while, we have a $5000 UPS in an empty rack, waiting... As for dealing with the APC, I've had few problems to complain about. But i'm not trying to do anything redundant like you are. --Matt Ross Ephrata School District ----- Original Message ----- From: Ben Scott [mailto:[email protected]] To: NT System Admin Issues [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:57:00 -0800 Subject: UPS recommendations > Hi all, > > We had a power outage today. I looked over at the server rack just > in time to see one of the UPSes light up like a Christmas tree, shriek > like an injured parakeet, and then kill itself. (Admitted it was old, > but a graceful failure this was not.) The servers with redundant > supplies failed over to the other UPS, which promptly went into > over-current alarm and dropped the load. Either said UPS's management > software has been grossly misreporting its load, or two UPSes at 40% > load doesn't include enough margin during transfer. Any which way you > slice it, it's time to buy some new UPSes. I'm going to ask for two > entirely new 1400 or 2200 VA units (existing were 1000 VA), although > budget may be an issue. > > What do people like for UPSes, *and why*? I don't see much > variation across manufactures in a given price band. At a given > dollar amount, it seems I get roughly the same capacity, features, > etc. I'm thinking differences in management software and quality of > support don't show up in a spec sheet. Comments on that front are > especially welcomed. > > In particular, I'm interested in how to manage a multiple-server, > multiple-UPS scenario. Our two biggest servers have redundant > supplies. I'd like to plug each supply into a different UPS. So each > UPS will be powering multiple servers, and each server will be drawing > power from multiple UPSes. I imagine that makes the management > software configuration a bit trickier, specially since a lot of > management packages used to assume one-UPS-per-server. > > -- Ben > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
