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Questions tagged [ups]

uninterruptible power supply

An uninterruptible power supply, also uninterruptible power source, UPS or battery/flywheel backup, is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source, typically mains power, fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide instantaneous or near-instantaneous protection from input power interruptions by means of one or more attached batteries and associated electronic circuitry for low power users, and or by means of diesel generators and flywheels for high power users. The on-battery runtime of most uninterruptible power sources is relatively short—5–15 minutes being typical for smaller units—but sufficient to allow time to bring an auxiliary power source on line, or to properly shut down the protected equipment.

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Source: wikipedia

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Smell of rotten eggs in the server room

A week ago I got the following error on my APC Smart-UPS 1000 which I muted. Warning State: Connect battery Load: 55% Batt: 100% Today, I could smell a sort of sulfur/sulphur/rotten egg smell when I came into the office and the UPS is alarming…
Andy Joiner
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Is UPS worthwhile for non-production equipment?

Over the years, I've had to throw away a quite a few bits of computing equipment (and the like): Several ADSL routers with odd symptoms (losing wireless connections, losing wired connections, DHCP failures, DNS symptoms etc) Two PVRs spontaneously…
Jon Skeet
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What are the pros and cons of having your own UPS attached to your own server hosted in a data center?

According to this comment by Tom O'Connor (slightly edited below): You can seriously cheese off a datacentre by putting an UPS inside your own rack. What are the risks to the data center should a customer (somehow) choose to do this?
JonathanDavidArndt
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UPS and power strip interactions?

Sometimes I hear that you shouldn't plug (UPS brand X / any UPS) into (power strip brand X / any power strip) because of some interaction leading to poorly conditioned power, reduced battery life, massive explosions spattering the room with battery…
chaos
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Replace a UPS battery or buy a new UPS?

Is it worth buying a replacement battery for a UPS or better to buy a completely new UPS? I have heard a UPS is never the same after the original battery dies and is replaced. Is it OK to use a third party after-market replacement battery or should…
yothenberg
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Testing a UPS by unplugging it from the wall

At an Not For Profit/Charity I volunteer for occasionally we were very fortunate to be provided (donated) with a brand new 3Kva APC UPS. This is total overkill for our modest server rack (four mid-range servers and a switch!) but hey, I'll take what…
Mark Henderson
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Plugging in a server rack with UPSes into a room that has its own UPS backup issues

Thank you everyone who's responded. There's been a common theme in some of the responses that I wanted to clarify since I wasn't clear in my original post. This is an upgrade that will replace their current hardware as part of our standard upgrade…
KazeEnji
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How does a 3-Phase UPS distribute power?

We've got 2 UPSes in our server room. One's 3 phase, and has a 3phase supply, yet the APC network stats thing only says Incoming Voltage: 230.1 Volts The other is a single phase one with no network-type monitoring. What I'd really like to know,…
Tom O'Connor
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Is it safe to use a UPS designed for desktop PCs to power a server?

I am working on a server within my office. The server will eventually be relocated to a data center. I would like to be able to leave the server switched on in my office, which means I would like to be able to protect it from power outages or…
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Can Running a Server's Redundant PSU on Different Circuits Damage It?

So I've been tasked to document and review the status of the UPSes for my current employer and identify any changes that need to be made. Generally easy stuff, however I came across a few units that are plugged into both regular power and a UPS…
Insomnia
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How to wake a server after UPS Shuts it down when Mains power is restored?

I have several Linux servers connected to APC UPSs. They are connected to the UPS via USB and configured to shutdown if the UPS sends a signal that mains power has been lost and has not returned after a period of time. This works well. In addition…
bk.
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What is the lifespan of an typical UPS battery?

When using a uninterruptible power supply how long does it preserve the original capacity? Say I buy a UPS that holds the necessary load for 10 minutes - I don't want it to unexpectedly come into state when it dies 30 seconds after a blackout…
sharptooth
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Is there any value in protecting both rack power feeds with their own UPS?

I've done some looking and have not found a satisfactory answer to this question. When is it necessary or suggested to use an independent UPS (on it's own mains branch circuit) for each power feed to a rack? To elaborate; when using servers with…
cathode
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Can I plug a 15A UPS into a 30A receptacle?

I know that typically electronics draw only as much current as they need. Is this the case with UPSs? I have a 120 volt, 30 amp circuit, and am replacing the UPS plugged into that circuit with a lower wattage UPS. This UPS has a 15 amp plug. Is it…
bsamek
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Change the UPS battery while it's powered on?

Is it dangerous or not advisable to change the UPS battery while it is plugged in? We have an APC Smart-UPS 1500 and we need to replace its battery. I have the new battery but the UPS powers a few machines that I would rather not turn off for the…
Siim K
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