So I have recently purchased a CyberPower UPS on which I am planning on plugging my self-build unraid NAS as well as my router and a Raspberry Pi which will act as a VPN server.  I would like to monitor energy usage of the server but am unsure as to the configuration that is best recommended in this scenario.  Should I plug the server into a smart plug and then plug that smart plug into the UPS?  Would that potentially interfere with graceful shutdown?

 

The NAS is going to be positioned in a place where I will not have easy access to the wall outlet.  Would it therefore be better to plug the UPS into the smartplug at the wall (I realise that energy usage would then also include that of the router and the Raspberry Pi) in the instance that I ever need to kill power to the UPS?  Or is this not advised?

The UPS should report energy usage which you can view in unraid's dashboard and track with e.g. Grafana.

 

I have a similar configuration but no smart plug.

It wasn't "plug and play" at least with my CyberPower model.

Here's how I set it up:

 

Would there be any circumstances in which I might need to kill power to the (UPS connected) server?  I ask this because it would be a pain for me to move it out of the way to disconnect the UPS.  If the UPS were connected to a smart plug, I could just turn it off via the appropriate app.

I would argue that for safety reasons you should always have access to the mains outlet or its power switch.  There are potential failure scenarios in the UPS or in the server that make this highly desirable.  Examples could be UPS battery faults, DC wiring faults around PC power distribution to disk drives (a known issue), accidents with liquids, failures in other equipment connected to the UPS, etc.  For mains powered products sold in Europe that I worked in the recent past it was generally required that the user be advised in the product documentation that they must be able to access the mains socket while the product is in use. 

Edited May 5, 20215 yr by S80_UK
typo

9 hours ago, travisbickle said:

I could just turn it off via the appropriate app.

Why you will kill the power ? UPS purpose was make sure power never interrupt.

 

SMART plug should be use to monitor the power usage only in this case, due to electrical relay ( switch ) inside the plug, then it will be a power interrupt failure point.

The OP asked if there was a need to kill power (not that he wanted to), and my argument is that it should always be possible for safety reasons.  But I would also agree with you that using a smart switch is not the way to do this.  It would add a significant point of failure, it would also potentially be difficult or impossible to operate in an emergency unless it also had a mechanical override.