Looks nice , is it connected via USB or serial ?

 

Its only 100 euro here in Sweden,  so this is something that I need to look at, would you please be nice and send me your configuration files for this UPS ? or some instruction to get it to work, then I would be pleased.

 

 

Have a nice day

 

/Peter

Looks nice , is it connected via USB or serial ?

 

Its only 100 euro here in Sweden,  so this is something that I need to look at, would you please be nice and send me your configuration files for this UPS ? or some instruction to get it to work, then I would be pleased.

 

 

Have a nice day

 

/Peter

 

All the instructions are in this thread, along with the files you should need.

APC uses a proprietary cable.  It looks like a network connector at the UPS end and USB at the other end.

 

That seems a bit expensive , for the equivalent model ( although I don't know European prices on anything ).  If I use a currency calculator from Canadian to Euro's, I paid $70 CDN = $44 EUR

 

I'd just buy whatever is on sale.    If you read this thread, APC models with that special cable work ( being 450VA, 550VA, 700VA, etc ).  Just make sure it comes with the special cable ( betaman knows from experience )      I fiddled and asked questions when stuck, so if you review some of my comments and the answers others have gave, you should be fine.    My biggest hassle was getting the email notification working, which most people don't even both with as A. It isn't necessary  B.  You need to still have power to your other gear for it to send out  C.  It isn't necessary (ya, I said it twice, so you don't get obsessed with it like I did)

 

Tips:  Make sure you have UnMenu installed and then you can use the Package Installer for UPS in there to make part of the install easier.  Its the first one in the list: apcupsd - A daemon for controlling APC UPS devices

I just order a APC BACK-UPS ES 550VA and his is with a USB/RJ45 cable

 

//Peter     

That's what I have and I believe Betaman also.  So, you don't have to worry about the hardware not being compatible ( you just have to figure out the software part ) 

 

If you haven't read over things yet, one tip for testing your configuration is to plug your server into the wall outlet directly and plug a lamp into the UPS.  Unplug the UPS and let the lamp draw the power out of the UPS.    If you've configured everything properly, when the UPS reaches 5% power remaining, or 3 minutes, the server should receive the "shutdown" command and shutdown properly.    If it doesn't work, then nothing will happen ( but your light bulb go out in 3 minutes ).  This way, you don't have the UPS running out of power while the server is plugged in and the shutdown command not working.    ( This sounds clearer in my head, then on the screen ) 

I got my UPS today, and have installed it with all greats post here so are the UPS up and running, I didn't install the e-mail function (yet). So fare everything are OK.

 

The only bit I didn't test is IF the UPS can wake the server up and the do a shut down My BIOS  is enabled to use USB to wake up.

 

Is this working for someone ?

 

Do you mean does it spin the drives up and then shut it down?  Or do you have your computer go into a sleep mode (ie. everything is basically off)?

 

If its the later, sorry, my server is on 24/7

I have set my disc to spin down after 45 minutes ( if not my TviX is online, using a script to check that), then I have a script that set my server in sleep mode after 5 minutes after spin down.

 

So I need to check if the UPS could wake the server and do a proper shutdown.

 

//Peter

 

I have set my disc to spin down after 45 minutes ( if not my TviX is online, using a script to check that), then I have a script that set my server in sleep mode after 5 minutes after spin down.

 

So I need to check if the UPS could wake the server and do a proper shutdown.

 

//Peter

 

That will entirely depend on your motherboard's ability to wake on USB activity.  You are a pioneer... let us know how it works waking from sleep mode.  To un-mount the drives it will need to spin them up, but then from what I've read, many do anyway when awakened.

 

Joe L.

If it doesn't execute the powerdown script, what is most likely to happen?  ( Lets assume nothing is being written to the array at that moment , as the machine is a sleep ).

 

Depending how much data Peter's got on his array, now is better than later to test.  I've moved 800 movies plus many TV episodes over, so rebuilding the parity drive will be a long process and losing data is soon no longer an option ( as I am starting to not keep optical copies of some items I've downloaded) .

 

I've put all my trust in UnRaid ( but its trust well earned ) that my data is safe

If it doesn't execute the powerdown script, what is most likely to happen?  ( Lets assume nothing is being written to the array at that moment , as the machine is a sleep ).

Asleep the array should use very little power and the UPS that might otherwise last for minutes might last for hours.  Once its batteries get depleted it would power itself off.

 

The sleeping server would lose its RAM contents and it would be as if it lost power without being shut down cleanly.  Upon power up it will perform a parity check.

 

Depending how much data Peter's got on his array, now is better than later to test.   I've moved 800 movies plus many TV episodes over, so rebuilding the parity drive will be a long process and losing data is soon no longer an option ( as I am starting to not keep optical copies of some items I've downloaded) .

 

I've put all my trust in UnRaid ( but its trust well earned ) that my data is safe

Critical data should be backed up elsewhere.  A raid array is NOT a backup.  All it would take is one tornado/flood/lightning strike/thief and your server could be lost forever.  If you have critical files, an off-site backup of them is the ONLY way to go.

OK .. so Peter looks like he's good to test ( assuming he doesn't have a tonne of data moved over already )

 

To speed up the UPS battery drain, plug a lamp or two into it

 

None of my data is important on my UnRaid machine, as its just hollywood media/music.    It would just be the world's largest pain in the ass to have to re-rip every DVD again.    For that to happen something really bad would have had to happen in my home ( theft or fire ).  I'm a Canadian in Ontario.  We don't have too many other natural disasters to worry about.  If my house caught fire, I'm running out with my UnRaid server in one arm and my cat in the other.  Hopefully the girlfriend wakes up ( just kidding... she doesn't live withe me ) 

Hmmmm.. Could it be so easy to just add a "wake up call" in the some script that UPS software using to do a shutdown      but I don't no what that script could be

 

EDIT

I didn't think about when the server are in sleep mode none function or script could be run :-( It's must come from the UPS itself via USB cable, but I have not found anything from the APC home page if this unit could send some wake up signal. so I need to disable my sleep mode at the moment , and only spin down the discs.

 

So when the server are not in use I must have the power on and it cost me a small amount of money every month but this is the only solution   I can also use the power on when someone are going to use the server and shut it down when no one using it.  :'( the server is only use to watch movies anyway

 

 

I got a replay for my answer from APC...

 

In short, the Back-UPS can give shutdwon signal, and the UPS should start up when power is restored and give power to the outlets again (when battery has charged enough).

 

"With a Smart-UPS you have more choices to hibernate the computer"

 

And I have a BACK-UP UPS   

 

EDIT

 

When the server are in sleep mode then I saw that's is only 2watt so I have plenty of time before the battery is empty 

I want to thank all the contributors for the instructions provided in this thread to make my UnRAID UPS-protected! Without you I would have never managed to get this part of the system up and running. Below is a short "build" story with few remainining questions. Any help solving those is much appreciated!

 

I finally got some time to finalise my APC Backups-RS 1500 integration with UnRAID. I have had it connected to my UnRAID server for several months with the instructed setup (UnMenu APC-package, Powerdown and Notify). There weren't too many references to Notify-package in this thread but the APC-package integrated perfectly to it without any need for configuration.

 

Although the system seemed to be fully operational I had never had a chance to really to do real test: gracefull shutdown of server due to low battery. This is usually considered a critical step but I thought the "overkill" UPS model with over an hour worth of battery time should sustain any normal power outages. Well, few weeks ago we had outage in the middle of the night lasting over two hours. In the morning I checked the state of the UnRAID system and there were several problems:

 

1. The server was still shutdown even though power was back on. This was an easy one to fix, I had simply forgot to set the "restore power on AC loss" BIOS setting to "On".

 

2. Once started the server started to perform a parity check as if it was not shutdown properly. This was easily confirmed by the non-existence of last syslog on the memory stick. To solve this I had to do the real test with server connected directly to mains, cutting off UPS power and then checking the apcupsd state changes. Everything seemed normal until the battery was getting close to the default minimum limit of 3 minutes (this took some 35 minutes with an artiticial load of 120W). Once it got to 5 minutes the battery depleted very quickly and the UPS shut down itself before the UnRAID server. It took some 20 seconds for the server to shut down but it did it cleanly.

 

Obviously this behaviour is not optimal so I would need to change the setting from 3 to 10 minutes or so. How would I accomplish this using sed? My plan is to include this modification in the config-file of the Unmenu package (apcupsd-unmenu-package.conf). Or should I actually make it to my go script to prevent changes being overwritten when updating the APC package through UnMenu?

Edit: Silly me, there was actually an existing example available in the other APC thread. To replace a string (timeout in this example):

sed -i -e "s/^TIMEOUT 0/TIMEOUT 300/" /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf

 

3. There was no email notification about the power problem. I had also earlier noticed the absence of APC notifications during the shorter outages. When I performed the power loss test I however did receive notifications. The reason is logical; if there is no power there is no way of sending an email. This issue was also very briefly mentioned by Joe L. somewhere in this thread. I wonder if there is any way to "cache" the sending of email notifications until smtp-services are available? This would be nice also for other notification messages.

 

PS. If someone is wondering about the overkill 1500 model, I'm going to utilise it as a central UPS in our new home to run all our computers and other critical components. Currently the UnRAID server is using only a fraction of it's capacity. All disks spun down the power utilisation is ~40W and with parity calculation running ~120W (7 Samsung 1TB disks). If I had a mb with integrated display adapter the idle utilisation would be even lower.

With regards to #3

 

It will essentially become a moot point as you are going to use your UPS with your computers also, so during a power outage you will still be able to send out email.  I have my PC, 1 monitor, router, switch and DSL modem on another UPS, so email will be able to be sent out always, unless my ISP loses power too! 

 

With regards to #3

 

It will essentially become a moot point as you are going to use your UPS with your computers also, so during a power outage you will still be able to send out email.   I have my PC, 1 monitor, router, switch and DSL modem on another UPS, so email will be able to be sent out always, unless my ISP loses power too! 

 

Typically, when I lose power, so do the amplifiers on the cable TV network in my area...  I may have a UPS, and the router, cable modem, and PC may have power, but there is no way to send mail as I have no network connectivity to the outside world.

 

You are lucky with a DSL modem... it might just get through...

With regards to #3

 

It will essentially become a moot point as you are going to use your UPS with your computers also, so during a power outage you will still be able to send out email.   I have my PC, 1 monitor, router, switch and DSL modem on another UPS, so email will be able to be sent out always, unless my ISP loses power too! 

 

Typically, when I lose power, so do the amplifiers on the cable TV network in my area...  I may have a UPS, and the router, cable modem, and PC may have power, but there is no way to send mail as I have no network connectivity to the outside world.

 

You are lucky with a DSL modem... it might just get through...

I just purchased one of those UPS to normal plug extension cords and I'm now able to connect also my ADSL-modem and switch to the UPS. So now I'm waiting for the next power outage to see whether the DSL-lines are also affected by it. From your answers I conclude there is no obvious and easy way of making sending email notifications more robust? I at least occasionally have availability problems with my ISP so it would be nice to have the notifications waiting in a que and not just vaporise. Though it doesn't matter too much since all messages are stored in the syslog.

 

Regarding #2, the correct file to modify was not the apcupsd-unmenu-package.conf mentioned in my post above but rather apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-1kjz.tgz.auto_install. I changed the default minimum battery level and minutes left settings. The current content is below:

installpkg apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-1kjz.tgz
sed -i -e "s/^DEVICE \/dev\/ttyS0/#DEVICE \/dev\/ttyS0/" /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
sed -i -e "s/WALL=wall/WALL=\"mail -s 'unRAID_Server_UPS_Alert'\"/" /etc/apcupsd/apccontrol
sed -i -e "s/^BATTERYLEVEL 5/BATTERYLEVEL 30/" /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
sed -i -e "s/^MINUTES 3/MINUTES 15/" /etc/apcupsd/apcupsd.conf
/sbin/apcupsd
#Now, put into place the shutdown script replacement
echo "/sbin/powerdown" >/etc/apcupsd/doshutdown
echo "exit 99" >>/etc/apcupsd/doshutdown
chmod 755 /etc/apcupsd/doshutdown
sed -i -e "s/\/sbin\/poweroff/\/etc\/apcupsd\/apccontrol killpower; \/sbin\/poweroff/" /etc/rc.d/rc.6

 

Btw, It took some time for me to realise that you have left-shift & left-click to copy and right-shift & right-click to paste when using mcedit/putty and multiple terminal windows.

With regards to #3

 

It will essentially become a moot point as you are going to use your UPS with your computers also, so during a power outage you will still be able to send out email.   I have my PC, 1 monitor, router, switch and DSL modem on another UPS, so email will be able to be sent out always, unless my ISP loses power too! 

 

Typically, when I lose power, so do the amplifiers on the cable TV network in my area...  I may have a UPS, and the router, cable modem, and PC may have power, but there is no way to send mail as I have no network connectivity to the outside world.

 

You are lucky with a DSL modem... it might just get through...

Well I guess I'm lucky then too Yesterday we had a power outage in our house and I received the two emails below. It seems that the ADSL lines (and the equipment on the other end) are powered from different source or they are UPS-protected. This is great, now I really get a notification about the outage.

This message is from unRAID Viper_UnRAID1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Server Name: Viper_UnRAID1
Date: Tue Dec 15 16:15:53 GMT-2 2009
Power failure on UPS Viper_UnRAID1. Running on batteries.

This message is from unRAID Viper_UnRAID1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Server Name: Viper_UnRAID1
Date: Tue Dec 15 16:16:34 GMT-2 2009
Power has returned on UPS Viper_UnRAID1...

Hey all, I can confirm that the older Geek Squad (and probably the newer Rocketfish) UPS from Best Buy actually support the APC interface and work with apsupsd.  Just saved myself a bunch of cash since my networking hardware was already on an 875 - Yeah, I give up my hour and a half runtime but my unraid doesn't damage itself anymore.  I'm showing about an 18 minute runtime.

I found a new version of APC UPS software.... But I have not tested it yet.

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/apcupsd/files/apcupsd%20-%20Stable/3.14.7/apcupsd-3.14.7.tar.gz/download

With regards to #3

 

It will essentially become a moot point as you are going to use your UPS with your computers also, so during a power outage you will still be able to send out email.   I have my PC, 1 monitor, router, switch and DSL modem on another UPS, so email will be able to be sent out always, unless my ISP loses power too! 

 

Typically, when I lose power, so do the amplifiers on the cable TV network in my area...  I may have a UPS, and the router, cable modem, and PC may have power, but there is no way to send mail as I have no network connectivity to the outside world.

 

You are lucky with a DSL modem... it might just get through...

... if you use a local mailrelay, it will be stored for a configurable time and sent as soon as your're "up again".

I found a new version of APC UPS software.... But I have not tested it yet.

 

http://sourceforge.net/projects/apcupsd/files/apcupsd%20-%20Stable/3.14.7/apcupsd-3.14.7.tar.gz/download

 

I've been running version 3.14.7 since I installed APC UPSD. It's functioning well enough with my Belkin UPS.

Typically, when I lose power, so do the amplifiers on the cable TV network in my area...  I may have a UPS, and the router, cable modem, and PC may have power, but there is no way to send mail as I have no network connectivity to the outside world.

 

You are lucky with a DSL modem... it might just get through...

... if you use a local mailrelay, it will be stored for a configurable time and sent as soon as your're "up again".

What do you mean by "local mailrelay"? Do you mean standard mail server or something lighter? Would it be possible to set it up running within the unRAID server?

Yes, but remember that you'd only be able to find out AFTER internet access was restored.  So it's really not terribly useful to get email notification AFTER the problem has been resolved.

 

And no, there are (likely) no instructions on setting it up in unraid.  You can run unraid under a full slackware distribution and then do anything at all (see instructions elsewhere in the forums).  Frozen Bubble anyone?