[SOLVED]-(UNraid 6.5)UPS Setup with Tripplite UPS


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From what i have read i should not set my ups to shut off, because it will or may not (Tripplite).  Although it seems that setting it to shut off after the computer shuts down would be worth trying?

 

Anyhow does this look good enough to just get my server shut off if the power goes out?  I set it to 30 seconds and assume that will be what happens versus runtime or batt level?

 

Is there a safe way to test this and see if it is working? maybe just start the server but not the array and unplug ups from wall?

 

See attached screen shot of config. 

Thanks.

Screenshot 2018-04-28 20.12.44.png

Edited by FrozenGamer
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For testing purposes, you need 2 surge protectors with on / off switches and a load (incandescent lamp, very small heater, anything that pulls a similar amount of power to your server) in addition to your UPS.

Plug both surge protectors into an outlet.

Plug your server into one surge protector, and your UPS into the other.

Connect the UPS USB cable as normal.

Turn on both surge protectors.

Plug your dummy load into the UPS power output, and turn on the UPS and the load.

Boot up your server, and start the array. Start using the array normally, i.e. if you have VM's, use them. Log in and stream something, whatever you would normally do.

Make sure the UPS display on unraid shows a fairly accurate load, if you plugged in 2 100W lamps into the UPS, it should show very close to 200W.

Turn off the surge protector feeding the UPS. Be VERY careful not to accidentally kill the server power.

Monitor the dummy load, make sure it stays on solid, lights don't blink, whatever is relevant to what you picked for a load.

Watch the UPS status on unraid, make sure it sends you appropriate notification emails, etc. (Your network equipment is UPS protected as well, right?)

When the time elapses, make sure unraid shuts itself off properly.

Watch the UPS, see how the dummy load behaves.

 

Using this test setup, you can safely check all sorts of things about your UPS config, change settings, whatever. If sized equivalent to server load in watts the dummy load should ALWAYS stay running steady until after the server has completed shutdown. If not, you can be fairly sure that in a real outage, your server would have just experienced an unsafe shutdown. Worse than a random unsafe shutdown, because it's probably in the process of writing a bunch of stuff to try to get shut down in time.

 

DO NOT SHORTCUT THIS TEST BY YANKING CORDS OUT OF OUTLETS INSTEAD OF USING SWITCHED OUTLETS!!!

 

It is VERY important that all cords stay plugged in to grounded outlets during all phases of this test. If you pull the plug feeding the UPS, the only ground reference for the UPS will be through your USB port. NOT GOOD! UPS's and surge protectors use the ground wire to function. You can easily let the magic smoke out if you start unplugging live circuits with a UPS generating power.

 

Technically, most (all?) UPS manufacturers tell you NOT to plug the UPS into a surge protector, and for daily usage, that's correct. Ideally, for this test you would have a power strip without surge protection to switch off the power to the UPS, but not many people have those around. Using a switched outlet or throwing the breaker is another option, but not a particularly easy or safe one, since you still need good power to the server throughout the test. Powering the server through a different breaker could potentially cause issues, since not all house wiring has correctly bonded grounds and neutrals, getting back to the issue of ground path through USB port.

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