Need help setting up my UPS for graceful shutdowns+powerups


Recommended Posts

Hi!

 

This might be outside the scope of this forum, but I don't really know where else to turn for better answers :)

 

I recently bought an APC Smart-UPC 3000X LCD, with the (network interface module). It will provide power to my Proliant ML350 G6 server, my POE switch (incl cameras and AP) and router/modem. I have a Raspberry Pi that I can run as a UPS-server as well if that makes things easier. 

 

I want my server to go down when there is 15 minutes remaining power, the rest of my equipment I think would just have to die with the UPS. I've tried with the apsupsd plugin that came with Unraid, but I'm not sure how I could make the system come back online after the UPS has recovered about 50% charge after a shutdown? I dont want the server to be powered up as soon as there is power incase of another outage right away.

 

I'm also trying to make this work with NUT, but I honestly dont understand the logic of the setup or the documentation. I've got it setup, my Pi can see the ups with stats, and Unraid sees the server and the ups-stats aswell. During my testing today the Unraid plugin shut down as specified, but didnt give the Proliant enough time before forcing shutdown. I cant seem to find the setting to increase this timeout from 90s. I also dont know how to setup the Pi-server to turn my Proliant back on when power has returned and UPS>50%

 

So far it seems that both networkupstools and apscupsd is unable to control the indivdual groups on the back of the UPS, it doesnt look like its information is passed through the USB-interface, or maybe not picked up by the driver.

Link to comment
1 hour ago, Fredrick said:

I want my server to go down when there is 15 minutes remaining power

 

No, you want your server to go down when power has been off for a short time, just long enough to get you through a very brief loss of power. If it has been off for more than a few seconds it is likely off for a while. You don't want your UPS battery to discharge any more than needed to get you through a short loss of power. You shouldn't even be thinking about keeping your server running for a while on just battery power.

 

One reason you already know, you don't want your server to come back on with only a small charge remaining, since that could mean it wouldn't have enough to make it through a clean shutdown if power was lost again.

 

Another reason is because you shouldn't deeply discharge these batteries.

 

These UPS aren't designed for running your equipment for longer periods of time. The way this is done in more critical environments is with a generator.

 

The BIOS probably has a setting to control whether or not the system reboots at power on. I personally don't recommend it. I don't want my server to start up unattended.

Link to comment

Thanks for getting back to me. I've got about 40 minutes runtime on battery with my setup, and I see your point about shutting down early. If the power is not back the first 5-10 minutes, its not coming back for another hour. I still dont see what could wake my Proliant if it shuts down and power comes back before the UPS is drained? Then I guess I'd have to have some WOL-feature on my Raspberry. I guess I could google that :)

 

I dont mind my server starting unattended (why do you?)

 

PS. I got it fairly cheap at under 500$ including the network-card.

Link to comment
36 minutes ago, trurl said:

 

I just like to see that everything is as expected after booting.

I so rarely reboot my server, and pretty much every major issue I've ever had with computers in my career has manifested itself during the boot process. Combine those two facts, and I want to be hands on watching the entire boot process, and only start the array after confirming that all drives are healthy and the network is functioning as expected.

 

The last thing I want is for the poor server to be grinding away rebooting itself or worse yet desilvering one of my disks after a head crash while I'm blissfully unaware and going about my day.

 

That doesn't mean I'm always PHYSICALLY there, IPMI is a great tool, it's so nice to be 500 miles away and watching the HBA pick up drives and keeping track of how long the boot actually takes.

 

I think one of my servers had more than 2 years uptime on 4.7, but those days are long gone. I average probably 3 months of uptime now until some upgrade is too good to pass up.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.