Server UPS Recommendations
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Hi:
I have purchased a new Dell PowerEdge T320 with dual 495W power supplies.
I typically only plug one power supply into a UPS.
I have two older (probably 10+ years) SmartUPS 1500 units that I have just been replacing batteries in. Should the actual housing be replaced from time to time? Would it be a good idea to buy a whole new UPS unit?
If so, what do people here generally like?
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This is something I'm never fully understood the 'correct' thing to do either?
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Housing for a UPS can last for many, many decades. It's a chassis and little more, you only replace them when damaged.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Housing for a UPS can last for many, many decades. It's a chassis and little more, you only replace them when damaged.
I'm assuming the same goes for the electronics inside the chassis?
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I always plug all both power supplies into a UPS. Servers that detect one PS failing can often kick into a higher fan use mode or several other scenarios.
As for your old hardware, next time you need batteries I would replace it with something like an Eaton that you can centrally monitor.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Housing for a UPS can last for many, many decades. It's a chassis and little more, you only replace them when damaged.
I'm assuming the same goes for the electronics inside the chassis?
Yup, it is super basic stuff, does not really wear out. Only replace if broken.
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The recommended design is two UPS, one for each rail. Each PSU goes into one rail, each rail into one UPS each UPS into as separate circuits as you can get.
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@Dashrender said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Housing for a UPS can last for many, many decades. It's a chassis and little more, you only replace them when damaged.
I'm assuming the same goes for the electronics inside the chassis?
It certainly does not. I do not understand @scottalanmiller's logic in that statement. A UPS housing is much more than a chassis. There are a lot of circuits in there that allow the UPS to properly do its job.
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@JaredBusch said:
It certainly does not. I do not understand @scottalanmiller's logic in that statement. A UPS housing is much more than a chassis. There are a lot of circuits in there that allow the UPS to properly do its job.
Sure, but not stuff that is wearing out. If there is damage, absolutely. But getting decades of reliable work out of a UPS chassis is normal. If you need new features, of course, that would change.
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Well, I'm not sure what new features I would need.
I have two of them, and they both need new batteries. So I am going to be spending, just trying to decide the best place to spend.
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Do you have the ability to monitor them over the network? if not, do you want that?
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@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
It certainly does not. I do not understand @scottalanmiller's logic in that statement. A UPS housing is much more than a chassis. There are a lot of circuits in there that allow the UPS to properly do its job.
Sure, but not stuff that is wearing out. If there is damage, absolutely. But getting decades of reliable work out of a UPS chassis is normal. If you need new features, of course, that would change.
Temperature will also kill UPS's as they contain nice big fat capacitors. The cooler you keep your UPS units the longer they will last. If you run your data center very cool (15-20c) and you bought the units new I would be comfortable with a 10-15 year life span.
Obviously the batteries are another story all together and should be replaced every 2-3 years, depending on manf specs.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
It certainly does not. I do not understand @scottalanmiller's logic in that statement. A UPS housing is much more than a chassis. There are a lot of circuits in there that allow the UPS to properly do its job.
Sure, but not stuff that is wearing out. If there is damage, absolutely. But getting decades of reliable work out of a UPS chassis is normal. If you need new features, of course, that would change.
Temperature will also kill UPS's as they contain nice big fat capacitors. The cooler you keep your UPS units the longer they will last. If you run your data center very cool (15-20c) and you bought the units new I would be comfortable with a 10-15 year life span.
Obviously the batteries are another story all together and should be replaced every 2-3 years, depending on manf specs.
Yes, of course, if they need to be replaced, replace them. I'm not saying that they will never die or get damaged just that you generally don't replace them until they are. Our UPS units from the 90s are generally still fine.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
It certainly does not. I do not understand @scottalanmiller's logic in that statement. A UPS housing is much more than a chassis. There are a lot of circuits in there that allow the UPS to properly do its job.
Sure, but not stuff that is wearing out. If there is damage, absolutely. But getting decades of reliable work out of a UPS chassis is normal. If you need new features, of course, that would change.
Temperature will also kill UPS's as they contain nice big fat capacitors. The cooler you keep your UPS units the longer they will last. If you run your data center very cool (15-20c) and you bought the units new I would be comfortable with a 10-15 year life span.
Obviously the batteries are another story all together and should be replaced every 2-3 years, depending on manf specs.
Yes, of course, if they need to be replaced, replace them. I'm not saying that they will never die or get damaged just that you generally don't replace them until they are. Our UPS units from the 90s are generally still fine.
I'm still using my UPSs from 8 years ago.. not the 90's but not young either.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Our UPS units from the 90s are generally still fine.
Providing you load test them once a year (or more!) I can't see anything wrong with that. Also stuff was built better in the 90's than you see today, YMMV with newer gear.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller said:
@JaredBusch said:
It certainly does not. I do not understand @scottalanmiller's logic in that statement. A UPS housing is much more than a chassis. There are a lot of circuits in there that allow the UPS to properly do its job.
Sure, but not stuff that is wearing out. If there is damage, absolutely. But getting decades of reliable work out of a UPS chassis is normal. If you need new features, of course, that would change.
Temperature will also kill UPS's as they contain nice big fat capacitors. The cooler you keep your UPS units the longer they will last. If you run your data center very cool (15-20c) and you bought the units new I would be comfortable with a 10-15 year life span.
Obviously the batteries are another story all together and should be replaced every 2-3 years, depending on manf specs.
And how many times the units have had to run.
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@gjacobse surprisingly that can actually increase their life span
edit: Running the batteries down I mean - for best results I'd do it a few times a year but ain't nobody got time for that. Our new Eaton unit does it auto-magically on a schedule.
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We currently are switching to EATON UPSes here. I really like them. They're easy to get into the racks and they don't weigh 5 tons.
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Personally I'd say for for 240v instead of 120v if you can. 240v will use less amperage for the same energy. If it requires a whole new circuit run and you don't plan on buying any more than one server it's not worth it though.
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@MattSpeller said:
@scottalanmiller said:
Our UPS units from the 90s are generally still fine.
Providing you load test them once a year (or more!) I can't see anything wrong with that. Also stuff was built better in the 90's than you see today, YMMV with newer gear.
I'd get a Always Online UPS for servers if it were me. You are always load testing then. It will fail over to line power if needed on most but you'll hear plenty of alarms going off and hopefully get emails about it too.
