OT... Battery Backups

Yahoo Archive
1
We have 3 APC 2200's in the bottom of our Rack. We are only a company with
17 people in the office all the time though.

If we keep all our servers running, we have about 30 minutes time til all
the power is juiced out of the backups.

What we did was tweak out the shutdown times, all non-critical systems shut
down after 5 minutes, these are file servers, print servers, FTP, and
terminal servers.

We wait 30 on our email server and our domain controller.

The voicemail server shuts down after 60 minutes.

We run VOIP, so that is the last thing kept up and running with all our POE
switches since the phones run through them, and those are usually done at
about the 110-120 minute mark. Most people with desktops(7) have a UPS at
their desks which will keep their computers up for about 25 or so minutes,
but the rest of the people have laptops so they have a much longer battery
life with no need for a UPS.

We don't have a backup generator or anything like that but I don't really
think most UPS solutions are really meant to keep you up and running for any
extended period of time. I view them more as power conditioning and control
to safely shut down your systems in the event of a power loss, or power
blink to prevent any corruption in data or operating systems.

----- Original Message -----
From: "jplehr" <jlehr@...>
To: <vantage@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 10:17 AM
Subject: [Vantage] OT... Battery Backups


>I inherited a battery backup that is currently setup on our phone system,
>firewall, and a couple of switches. The battery is bad and needs replaced.
>
> My take has always been that my battery backup allows for a proper
> shutdown during the time of an outage. I have never been in an
> environment where we could purchase a large anough battery to keep systems
> up for an extended length of time during an outage.
>
> What do some of you do with your systems? Do you have batteries on your
> phone system to keep it up and running during a power outage? Are your
> batteries on your Servers large anough to keep them running for an
> extended time, which would push you to backup other hardware (firewall,
> switches) in an effort to keep business running? One issue I have is that
> I have 4 remote facilities that may not be in the outage area and could
> keep working if the Servers and applicable hardware were functional.
>
> How should I invest? Thanks in advance.
>
> Jeff
>
>
>
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2
I inherited a battery backup that is currently setup on our phone system, firewall, and a couple of switches. The battery is bad and needs replaced.

My take has always been that my battery backup allows for a proper shutdown during the time of an outage. I have never been in an environment where we could purchase a large anough battery to keep systems up for an extended length of time during an outage.

What do some of you do with your systems? Do you have batteries on your phone system to keep it up and running during a power outage? Are your batteries on your Servers large anough to keep them running for an extended time, which would push you to backup other hardware (firewall, switches) in an effort to keep business running? One issue I have is that I have 4 remote facilities that may not be in the outage area and could keep working if the Servers and applicable hardware were functional.

How should I invest? Thanks in advance.

Jeff
3
We have a huge APC system (I forget which one) to run our whole server room for about 20-30 minutes. I also have a natural gas generator that cost less than $10K with installation that will run indefinitely as long as the gas line doesn't get knocked out, which it never has at our location (checked with the utility company, they had records).

Joe Luster
Network Administrator
Cold Jet, LLC
455 Wards Corner Road
Loveland, Ohio 45140
USA
+1 513-831-3211 x308 (office)
+1 513-831-1209 (fax)
www.coldjet.com<http://www.coldjet.com>
[cid:image001.jpg@01CAA651.B3E45D50]
Setting industry standards in dry ice technology and solutions for over 20 years.

From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of jplehr
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 10:18 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] OT... Battery Backups



I inherited a battery backup that is currently setup on our phone system, firewall, and a couple of switches. The battery is bad and needs replaced.

My take has always been that my battery backup allows for a proper shutdown during the time of an outage. I have never been in an environment where we could purchase a large anough battery to keep systems up for an extended length of time during an outage.

What do some of you do with your systems? Do you have batteries on your phone system to keep it up and running during a power outage? Are your batteries on your Servers large anough to keep them running for an extended time, which would push you to backup other hardware (firewall, switches) in an effort to keep business running? One issue I have is that I have 4 remote facilities that may not be in the outage area and could keep working if the Servers and applicable hardware were functional.

How should I invest? Thanks in advance.

Jeff



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
4
Jeff

We have battery backups on everything.
We can stay up maybe 10-15 minutes.
Around here most outages seem to either be transient or last for over an hour.
For extended length power outages (over several minutes) - purchase a generator.
Extened outages = LOTS of batteries or 1 generator,


Regards
Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: "jplehr" <jlehr@...>
Sent: Friday, February 5, 2010 10:17am
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] OT... Battery Backups





I inherited a battery backup that is currently setup on our phone system, firewall, and a couple of switches. The battery is bad and needs replaced.

My take has always been that my battery backup allows for a proper shutdown during the time of an outage. I have never been in an environment where we could purchase a large anough battery to keep systems up for an extended length of time during an outage.

What do some of you do with your systems? Do you have batteries on your phone system to keep it up and running during a power outage? Are your batteries on your Servers large anough to keep them running for an extended time, which would push you to backup other hardware (firewall, switches) in an effort to keep business running? One issue I have is that I have 4 remote facilities that may not be in the outage area and could keep working if the Servers and applicable hardware were functional.

How should I invest? Thanks in advance.

Jeff




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
5
One thing about generators: Get one that produces true sine wave output. Many household emergency generators produce square wave or some modified output. Some (not all) electronic equipment will not function properly without electricity that looks just like what comes from the power company.

With any backup, whether battery or generator, run regular tests to ensure the system will work when you need it.

Thom Rose
Controller
Electric Mirror LLC
HOTEL LUXURY

"The World Leader in Back-lit Mirrors & Mirror TV Technology"

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From: vantage@yahoogroups.com [mailto:vantage@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of rshafer@...
Sent: Friday, February 05, 2010 7:57 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [Vantage] OT... Battery Backups



Jeff

We have battery backups on everything.
We can stay up maybe 10-15 minutes.
Around here most outages seem to either be transient or last for over an hour.
For extended length power outages (over several minutes) - purchase a generator.
Extened outages = LOTS of batteries or 1 generator,

Regards
Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: "jplehr" <jlehr@...<mailto:jlehr%40astromfg.com>>
Sent: Friday, February 5, 2010 10:17am
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com<mailto:vantage%40yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [Vantage] OT... Battery Backups

I inherited a battery backup that is currently setup on our phone system, firewall, and a couple of switches. The battery is bad and needs replaced.

My take has always been that my battery backup allows for a proper shutdown during the time of an outage. I have never been in an environment where we could purchase a large anough battery to keep systems up for an extended length of time during an outage.

What do some of you do with your systems? Do you have batteries on your phone system to keep it up and running during a power outage? Are your batteries on your Servers large anough to keep them running for an extended time, which would push you to backup other hardware (firewall, switches) in an effort to keep business running? One issue I have is that I have 4 remote facilities that may not be in the outage area and could keep working if the Servers and applicable hardware were functional.

How should I invest? Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
6
We currently have a APC Smart-UPS RT 6000, which is relatively affordable and rack mounted. You buy the head unit and then add additional battery rack kits for your load or desired runtime. We tried another more affordable brand initially but its software either didn't function or didn't install on 64 bit environments properly.

The nice thing is their software will allow us to gradually trim down servers over time and keep the primary ones running the longest. So in our case, if an outage is detected - after 5 minutes all our non-critical servers begin a shutdown.

That then allows us to devote as much battery power as we can towards keeping up the mail and phone servers (and routing equipment for networking). Once the battery reaches a threshold where it's going to run out, the remaining servers shut themselves down.


--- In vantage@yahoogroups.com, "jplehr" <jlehr@...> wrote:
>
> I inherited a battery backup that is currently setup on our phone system, firewall, and a couple of switches. The battery is bad and needs replaced.
>
> My take has always been that my battery backup allows for a proper shutdown during the time of an outage. I have never been in an environment where we could purchase a large anough battery to keep systems up for an extended length of time during an outage.
>
> What do some of you do with your systems? Do you have batteries on your phone system to keep it up and running during a power outage? Are your batteries on your Servers large anough to keep them running for an extended time, which would push you to backup other hardware (firewall, switches) in an effort to keep business running? One issue I have is that I have 4 remote facilities that may not be in the outage area and could keep working if the Servers and applicable hardware were functional.
>
> How should I invest? Thanks in advance.
>
> Jeff
>
7
Same here and I agree with Rich about the need for a generator for extended outages. My previous job was at the Kmart distribution Center and we had a whole room of batteries (they looked like lead acid car batteries) that would keep the entire data center up and running for a couple of hours.

I have always been partial to APC batteries. They come with software that can shut down a computer when the power drops to a certain level. With a software ($$) upgrade, you can have a central server monitoring all your APC batteries.




________________________________
From: "rshafer@..." <rshafer@...>
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Fri, February 5, 2010 10:56:54 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] OT... Battery Backups

Â
Jeff

We have battery backups on everything.
We can stay up maybe 10-15 minutes.
Around here most outages seem to either be transient or last for over an hour.
For extended length power outages (over several minutes) - purchase a generator.
Extened outages = LOTS of batteries or 1 generator,

Regards
Rich

-----Original Message-----
From: "jplehr" <jlehr@astromfg. com>
Sent: Friday, February 5, 2010 10:17am
To: vantage@yahoogroups .com
Subject: [Vantage] OT... Battery Backups

I inherited a battery backup that is currently setup on our phone system, firewall, and a couple of switches. The battery is bad and needs replaced.

My take has always been that my battery backup allows for a proper shutdown during the time of an outage. I have never been in an environment where we could purchase a large anough battery to keep systems up for an extended length of time during an outage.

What do some of you do with your systems? Do you have batteries on your phone system to keep it up and running during a power outage? Are your batteries on your Servers large anough to keep them running for an extended time, which would push you to backup other hardware (firewall, switches) in an effort to keep business running? One issue I have is that I have 4 remote facilities that may not be in the outage area and could keep working if the Servers and applicable hardware were functional.

How should I invest? Thanks in advance.

Jeff

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]