[lug] building a server room

[Sean Reifschneider]

On Mon, Jul 08, 2002 at 08:50:48AM -0600, Nate Duehr wrote:
>Also, if you can afford it, buy UPS's that run the inverters 
>continuously to feed the machines and therefore have zero switchover 
>time.  (Hint: Most of APC's product line does not do this.)

I guess...  I've never had any problems with using standby UPSs, and
they're quite a lot cheaper than online UPSs (the ones that always run the
inverter).

>Well, at least that's my opinion anyway... plus you learn quicker about 
>batteries that are having problems with that style of UPS -- because who 
>remembers to change their UPS batteries out on a regular basis?

Most of the standby UPSs will periodically fire up the inverter and will
regularly test the batteries.  That's how the "replace battery" light on
the front panel is controlled.

As far as replacement, the interval for replacing the cells depends greatly
on use.  Lead Acid batteries lose an amazing percentage of capacity by just
being drained once -- I think something like 50%.  We keep a labeler in our
hosting space and I mark when the cells have been replaced, along with
other things.  I highly recommend having one of these labelers around.

Sean
-- 
 moshez always wanted to invent a compression scheme called "feather",
 so he could tar and feather his files.
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com - Linux Consulting since 1995. Qmail, KRUD, Firewalls, Python