UPS for WHS server + DAS

J

jazzman161

Limp Gawd
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Dec 6, 2004
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Hey all! Question for those that have a main WHS server and then a 2nd box of drives connected via an expander card.

I've decided it's time I get a UPS considering I've had two minor power outages in the last week. (Both less than 5 minutes). My question is how do I handle the fact that my DAS is independently powered? I'd assume the UPS could shut down my WHS via software but the 2nd box would just sit there powered til the UPS ran out of juice no? Is this a problem?

For those in this situation, what are you guys doing? Thanks!
 
its less of a problem if the main computer is shut down and the DAS is just spinning drives. With no drive activity, they should spin down until the power goes out.

Or you hack that power supply to your main server to shut off both at the same time... :-D

I'm content to just let the UPS run down until I decide I want to purchase an UPS/surge protector w/network connectivity so I can remotely/automatically shut off power ports...
 
Thanks guys. I don't think I'll be hacking my PSU. Don't trust myself to do that haha

Bookmage - what UPS are you referring to that has network connectivity? Right now I'm looking at the Cyperpower's adaptive sineware 1500VA/900W series but I'm open to suggestions.
 
many UPSes come with a cable to hook up to the computer, if a power outage happens the UPS can signal the OS to shut down
depending on the UPS and OS, you may be able to have the OS with the UPS connected to it send a signal to the other computer to shut down.
 
In your case, I would do as suggested and hook both the PC and the DAS to the UPS, set the PC to shutdown after a few minutes on battery to allow ride-through of momentary outages but to safely shutdown in case of an extended outage.

I recently got the Cyberpower Adaptive Sinewave UPS since my old APC UPS was having problems with my Antec Signature 850 with the active PFC. It works as advertised and I so far I would recommend it. You can hook it to your PC using the USB port and then setup the shutdown parameters using the included software or by windows power management.
 
Some of the newer UPS models on the market have a USB port that you can connect to the computer and get a driver from the manufacturer to program the computer to do a graceful shutdown based on the remaining runtime of the UPS (certain UPS models are also directly supported by the OS already, e.g. Windows 7 should recognize certain APC models, etc). Also, I would suggest you get one of those new UPS models that have a master/slave arrangement. You plug your server into the master outlet and plug the DAS enclosure into one of the slave ports. When you have a power outage, the UPS will inform your server that there is a power outage and when the minimum runtime threshold is reached (based on the load at the time of the power outage), the UPS will signal the server to shut down. Once the server shuts down and hence reduces the load on the master outlet, the UPS will sense the change in load and turn the slave ports off. That way you will at least conserve a little bit of power that remains in the batteries. Also, this is a neat way of turning your DAS on and off without ever having to touch the power switch of the DAS enclosure, the DAS enclosure will automatically shut down when the server turns off... :)

Hope this helps.
 
Treadstone - Do you have any models or series that have master/slave arrangements? Seems the Cyberpower adaptive sine series does not.
 
Would these work with active pfc PSUs? i've been reading about how come PSUs don't play nice w. stepped waves?
 
No, look at the description it says "stepped approximation for sine wave", that's marketing-talk for square wave. Trust me, if you have a decent PSU with active PFC, you'll want the Cyberpower UPS. I speak from experience as my old model was an APC.
 
so APC doesn't have proper equipment to handle moder PSUs, but Cyberpower does? I find that hard to believe. Not saying its not true, but it doesn't seem right. I am interested in this. I am setting up a server with direct attached storage soon at home and was going to be looking into this very subject.
 
Exactly that. My friend recommended APC so I went with them, but my computer would fail to turn on half the time. After switching to the Cyberpower UPS with the adaptive sinewave, my PC is rock solid. Plus you don't have to register with APC just to download the bloody software - I really hate companies that require this.

El cheapo PSUs seem to be less sensitive to this sine wave problem and you could get away with a UPS that uses square wave approximation. But if you have a high end PSU with active PFC it seems to cause issues.
 
I sent an email to Cyberpower asking if they have any pure sine or adaptive sine technology based UPSes w/ master/slave outlet configurations but they do not. I'm waiting to hear back from APC regarding the same thing. While the master/slave outlet configuration sounds ideal for a WHS + DAS situation, I can't gamble on whether my power supplies will play nice w. an older UPS.
 
I can tell you for a fact that a pure sine wave is not always needed with APFC power supplies since I have several dozen UPSs here at work. We have had absolutely no problems with even crappy square wave UPSs ( $100 1000VA PowerComm King Pro) on any of these systems. Out of all my UPSs probably only 1 of them is a pure sine wave. That is a CyberPower 1800VA server model.
 
Just received an email from APC stating they also do not offer a UPS w. pure sine wave output + master/controlled outlets. Guess it's one or the other.

drescherjm - Thanks for your input. I'm just concerned that with 2 different PSUs in my WHS/DAS setup, I'll run into an issue where one works fine and the other doesn't. Guess I need to search around on forums to see if anybody has explicitly used my PSUs w/ UPSes.
 
I noticed the other day that Costco (at least here in Canada), sells the Buck-UPS XS 1300VA unit with the Master/Slave outlets for $137.99

Do you happen to have a Costco around your area? If so, take a look and see if they sell this UPS. You could buy one and give it a try, if it doesn't work, return it..

Note that Costco online doesn't necessarily have the same stuff they sell in their stores, so they most likely don't show it online...
 
i have an APC Green 1300VA that has smart ports that will power down when the master plug is turned off.

I believe the slave ports are only on the surge protection ports and not the battery backup ports.
 
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