Question

How much UPS power do I need for my server room?

Asked by: ksmithscs

I have to bulk up our ups setup.  What would you suggest for the following server room?  What do I need to consider.  I would like them to be able to do a manual shut down in the event of a power failure (and restart), and send alerts.  I need a reasonable amount of up time in the event of a power brown out.

13 servers with at least 4 drives each (Dell and SuperMicro)
2 switches
1 hardware firewall
1 email firewall
1 tap drive
2 kvm consoles (with monitors)

Thanks!

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Asked On
2009-10-22 at 09:14:15ID24835108
Tags

ups

,

servers

,

server room

Topics

Power Supplies / UPS

,

Computer Servers

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
3

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Answers

 

by: aktharchowdhuryPosted on 2009-10-22 at 09:20:12ID: 25635946

APC has a good UPS calculator online for use.  Plug in your equipment and determine your runtime, it will give you a recommended ups configuration.

http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/

 

by: aktharchowdhuryPosted on 2009-10-22 at 09:26:43ID: 25636024

I'll add for this type of solution, I would say 2 racks worth of equipment, typically 4 3000va UPS's.  2 in each rack, with power distribution unit labeled A for ups 1 and B for UPS 2.  My servers all have 2 power supplies, so I plug one power supply into UPS A, and one into UPS B in each rack.

You can get power distribution units from APC that will let you remotely power cycle, read the amps, and remotely monitor power.  The ups's will do reporting you need with the optional network kits.

The other thing to watch is how much power you have available for the UPS.  Is your panel capable of giving 220v, or can you only handle 120, 20amp?

 

by: aleghartPosted on 2009-10-22 at 12:50:06ID: 25638236

> manual shut down in the event of a power failure (and restart)

Do you mean "automated"?  Otherwise, you'll have to factor in travel time for an administrator on-call during the night and weekends.  Also the time required to get to each of the servers one-at-a-time.

Do you have a sub-panel in the room?  That helps, since you are probably looking at around 6KVA to start with.  That's around 50A at 120VAC.

Using a calculator or spreadsheet or APC's online tool will get you in the ballpark for power requirements.

Another thing to consider...how many of your items have redundant power supplies?  Most switches and hardware firewalls do not.  Many small servers do not.  In those cases, the typical split of the power cords to different UPS units does not work.  You can get switching power distribution to power one PDU with two different UPS units.  So, in effect, your single plug for a firewall is protected by two UPS units.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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