Question

Server with 2 independant power supplies - is this possible?

Asked by: totalimpact

I have a client with a server that has 19 SCSI drives. He wants to add 1 more drive to fill the chassis, but the 600 watt power supply wont boot with these plugged in, it just turns back off. PCPower and cooling thinks that my idea should work. -

The case is the big one here:

http://www.macase.com/ser-nt-a18.htm
actual server - http://imageserver.truedataonline.com/images/johnc1.jpg

Since it has a power supply bay on each side I am thinking of adding another hotswap 580 watt ATX PS and running 5-10 drives off of this. I have an ATX to AT converter cable which has an AT switch that would let me power these drives up before the rest.

My associates are scared that there may be a grounding issue by having drives and motherboard powered from 2 independant power supplies, like some sort of ground loop problem. I just dont see how this could happen. Has anybody tried this? How do people run high density servers, it seems that todays power supplies just arent big enough, the 800 watt is no longer made that will fit in that case.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2003-12-30 at 23:08:44ID20837822
Tags

power

,

atx

Topics

Miscellaneous Hardware

,

Hardware Components

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
6

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. ATX power supply problem
    I have a smaller atx power supply which I wish to use with a kit for an mp3 player (based on a circuit board, CDrom drive and harddisk). How do I get the power supply to start? I know that a pc's on/off switch is a push-to-make momentary switch, but don't seem to be able to g...
  2. ATX Power supply
    will any body help me . I have one ATX power supply and i want to start without connect to Motherboard which wire i have to sort so that it will be started without motherboard or without loading, becuase in motherboard there is a jumper setting or by press power button you c...
  3. ATX power supply output
    I am trying to use an ATX power supply for a non computer application as I am interested in its well powered stable 12V output. Could anyone tell me how I can get the unti to power up withou connection to a motherboard. i.e. is ther some simple switching logic that I can appl...
  4. atx motherboards
    I have a PC that has an ATX motherboard, unknown brand, in it running with Windows98SE. After using the PC, I go to start and select "shutdown", the pc shuts off. However, during the next 20-30 minutes after shutting down the PC, the PC starts up by itself and boots...
  5. Replacing ATX power supply
    I have a bad power supply in an Intel PII-350desktop. The orginal power supply was and AGI brand model HP-235ATXAK. I have an identical machine and swapping power supplies allows the broken desktop to boot normally. My research indicated that most any ATX power supply with...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

Expert Comment

by: mirorPosted on 2003-12-31 at 02:41:22ID: 10020851

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: CallandorPosted on 2003-12-31 at 06:10:39ID: 10021371

Rank: Genius

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: totalimpactPosted on 2003-12-31 at 10:27:13ID: 10022743

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: publicPosted on 2003-12-31 at 16:33:28ID: 10024109

Rank: Guru

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Accepted Solution

by: UserXPosted on 2004-01-01 at 08:17:49ID: 10025363

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

 

Expert Comment

by: totalimpactPosted on 2004-01-02 at 08:53:36ID: 10029570

Comments are available to members only. Sign up or Log in to view these comments.

20120131-EE-VQP-001

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...