heath@sunkist.west.sun.com (Frank Heath) (11/02/89)
We are shopping for a UPS for our file server. By some incredible good fortune, we usually have problems when nobodies around. This means that battery backup will only prolong the inevitable. In the Novell word there are UPSs that can tell an attached unit that they are in operation and that x amount of time is left. This allows an orderly shutdown. Are there similair capabilities in the Unix/SunOS world? Thanks in Advance Frank S. Heath Rockwell SPD 4311 Jamboree Road P.O. Box C Newport Beach, CA, 92658-8902 (714) 833 6864 FAX (714) 833 6863 M/S 985-337 heath%mogwai.decnet@consort.rok.com sun!sunkist!earth!heath mogwai::heath (Decnet)
drew@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com (R. D. Davis) (11/12/89)
In article <2749@brazos.Rice.edu> earth!heath@sunkist.west.sun.com (Frank Heath) writes: >X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 8, Issue 183, message 10 of 13 > [...] In the Novell word there are UPSs that can tell an attached > unit that they are in operation and that x amount of time is left. [...] >Are there similair capabilities in the Unix/SunOS world? "Yes" for the Unix world and "probably" for the SunOS world. AT&T sells an "alarm interface card" for AT&T 3B2 computers. The AIC card interfaces to some outputs of AT&T UPS's. The AIC card comes with software that allows an arbitrary shell procedure to be invoked whenever the UPS kicks in, and another arbitrary shell procedure to be invoked when the UPS battery is running low. So, that's why I say "Yes" for the Unix world. When I was shopping for a UPS, I noted that some vendors have RS232 interfaces on their UPS units. So, it would be relatively straightforward to have a routine on Sun that polls the UPS to note the UPS's status. For example, you could have a cron procedure that kicked off every minute or 2 to check on the UPS status. That's why I say "probably" for the SunOS world. I'd have said "yes", but I don't have first hand knowledge of anyone actually having done this integration of a UPS and a Sun. Drew
rowe@cme.nist.gov (Walter Rowe) (11/15/89)
>>>>> On 11 Nov 89 GMT, drew@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com (R. D. Davis) said:
drew> When I was shopping for a UPS, I noted that some vendors have
drew> RS232 interfaces on their UPS units. So, it would be relatively
drew> straightforward to have a routine on Sun that polls the UPS to
drew> note the UPS's status.
And there is such a thing! The BEST UPS has a serial port interface to it
that I can/will hook to my Sun 4/280 file server via the ttya port. I got
some software off the net (and I will be glad to send it to others) that
monitors the UPS. It was written by Brent Chapman (brent@mica.berkeley.edu)
and is called `upswatch'.
When the UPS kicks in because of power problems, the SUN sees this and
sends out a warning. When there is less then some threshhold of time's
worth of power left on the UPS's batteries, then the system is
automatically shutdown. The whole thing runs as a daemon, so you just
start it up in rc.local.
Walter P. Rowe, System Admin
Robot Systems Division, NIST
rowe@cme.nist.govduane@schizo.samsung.com (11/15/89)
In article <2980@brazos.Rice.edu>, drew@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com (R. D. Davis) writes: > In article <2749@brazos.Rice.edu> earth!heath@sunkist.west.sun.com > (Frank Heath) writes: > >X-Sun-Spots-Digest: Volume 8, Issue 183, message 10 of 13 > > [...] In the Novell word there are UPSs that can tell an attached > > unit that they are in operation and that x amount of time is left. [...] > >Are there similair capabilities in the Unix/SunOS world? > > "Yes" for the Unix world and "probably" for the SunOS world. > When I was shopping for a UPS, I noted that some vendors have RS232 > interfaces on their UPS units. So, it would be relatively straightforward > to have a routine on Sun that polls the UPS to note the UPS's status. > > Drew Best Power Technologies carries a complete line of on-line UPS's for all sorts of equipment. They have an RS-232 port and Sun software that does all of this quite nicely. We are about to buy one of their big ones for our machine room, and drive it from our Sun-3/260. They make units from about 500 VA to 15KVA (we are looking at the 10 or 15 KVA for several large machines). The batteries provide about 20 minutes of power, and talk with the software through the whole cycle to sync and shut down when appropriate. The prices are very reasonable ($14K for the 15KVA unit). Best Power Technologies P.O. Box 280 Necedah, WI 54646 800-356-5794 Andrew L. Duane (JOT-7) w:(508)-685-7200 X122 h:(603)-434-7934 Samsung Software America decvax!cg-atla!ginosko!duane 1 Corporate Drive uunet/ Andover, MA. 01810 duane@ginosko.samsung.com