UPS / Power Management Reccomendation

[OaksLabs]

Yesterday I had a "power failure." My UPS (I'll get the specs on it later today for size, etc.) was going off and was showing an indicator light for a power overload -- and it had shut off all the devices on the surge only outlets. (Yes, my website and other self hosted services went down, but it wasn't a major problem.) I'm not sure if this is standard procedure for UPSes, but it makes me want to replace or look into getting another UPS, preferably a rackmount one. I'm looking for suggestions as far as brand and functionality.

My main point of failure is that my Untangle box (a hand built system) has a standard desktop PSU in it, and it was plugged into a surge only outlet (on my dual PSU servers, I hook one PSU to battery and one to surge). Does anyone know of a reasonably priced desktop PSU with dual inputs (like this one, but not $300+ http://www.amazon.com/Dynapower-SS-...4&keywords=dual+ac+input+desktop+power+supply )?

I'm preparing for a major tear down and rebuild of my infrastructure, and I'm wondering if anyone has had any experience with "auto-ping reboots" on IP power control devices (like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Switch-Digita..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=1048WV5ENBMB2P3564A6 ) It is a cheap item, granted, but it seems like it would be useful for when a modem flakes out (a very rare thing for me, but murphy's law...).

 

[jzukerman]

How old is the battery backup? If it is an APC unit, you pretty much have to religiously change out the batteries every 2 to 3 years because APC has a high floating charge on their units which reduces the life of the battery. Plus they tend to run very warm, again reducing the life of the battery. Shut everything down. Power off the UPS, unplug from the wall, and open up the battery bay. Check the battery with a voltmeter. Look at the battery. If it is swollen, replace it. I've switched away from using APC units due to the issues above, plus bad RMA experiences. I use Eaton Power UPS units and haven't had any issues with them.

I haven't seen any dual PSU in a desktop chassis before. Only server chassis (be it tower or rackmount). They are priced accordingly (double the powersupplies basically). Maybe you could find a used one, but that seems a bit much. Just pick up a Supermicro Atom 1U server with a single PSU. It'll last you a long time. They build quality servers. Buy a spare PSU if you think you need to. You can get used Supermicro servers on eBay pretty cheap.

I don't have any experience with the power outlet watchdog devices. I have one client who has one but I wasn't terribly impressed with it.