[CentOS] Emergency rescue help needed

Mon Feb 2 16:19:43 UTC 2009
Les Mikesell <lesmikesell at gmail.com>

Sorin Srbu wrote:
>>
>>> Marking words: "used" to be best? Which is the best now then? APC is
>>> apparantely not an option as they suck bigtime IMO, so what's? Powerware and
>>> APC are the two biggest and most wellknown UPS-manufacturers I know of.
>> APC does make a full line of units.  Perhaps you aren't buying the right
>> ones if they aren't serving you well.
> 
> I've been buying from the Smart-UPS and Back-UPS range. Those should be ok, 
> shouldn't they?

That depends on how important it is to never fail.  If it is extremely 
important, you might want something with redundant components like the 
Symmetra line.  These are designed to keep working with some failed 
components and to allow you to replace parts with the equipment on 
bypass but still running.

 > All in all about a handfull of them. They're quite pricey... 90%
> of them suffered some kind of a circuit board failure. Not what you'd usually 
> expect from a UPS, rather you'd expect the battery to give up first. I bought 
> them over a few years, so it shouldn't be a bad batch or something like that.

You might blame one or two on bad components, but this sounds like 
something is wrong with the input power at your location.  I assume they 
are lasting at least through the 2 year warranty period.  We have at 
least a few dozen of them and haven't noticed any pattern of problems 
other than aging batteries.  Are you tracking the in/out power levels on 
the smart units to see what they have to deal with?

-- 
   Les Mikesell
    lesmikesell at gmail.com