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2
LDP/howto/docbook/HOWTO-INDEX/howtoChap.sgml
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@ -4597,7 +4597,7 @@ Hints and tips on upgrading from one linux distribution to another. </Para>
UPS-HOWTO</ULink>,
<CiteTitle>UPS HOWTO</CiteTitle>
</Para><Para>
<CiteTitle>Updated: Feb 2004</CiteTitle>.
<CiteTitle>Updated: Sep 2006</CiteTitle>.
Teaches you things you need to know to select a
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) intelligently and make it work with
your open-source operating system. </Para>

2
LDP/howto/docbook/HOWTO-INDEX/hwSect.sgml
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@ -1304,7 +1304,7 @@ How to set up a touch screen input device under XFree86. </Para>
UPS-HOWTO</ULink>,
<CiteTitle>UPS HOWTO</CiteTitle>
</Para><Para>
<CiteTitle>Updated: Feb 2004</CiteTitle>.
<CiteTitle>Updated: Sep 2006</CiteTitle>.
Teaches you things you need to know to select a
UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) intelligently and make it work with
your open-source operating system. </Para>

445
LDP/howto/docbook/UPS-HOWTO.xml
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2//EN"
"http://docbook.org/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" [
"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.1.2/docbookx.dtd" [
<!ENTITY howto "http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/">
<!ENTITY mini-howto "http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/mini/">
<!ENTITY home "http://www.catb.org/~esr/">
@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
<articleinfo>
<title>UPS HOWTO</title>
<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>Eric</firstname>
<othername>Steven</othername>
@ -18,8 +19,45 @@
<orgname><ulink url="&home;">Thyrsus Enterprises</ulink></orgname>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author>
<firstname>Nick </firstname>
<surname>Christenson</surname>
</author>
</authorgroup>
<revhistory>
<revision>
<revnumber>2.1</revnumber>
<date>2005-09-28</date>
<authorinitials>esr</authorinitials>
<revremark>
Link fixes.
</revremark>
</revision>
<revision>
<revnumber>2.0</revnumber>
<date>2005-08-15</date>
<authorinitials>esr</authorinitials>
<revremark>
Merged in material by Nick Christenson.
</revremark>
</revision>
<revision>
<revnumber>1.3</revnumber>
<date>2005-08-17</date>
<authorinitials>esr</authorinitials>
<revremark>
Fix a bad link.
</revremark>
</revision>
<revision>
<revnumber>1.2</revnumber>
<date>2004-10-28</date>
<authorinitials>esr</authorinitials>
<revremark>
Remove a bad link.
</revremark>
</revision>
<revision>
<revnumber>1.1</revnumber>
<date>2004-02-21</date>
@ -57,7 +95,7 @@ have if you live in an area where power outages are at all common,
especially if you run a mail/DNS/Web server that must be up 24/7. The
aging power grid in the U.S. has made this a more urgent issue than it
used to be even for American hackers, but everyone is vulnerable to
outages caused by storms and other natural phenoena. This document
outages caused by storms and other natural phenomena. This document
covers both the software and hardware aspects of protecting
yourself.</para>
@ -68,6 +106,17 @@ small-business use. If you are a data center administrator running a
big server farm, there is a whole different (and much more expensive)
range of technologies we'll do no more than hint at here.</para>
<para>The people who contribute to this document can speak only about
equipment they have experience with. This may reflect a bias toward or
against certain brands, features, functions, etc. Please keep in mind that
the suggestions, brand names and functions here are by no means exhaustive,
or even necessarily applicable to your situation. Also, if you have
information that is not in this document, please submit it to the
maintainer listed above. If you submit information, please say whether
you'd like it to be attributed to you or not. We are more than glad to give
credit to the fine people who helped with this document, but we want to
respect the anonymity of those people who would prefer it.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="newversions"><title>New versions of this document</title>
@ -79,7 +128,7 @@ via the URL <ulink url="&howto;UPS-HOWTO.html">
<sect2 id="license"><title>License and Copyright</title>
<para>Copyright (c) 2003, Eric S. Raymond.</para>
<para>Copyright (c) 2003,2006 Eric S. Raymond.</para>
<para>Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2
@ -97,6 +146,32 @@ ignore you.</para>
<sect1><title>An Overview of Power Protection</title>
<para>Power protection guards your equipment against blackouts,
brownouts, surges, and spikes. All these events are anomalies in the flow
of mains power that can damage your electronic equipment.</para>
<para>A <emphasis>blackout</emphasis> is a complete interruption of
power; some literature considers a voltage drop below about 80V to be a
blackout as well since most equipment will not operate below that
level.</para>
<para>A <emphasis>dropout</emphasis> is a very short (less than one second)
blackout.</para>
<para>A <emphasis>brownout</emphasis> or <emphasis>sag</emphasis> is a
decrease in voltage levels which can last for periods ranging from
fractions of a second to hours. This can be caused by heavy equipment coming on
line such as shop tools, elevators, compressors etc. Also occurs when
utility companies deliberately do this to cope with peak load times.</para>
<para>A <emphasis>spike</emphasis> is a remendous increase in voltage over
a very short period of time often caused by a direct lightning strike on a
power line or when power returns after a blackout.</para>
<para>A <emphasis>surge</emphasis> is a substantial increase in voltage
lasting a small fraction of a second, often caused when high powered
appliances such as air conditioners are switched off.</para>
<para>There are three levels of power protection available to the
home computer user. The levels are:</para>
@ -174,10 +249,11 @@ and capabilities of the device. Mail-order from a reputable supply
house is your best bet. Line conditioners typically
<emphasis>don't</emphasis> need to be replaced after a surge; check to
see if yours includes MOVs.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2><title>Uninterruptible Power Supplies</title>
<para>The remainder of this document will focus on UPes. A UPS does three
<para>The remainder of this document will focus on UPSes. A UPS does three
things for you. First, it filters the power your machine sees, smoothing
out spikes and voltage fluctuations that can stress or even damage your
electronics. Secondly, it provides a certain amount of dwell time in the
@ -189,14 +265,67 @@ unexpected shutdown are much lessened in these days of journalling
filesystems like Linux's EXT3 or JFS from what they once were, ensuring a
clean shutdown is still a valuable contribution to any system
administrator's peace of mind.</para>
<para>Here's what a UPS will do for you:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>Absorb relatively small power surges.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Smooth out noisy power sources.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Continue to provide power to equipment during line
sags.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>Provide power for some time after a blackout has
occurred.</para></listitem>
</orderedlist>
<para>In addition, some UPS or UPS/software combinations provide the
following functions:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem><para>
Automatic shutdown of equipment during long power outages.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Monitoring and logging of the status of the power supply.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Display the Voltage/Current draw of the equipment.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Restart equipment after a long power outage.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Display the voltage currently on the line.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Provide alarms on certain error conditions.
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
Provide alarms on certain error conditions.
</para></listitem>
</orderedlist>
<para>Many pronounce UPS as "ups", but most of the literature seems to
favor "you pee ess", since they use "a UPS" instead of "an UPS". This
document will try to follow the literature. Neither pronunciation will get
you laughed at by those who are experienced in the field.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1><title>UPS Basics</title>
<sect2><title>How To Select A UPS</title>
<para>UPSes are nowadays very inexpensive. In the U.S. in 2003, quite
capable ones are available for less than $150, and prices are heading
<para>UPSes are nowadays very inexpensive. In the U.S. in 2006, quite
capable ones are available for less than $100, and prices are heading
down. In fact prices are so low now that we're not going to walk you through
the elaborate optimization step that would have been important
even two or three years ago, of estiming the watt dissipation of your
@ -204,6 +333,21 @@ computer and matching it to a UPS rating. Instead we'll explain
why this would be a waste of effort and how to buy in a simpler
and more effective way.</para>
<warning>
<para>Bear in mind that the UPS systems that you're likely to buy in a
store or computer catalog are <emphasis>not</emphasis> intended for safety
or life-critical equipment. These devices should be considered to be pieces
of consumer electronics. As such, the number-one basis on which most of these
devices compete with each other is on price, not quality.</para>
<para>Cost-effectiveness is more important to UPS vendors (because it
appears to be more important to their customers) than ultimate
reliability. If your life depends on computer uptime, you need a special
purpose, online, big, redundant, expensive system. These systems are beyond
the scope of this document. When you buy a UPS at your local computer
store, you are <emphasis>not</emphasis> buying this sort of system.</para>
</warning>
<para>UPSes are rated by the watts a full battery can put out before
it drains. However, they are marketed using a VA (voltage-amps)
figure; often, consumer-grade UPSes don't even specify a wattage on
@ -247,9 +391,7 @@ outage.</para>
<para>Perhaps a more compelling reason it is better to over-buy
capacity rather than ending up with a UPS that is too weak for your
power drain is that overstrained UPSes can fail in ugly ways,
including <ulink
url='http://www.exploits.org/nut/library/pictures/dead/'>catching fire
and exploding</ulink>.</para>
including catching fire and exploding.</para>
<para>Be sure you get a <firstterm>line interactive</firstterm> UPS
rather than the older <firstterm>standby</firstterm> or
@ -282,10 +424,29 @@ more status information over it. But if you avoid RS232C UPSes you
will never see a dumb one; indeed, it is likely that by the time you
read this no dumb UPses will be in production any longer.</para>
<para>Personally, I like APC UPSes (I have no connection with the
company). But this is not the kind of widget for which manufacturer
makes a whole lot of difference as long as you stick with one of
the reputable brands.</para>
<para>Some UPSes advertise that they deliver a sinusoidal waveform. Those
that don't may be delivering something more like a square wave or a very
noisy sine wave. There are differing schools of thought about how
important this is. One school of thought holds that one should always run
equipment on the best approximation of sinusoidal input that one can, and
that deviations produce harmonics which may either be interpreted as signal
if they get through a power supply, or may actually damage the
equipment. Another school holds that since almost all computers use
switching-type power supplies, which only draw power at or near the peaks
of the waveforms, the shape of the input power waveform is not
important.</para>
<para>Who's right? We don't know. Nick's opinion is that sinusoidal output
is worth the extra money, especially for on-line UPS systems that
continually provide their waveform to the computer; Eric is inclined to
doubt it matters much with modern power supplies. If you don't know that
your equipment has a switching-type power supply, you certainly might want
to think twice before buying a low quality UPS.</para>
<para>Personally, I (Eric) like APC UPSes (nether Eric nor Nick has any
connection with the company). But this is not the kind of widget for which
manufacturer makes a whole lot of difference as long as you stick with one
of the reputable brands.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2><title>Deploying your UPS and other devices: the total picture</title>
@ -352,11 +513,11 @@ hardware klugery, but require a bit more smarts from a monitor daemon.
Accordingly the field has narrowed considerably. There appear
to be only two such projects left standing.</para>
<para>The <ulink url='http://www.exploits.org/nut/'>Network UPS
<para>The <ulink url='http://www.networkupstools.org/'>Network UPS
Tools</ulink> project is a generic UPS monitor daemon that aims to
communicate intelligently with all current UPS designs.</para>
<para><ulink url='http://www2.apcupsd.com/'>apcupsd</ulink> is a daemon
<para><ulink url='http://www.apcupsd.org/'>apcupsd</ulink> is a daemon
specifically designed for communicating with UPSes made by APC, the
American Power Corporation.</para>
@ -410,9 +571,34 @@ bad design, but it does happen. If so, your only practical remedy is
to get a new motherboard.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id='testing'><title>Testing Your UPS</title>
<para>To test your UPS, throw the circuit breaker with the UPS on it to
simulate and outage and see how the transition goes. Note that in general
testing an UPS by pulling the plug from the wall is not a good
idea. Electronics like to always have a good ground reference. If you
unplug a UPS, it's still powered but now has what electricians call a
"floating ground". Not only can this be bad for electronics, but it can be
quite dangerous as well. It is likely that unplugging just about any UPS
for a short amount of time isn't likely to result in disaster (don't take
our word for it, though!), but in all cases, throwing a circuit breaker
would be a better thing to do.</para>
<para>It might be useful to install a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter) on your
UPS-covered outlets to facilitate this testing without having to throw a
breaker, especially if you don't have your UPS protected machines on an
isolated circuit (which you probably should). These are the sockets found
in most modern kitchens and bathrooms with a red and a black button. You
push the latter to cut power and the former to restore power.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id='maintaining'><title>Maintaining Your UPS</title>
<para>Make sure the UPS keeps in contact with its electrical ground at all
times. Don't overload it. If it shows signs of misbehavior or
malfunction, yank it until it's repaired, or replace it.</para>
<para>Your UPS has a battery inside it. Usually it is a lead-acid
type (those are the least expensive for the manufacturer), but both
lithium and gel-cel batteries are sometimes used.</para>
@ -423,6 +609,17 @@ battery problems. Once every six months to a year or so you should
recalibrate your UPS's battery sensor, and once every several years
you will have to replace the batteries.</para>
<sect2><title>Service contracts</title>
<para>Some consumer-grade UPSes, and all UPSes designed for serious
data-center use, can be bought with vendor service contracts. These don't
make sense for low-end units that can be replaced cheaply from a local
electronics store. If you're an IT shop with a bunch of UPSes scattered
over a campus, a service contract might make sense, depending on circumstances.
If you have a larger UPS in the 5-10 KVA range, a service contract may be a
valuable hedge against extended downtime.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2><title>Extending battery life</title>
<para>To extend your battery life, (a) avoid deep discharges, and (b)
@ -569,6 +766,219 @@ never been disappointed. The owner of the place also is very good
on technical issues, so if you have questions on their products, he
can get as technical as you need to go.</quote></para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1><title>Vendor information</title>
<para>Note: Many of these manufacturers make specialty systems for
large data centers, not the consumer-grade UPSes that we cover in
most of the rest of this document.</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.apcc.com/">American Power Conversion</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
APC is the largest manufacturer of small UPSes (&lt;2000 VA)
and has a whole line
of UPS systems (mostly line interactive), software, and
power system accessories which can be purchased directly
from them or via many retail
outlets around the United States and overseas.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.belkin.com/index.asp">Belkin</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Belkin makes a lot of computer connectivity products,
including UPSes.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.clary.com">Clary Corporation</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Clary sells UPS products and specializes in emergency,
military, and life support systems. They also sell
management software and accessories.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.controlledpwr.com/">Controlled Power Company</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Controlled Power produces UPS systems, power conditioners,
voltage regulators and transformers. Equipment can be
ordered direct.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.powerware.com/USA/default.asp">Eaton Powerware</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Eaton Powerware includes the product line that was formerly
Best Power, Inc.. They produce many types of UPS systems.
more advanced line interactive systems, and ferroresonant
line interactive systems as well as software, PDUs, and
power system accessories.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.gotoemerson.com/main/default.asp">Emerson Electronics</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Emerson is a big electronics conglomerate. Its claim to
fame in the UPS world is that it's the parent company to Liebert.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.powersource.net/">Energy Technologies, Inc.</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Energy Technologies provides power devices (including UPSes)
for physically demanding customers, including military and
vehicle uses. Most if their UPS systems seem to fall in
the 600 to 6000 VA range.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.exide.com">Exide Electronics</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
One of the bigger players in the data center sized UPS
system industry, Exide also makes more modest sized
on-line and line interactive systems. Exide products
can be purchased direct or from their distributors.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.gamatronic.com/">Gamatronic Electronic Industris, Ltd.</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
We're told these guys are the largest UPS manufacturer
in Israel and the Middle East. Their product line runs
the gammut from 1000 VA to 150 kVA systems.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.geindustrial.com/industrialsystems/gede/index.html">General Electric Industrial Systems</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Yup, GE makes UPSes from 300 VA up to MVA systems.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.intellipower.com">IntelliPower, Inc.</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Intellipower sells on-line UPS systems and management software.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.liebert.com/">Liebert</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
A subsidiary of Emerson Electronics (see above), Liebert
is probably the largest manufacturer of large (10 kVA +)
UPS systems. Also well known for their other data center
products including power distribution units and HVAC
products. They also make smaller UPS systems (300 VA on
up), but these are not nearly as popular.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.mgeups.com">MGE UPS Systems</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
MGE UPS Systems sells UPS systems from 300 VA to the very
large and additional power equipment.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.meau.com/eprise/main/Home/home">Mitsubishi Electric Automation</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Mitsubishi Electric Automation seems to specialize in
larger (> 5 kVA) UPSes, but they make them as small as
1 kVA.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.oneac.com/home.asp">Oneac</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Oneac sells line interactive and online UPS systems with
software in the US and UK. They were acquired by the
Chloride Group (see Chloride Power, below) in 1998.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.opti-ups.com/">OPTI-UPS</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
OPTI-UPS makes standby, line-interactive, and online UPS
systems ranging from 375 VA to 8000 VA.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.philtek.com/">Philtek</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Philtek makes inverters and other similar power system
components.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.waber.com/">SL Waber</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
SL Waber sells mostly UPS systems including the Tripp Lite
brand name as well as a wide assortment of surge suppression
and other power accessories.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.toshiba.com/">Toshiba</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Toshiba sells a lot of things, including UPSes. They sell
online UPSes from 1400 VA to the 300 kVA range. One of
Toshiba's product lines are UPSes specially designed to
automatically configure themselves to work with both US
(60 Hz) and European (50 Hz) power.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.p3international.com/">P3 International</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
P3 International makes a number of cool consumer electronics
devices, but as far as this document is concerned, the
most interesting is an easy-to-use and relatively
inexpensive power monitoring device called "Kill A Watt".
When you can't or don't want to use a good break-out cable
and ammeter, this device is a good choice for measuring
power consumption.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.power-innovations.com/">Power Innovations International, Inc.</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Power Innovations sells online UPS systems ranging from
500 VA to 400 kVA.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term><ulink url="http://www.chloridepower.com/">Chloride Power</ulink></term>
<listitem><para>
Chloride Power is a relative newcomer to the U.S. market
but has much more experience and is better known in Europe.
For the US market Chloride produces online UPS from the 700
VA to 3000 kVA range, and what look like they might be
standby systems from 300 VA to 650 VA.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>There are a lot of companies in this space, and there's no way that
we can list all of them. We try to include most of the best known companies
along with a few niche players that might be of interest to the readers of
this document. Let me know if there are important companies that we haven't
included.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1><title>Bibliography</title>
<para>One critical source of information on power protection is the IEEE
"color book" series, especially the following:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>The Emerald Book, IEEE Recommeded Practice for Powering and Grounding Electronic Equipment, Std. 1100-1999, 1999.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The Gold Book, IEEE Recommended Practice for the Design of Reliable Industrial and Commercial Power Systems, Std. 493-1997, 1997.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>The Green Book, IEEE Recommended Practice for Grounding of Industrial and Commercial Power Systems, Std. 241-1990, 1990.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>
<sect1><title>Acknowledgements and Related Resources</title>
@ -581,11 +991,6 @@ Hardware Buyer HOWTO</ulink>.</para>
<para>There was a previous UPS HOWTO by Harvey J. Stein, last updated
in 1997. It was so out of date that I ended up using none of it.</para>
<para>There is <ulink
url='http://www.jetcafe.org/~npc/doc/ups-faq.html'>UPS FAQ</ulink>
which is slightly dated but still contains some good advice.</para>
</sect1>
</article>