500w power inverter -> emergency power to server?

[Fritzo]

We were caught with our pants down at one of our locations and we're in the middle of an ice storm. In case the power goes out, we have 2 servers that have to keep going as long as possible. They have 4 hours of UPS power, but if things really go south, can we hook up a 500w inverter to a car and run 2 servers off of it?

Normally we have these servers hosted at a data center, but the rack for them is down for maintenance and these are backup servers. Appreciate any advice.

 

[TwiceOver]

I don't know about yours, but my servers would destroy that 500w inverter in minutes.

 

[MixMasterTang]

I am going to guess no, an average car alternator will not even put out a constant 500w. I don't think that a 500w could even provide that amount of power anyways, 500w is a peak, so probably more like 200-250 constant tops. What types of servers? Dell's and HP's have utilities that monitor everything on the system from current watt usage, etc.

 

[Vdubchaos]

This begs the question. Why do they make 2000w+ power inverters than?

 

[jaedaliu]

Does Home Depot or Lowe's have any generators left?

 

[iamwiz82]

My 300w inverter gives me fits with a 100w laptop power brick. If I turn on the lighted keyboard with LCD at full brightness it will pop the inverter. I also have to cut wifi off.

 

[MixMasterTang]

This begs the question. Why do they make 2000w+ power inverters than?

Generators, large utility vehicles, etc.

 

[lxskllr]

What's the maximum power the servers can produce? I'd try to exceed that with my inverter. Also, it would be better to buffer it some how. They may not like the modified sine wave the inverters produce. I'd test it by trying to run a UPS off an inverter, and run the server off the UPS.

 

[K1052]

find a generator

 

[vshah]

if they have active pfc power supplies, you should get a pure sine wave inverter. most active pfc psus don't like square waves which is what most cheaper inverters put out.

i agree with the generator recommendation. a small one will be sufficient, and it will run for several hours on not much fuel.

 

[skyking]

a 500 would manage a single low powered server. By low power I mean a single proc with ~100W TDP and a couple of disks. An idling truck alternator would keep up with that.

 

[Rubycon]

Don't even fool with an inverter. Unless it's specifically designed to power switch mode power supplies (sine wave). You would be better off trying to use the car's electrical system to keep the UPS batteries charged but that only works if the UPS is 12V and only the smaller (sub 600VA) ones are.

You could use a generator to power the UPS. NEVER connect a generator directly to the computer's PSU. Their frequency varies and the voltage is also loosely regulated. (unless, again, an expensive one designed for such work)

If you want to power computer equipment off a construction genny you should consider a real power conditioner - one with a ferroresonant transformer - between the genny and your equipment. This assures clean sine power at 120V, 60Hz all the time.

This is essential for a server. A hiccup in power and it's going to reboot!

 

[highland145]

You could use a generator to power the UPS. NEVER connect a generator directly to the computer's PSU. Their frequency varies and the voltage is also loosely regulated. (unless, again, an expensive one designed for such work)

If you want to power computer equipment off a construction genny you should consider a real power conditioner - one with a ferroresonant transformer - between the genny and your equipment. This assures clean sine power at 120V, 60Hz all the time.

A few years back, we had an ice storm and power was out everwhere (4 days for us). My bro calls and says his computer is acting wonky. I reminded him the power was out(). He says, "Not at my house. I plugged it into the generator." He did run it through the belkin UPS but it was still an issue.

 

[Ns1]

primary location down for maintenance. backup location owned by ice storm.

i'm sorry for LOL'ing

 

[Fritzo]

I am going to guess no, an average car alternator will not even put out a constant 500w. I don't think that a 500w could even provide that amount of power anyways, 500w is a peak, so probably more like 200-250 constant tops. What types of servers? Dell's and HP's have utilities that monitor everything on the system from current watt usage, etc.

The 2 servers are pretty much just regular PCs if that helps.

 

[Colt45]

Assuming the UPS uses 12V lead acid batts (always seem to), you could just hook the car in there... :awe:

 

[vshah]

The 2 servers are pretty much just regular PCs if that helps.

what processors, how many hard drives?

 

[jagec]

This begs the question. Why do they make 2000w+ power inverters than?

If you want to provide enough juice to START a compressor (AC, fridge etc) you have to spec an inverter well above the average running watts. You also need massive cables to supply that kind of monster without undervolting...especially if you're running 12V, at which point you really should stick to 1000W or below.

Also, bigger numbers sell.

 

[Rubycon]

Large inverters are common in RVs and sailing vessels. These are higher voltage typically 24+. have good regulation and line quality. They also cost thousands of dollars.

 

[jagec]

Don't even fool with an inverter. Unless it's specifically designed to power switch mode power supplies (sine wave). You would be better off trying to use the car's electrical system to keep the UPS batteries charged but that only works if the UPS is 12V and only the smaller (sub 600VA) ones are.

Ironically enough, cheapo switching power supplies without PFC are happier on square-wave inverters than the fancier kind. So you can usually charge your cellphone just fine, but shouldn't run a desktop off of one.

 

[Rubycon]

You can also put 10 car batts in series and run many SMPS too.

 

[Charles Kozierok]

Very unlikely. Even if it could supply that much power, which is doubtful, those things aren't rated to run at maximum capacity for very long.

If the thing plugs into a cigarette lighter, then definitely forget it -- the amperage you can draw that way is severely limited, and you'll probably pop a fuse if you even try this. If you can connect the inverter directly to the battery, then you could try it. You'll have to leave the engine running, of course.

The idea of connecting the car's DC system directly to the UPS's batteries is an interesting one, but you have to be really careful there or you'll blow stuff up.

Hope you come through okay. Ice storms suck.