[ILUG] When servers grow up ....

[Ronan Farrell]

> On Thu, Aug 31, 2000 at 01:46:04PM +0100, Brendan Bradley mentioned:
> > My laptop  warns me the battery is about to go dead and then shuts itself
> > down before it loses power totally, why doesn't a high end, purpose built
> > server have this common sense, necessary ability built in?
> 
>  Because what's the point in having a UPS in the server, and in the server
> room ? It's extra cost, and one more thing to go wrong. If power goes for
> thirty seconds, loads of machines are going to go. So why not have one big
> UPS, rather than dozens of small ones.
> 
>  And do remember, a server with a brace of disks uses a *lot* more power
> than a notebook.
> 

But there is a lot to be said for a system that retains enough power to
shutdown gracefully.  It's a common feature of critical systems that you
retain power, in a rechargeable battery  or so, just enough that
everything is left in a safe state.

Ronan