We are about to upgrade all rack power bars in the Informatics Forum self-managed server room IF-B.Z14. We will be replacing the existing metered power bars (APC models AP7853 and AP8853) with switched versions (APC model AP8953).

The new power bars will allow us fine-grained control of individual power outlets; they’ll also help us prevent power surges (which have in the past tripped circuit breakers in our distribution boards) should the incoming power supply fail and then recover for any reason.

If all servers in all racks in IF-B.Z14 had dual power supplies, we could do this work with no interruption to any users of those servers. However as things stand, only Rack 3 is fully populated by such servers: all other racks contain machines which have single supplies only. So arranging the power bar replacements on those racks will inevitably mean that machines will temporarily lose power.

We will start the replacement next week (i.e. week commencing 18th Feb 2019) and will replace both power bars on Rack 3. As mentioned above: this should not cause any interruptions for users of servers in that rack.

Provided that these initial replacements go to plan, we will then be in touch with users involved (via the selfmanaged-sr mailing list – see http://computing.help.inf.ed.ac.uk/smserver-rooms) to schedule downtime for the seven other racks in the room. We would like to get this work completely finished in as short a time as possible.

Thanks in advance for your patience and cooperation.

Upgrade of rack power bars in Forum self-managed server room IF-B.Z14 / Computing Systems by is licensed under a