Summer power cuts: test the shutdown
A UPS that has never been tested will surprise you. Check that servers shut down cleanly and come back by themselves.
Summer heat brings power cuts and voltage drops in many places, including here in the Gulf. Most small server rooms have a UPS. Far fewer have ever tested what happens when the battery runs out.
A quick check, on a quiet evening:
- Look at the UPS battery age. Most batteries need replacing every three to five years, and they fail quietly.
- Confirm the UPS is connected to the servers by USB or network, and that shutdown software is installed and configured.
- Unplug the UPS from the wall and watch: do the servers get the signal and shut down cleanly before the battery dies?
- Restore power: do the servers, storage and network gear start in the right order by themselves?
- Check the switches and router are on the UPS too. A running server with no network helps nobody.
Write down how long the battery actually lasted. It’s usually much less than the label says.