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Threat of Regional Power Shortages Increases Need for Local Uninterruptable Power Supplies
Joe St Sauver
joe@oregon.uoregon.edu
December 2000 has seen record low levels of power availability in the California power grid. The California Independent Systems Operator (http://www.caiso.com) issued Stage 1, Stage 2, and even Stage 3 emergency notices during December. (Stage 2 indicates operating reserves are expected to drop below 5%, while Stage 3 predicts they'll fall below 1.5%. Stage 3 Emergency Notices, in particular, should be viewed as extremely serious.)
Oregonians need to recognize that California's shortages are of more than academic interest. Due to the interconnected nature of the western power grid, California's problems may directly or indirectly impact power stability in the Pacific Northwest.
While the UO and Eugene hopefully will not experience protracted power outages as a result of problems elsewhere, it's not inconceivable that we could experience at least brief power disruptions.
Most UO users routinely protect their systems from power surges (such as lightning strikes) by using power strips equipped with surge protectors. Unfortunately, surge protectors do not provide protection against power outages, and thus far, deployment of uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) around campus has been the exception rather than the rule.
Some central networking equipment and large shared systems such as Darkwing, Gladstone, and the OpenVMS cluster are all already protected by uninterruptable power supplies, but departmental servers and desktop systems may or may not have that sort of UPS coverage.
We urge departmental server administrators and users of particularly expensive (or mission-critical) desktop systems to review their operational requirements and determine whether a UPS is needed.
If you already have UPS's in place, you may want to take this opportunity to confirm that your systems are performing as intended. Now would also be a good time to do the UPS maintenance you may have deferred, such as replacing older, marginal batteries.
Don't forget systems at home or in the field. You should also be sure to think about systems you may be running at home, or at field sites away from the University of Oregon. The need for UPS protection there will be as great or greater than on campus.
To learn more about where to buy UPS protection equipment, visit the vendor web sites listed below:
http://www.apc.com/
http://www.liebert.com/
http://www.minutemanups.com/
http://www.oneac.com/
http://www.opti-ups.com/
http://www.powervar.com/
http://www.tripplite.com/