I decommisioned my last “uninterruptible” power supply (UPS) today. Why? Because it, like most every other UPS I have owned and used, it was not fit for purpose and caused far more server crashes and downtime than it ever prevented. I know this for sure because I generally have one or more canary servers that have no UPS so that I can get an idea of the quality of my mains power. UPS systems — from cheap consumer goods to pricey SOHO equipment to multithousand-dollar datacenter gear — have killed more of my servers and led to more downtime than if I had just skipped them altogether. This APS unit was no exception. I made a warranty claim and they promptly shipped a new unit but… same problem (and there are dozens of folks making the same complaint on their forums).
Today, HA tried to turn on a laser printer. It was not connected to the UPS, but on a different circuit in a different part of the house. The nearly-new APS UPS glitched out, threw an error message, and brought down everything connected to it. Everything else throughout the house (including other “sensitive” data processing equipment) continued to run without problems. The fault was repeatable, and turning on a blower we use for grooming Luna the Big Dog™ had the same effect. Simply removing the UPS cured the problem.
I’ve often wondered if my experience would have been different if I hadn’t had extraordinarily clean, reliable mains power. Well, here’s where I get my power now…
And I’m still better off without a UPS.
If I really felt I needed isolated, conditioned power then I would probably just use a power station like I’m using for my kitchen appliances.
—2p