American Power Conversion's low-end Smart-UPS incorporates a slim 3.5-inch form factor with ample power capacity to accommodate mission-critical power needs in today's space-conscious data centers.
PC Week Labs' tests showed that Smart-UPS, available now for US$849, is smaller and has a lower price than rival uninterruptible power supplies, making it a good buy for small, budget-conscious sites. Smart-UPS is also one of the first devices we've seen that is supported by Windows 2000.
However, although Smart-UPS comes in a small package with a low price and Windows 2000, that's not enough to surpass competing US products from PowerWare or Tripp Lite Worldwide, which offer power conditioning and better management features.
Smart-UPS has the edge in price over Tripp Lite's US$929 SmartPro 1400RM and PowerWare's rack-mount 5119 UPS, priced at US$1,079. However, sites that need more than a tiny form factor would be better off using the 5119 UPS, which offers power-conditioning capabilities. The SmartPro is bigger than the Smart-UPS, at 5.25 inches, and has slightly less power capacity, but it provides two serial ports to manage two servers.
Smart-UPSââ,¬"like the rest of APC's UPS lineââ,¬"stands apart from the competition because it's recognized by Windows 2000's built-in UPS support. This means Smart-UPS will work with Windows 2000 servers right out of the box, without requiring installation of third-party software or enabling the server and all applications to shut down or hibernate during power outages.
Smart-UPS lacks the incoming power-conditioning capabilities found in the 5119 UPS; instead, the unit switches to online battery power when it detects distortions, such as power spikes. When Smart-UPS detects a power failure, it immediately switches to the online battery, returning to the regular source once power is restored.
Smart-UPS' PowerChute tool and built-in Windows 2000 UPS support enable the server to shut down gracefully at a certain battery thresholdââ,¬"for example, 2 minutes before battery power runs out. If power is restored before that time, no shutdown occurs.
Nevertheless, in areas where power fluctuates often, this can be a drain on battery life, and the batteries will not be able to charge fully. Users can lower Smart-UPS' sensitivity to power distortions, but this increases the risk of hardware damage.
Smart-UPS, with its slim chassis, fits well in small data centers or those that are strapped for space. Although it can only handle a maximum power load of 950 watts, that's enough juice to accommodate most workgroup rack-mount serversââ,¬"with enough room to scale when a more powerful machine, such as a six-way server, is needed.
In tests, Smart-UPS was able to maintain the combined power load of a six-way Hewlett-Packard Co. LH6000 server, a two-way Compaq Computer Corp. ProLiant 1850R server and two 17-inch monitors for 9 minutes after power was cut off. The online battery run-time increased to 50 minutes when only the ProLiant 1850R and a single monitor were connected. The online battery has a maximum run-time of 269 minutes with a minimum load of 30 watts (50 volt amperes).
Setup of Smart-UPS is straightforward. Servers can be connected to the system right out of the box, and the batteries charge to full online capacity in about 3 hours.
Smart UPS employs a single hot-swapped battery tray that can be replaced while the unit is in operation to minimize downtime. This feature is especially important in UPS es that support mission-critical hardware because it allows IT managers to replace old batteries without worrying about shutting down mission-critical applications. In tests, we were able to easily remove and replace the batteries while Smart-UPS was online.
Management of Smart-UPS is done via a proprietary serial cable and the Power Chute Plus software, both of which came bundled with the unit. We used PowerChute Plus 5.2 for Windows NT and Windows 2000; versions for NetWare, Unix, Linux and Macintosh systems are also available.
The PowerChute Plus' primary function is to provide unattended server shutdowns during power failures. It also enables IT administrators to monitor and configure Smart-UPS locally at the server or remotely through the network.
Smart-UPS provides a window to allow servers to shut down smoothly during a power outage. However, like most comparable products on the market, Smart-UPS does not provide any means to restart the serverââ,¬"IT administrators will still have to deal with the downtime associated with bringing the server back up at co- locations.
From the PowerChute Plus console, we could monitor such Smart-UPS parameters such as battery capacity, UPS load and run-time. The software also allowed us to schedule system shutdowns and UPS self-tests and to access power event logs. Power Chute Plus also enables e-mail and pager event notification.
The installation of PowerChute can become problematic because the Component Object Model port on the server has to be properly configured to detect the UPS.
An easier alternative is to install APC's optional Web/SNMP management card (priced at US$299) in the Smartslot on the back of the Smart-UPS unit. This card can be directly connected to the network, and administrators can monitor and configure the UPS with a Web browser. However, this can become an expensive proposition for IT managers who want to manage all the UPSes in a server farm environment.
APC Australia
global.apcc.com/au/
1800 652 725
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