UPS HOWTO

Eric Steven Raymond

Nick Christenson

Revision History
Revision 2.22007-05-22esr
Minor update with more info about battery types.
Revision 2.12005-09-28esr
Link fixes.
Revision 2.02005-08-15esr
Merged in material by Nick Christenson.
Revision 1.32005-08-17esr
Fix a bad link.
Revision 1.22004-10-28esr
Remove a bad link.
Revision 1.12004-02-21esr
Add a little deployment advice, and stuff on other technologies.
Revision 1.02003-10-07esr
Initial release.

Abstract

An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is an important thing to have if you live in an area where power outages are at all common, especially if you run a mail/DNS/Web server that must be up 24/7. This HOWTO will teach you things you need to know to select a UPS intelligently and make it work with your open-source operating system.


Table of Contents

1. Introduction
1.1. Why this document?
1.2. New versions of this document
1.3. License and Copyright
2. An Overview of Power Protection
2.1. Surge suppressors
2.2. Line Conditioners
2.3. Uninterruptible Power Supplies
3. UPS Basics
3.1. How To Select A UPS
3.2. Deploying your UPS and other devices: the total picture
3.3. Software Assistance
3.4. Preparing Your System For Auto-Reboot
4. Testing Your UPS
5. Maintaining Your UPS
5.1. Service contracts
5.2. Extending battery life
5.3. Recalibrating Your UPS
5.4. Replacing Your Batteries
5.5. Buying Batteries
6. Vendor information
7. Bibliography
8. Acknowledgements and Related Resources