Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, mac_h8r1, Nemesis
Q. I have multiple computers I want to run off one UPS. How can I make sure they all shutdown properly when the UPS runs out of battery?
A. If you have less than 5 computers running on one UPS, you can use APC’s PowerChute Business Edition to shutdown all the computers simultaneously when the power fails for a long period of time. APC also makes several ethernet based SNMP cards which an unlimited number of computers can monitor. Please see our Management Devices section for more information on SmartSlot cards.
mortifiedPenguin wrote:It sounds like the business version of PowerChute supports multiple computers, but I am unsure of how exactly it works.
Captain Ned wrote:It's pretty simple. PowerChute (or any UPS app) runs on every box plugged into the UPS. Each box has a USB (or serial, if you're old school) connection to the UPS.
just brew it! wrote:That's what I meant. I pretty much pre-assumed what Captain Ned said.How is that supposed to work if the UPS only has one port?
mortifiedPenguin wrote:just brew it! wrote:That's what I meant. I pretty much pre-assumed what Captain Ned said.How is that supposed to work if the UPS only has one port?
Captain Ned wrote:USB hubs are supposed to be bi-directional, so plugging a hub into the 1 USB port on a UPS should expose the software functionality to all boxen connected to the hub.
just brew it! wrote:Captain Ned wrote:But USB hubs have only one "upstream" port.USB hubs are supposed to be bi-directional, so plugging a hub into the 1 USB port on a UPS should expose the software functionality to all boxen connected to the hub.
Captain Ned wrote:I'm handwaving that if the hub's upstream port is connected to the UPS, it'll all automagically work. IOW, I'm hoping that the UPS itself has enough brains to see multiple devices connected through 1 USB cable.
SNM wrote:My search also found some hits on using batch files that would send shutdown commands (shutdown.exe and the like, I guess) through the network once the UPS lost power. It's possible that PowerChute has an execute script or batch file option that would trigger the commands to be sent through the network. The problem with this is that if the computer with the scripts installed is turned off and the other ones are on, then the "listener" for the UPS power loss signal doesn't hear anything and... the other computers never get the shutdown command.Yeah, I'd guess the software is depending on a pre-existing network of some kind. Which could be problematic depending on the setup.
mmmmmdonuts21 wrote:Bottom Line: After a long and frustrating night, I think I am just going to spend the $60 to get another UPS. Thanks again for all the help.
mmmmmdonuts21 wrote:Do you still think I need a better UPS? Nothing else will be plugged into it except a switch or a router in the future possibly.