phoneboy3
@shawcable.net | What about backup generators
Don't they have backup generators like any REAL data center should? If not then they should definitely be apologizing. |
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Jahntassa
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Conway, SC
| Um..wow. Obviously they had backup generators, but if the generator is feeding the transformer, which then feeds power to the air handlers, then there's no real backup for that.
Backup generators can't help much if someone knocks out the device between the generator and what you're trying to power. |
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ptrowski
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Putnam, CT
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| reply to phoneboy3
said by phoneboy3 :
Don't they have backup generators like any REAL data center should? If not then they should definitely be apologizing.
The do, but some things are beyond their control...
"In the second incident at approximately 6:30 PM CST Monday, a vehicle struck and brought down the transformer feeding power to the DFW data center. It immediately disrupted power to the entire data center and our emergency generators kicked in and operated as intended. When we transferred power to our secondary utility power system, the data center's chilling units were cycled back up. At this time, however, the utility provider shut down power in order to allow emergency rescue teams safe access to the accident victim. This repeated cycling of the chillers resulted in increasing temperatures within the data center. As a precautionary measure we decided to take some customers' servers offline. These servers are now back up, as are the chillers." |
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EGeezer
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| I suspect the next time they'll wait until they are sure utility power is stable before going off gen. Seeing the EMT and fireladdies still on the scene would have made me think "We'll keep the generators going until they've left the scene, or the power company confirms they're done with repairs for the time being".
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jtel
join:2005-06-28
Bristol, RI
| reply to Jahntassa
said by Jahntassa  :Um..wow. Obviously they had backup generators, but if the generator is feeding the transformer, which then feeds power to the air handlers, then there's no real backup for that. Backup generators can't help much if someone knocks out the device between the generator and what you're trying to power. Thats not what happened though. They successfully transitioned to back up power and then switched back to utility power w/o knowing that the utility was planning to kill the power again for the safety of rescue personnel. They shut down some servers as a precautionary measure because of repeated cycling of the chillers. My take from the press release is that the chillers aren't fully on the back up system or they wouldn't be cycling repeatedly.
Whats the application for private back up generators that feed utility company transformers? Their generator would most likely connect to a switching unit that was connected to the battery room and the power co. They lose power and it switches to the generator running on battery till the generators come online. |
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marigolds
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join:2002-05-13
Saint Louis, MO
| said by jtel :They shut down some servers as a precautionary measure because of repeated cycling of the chillers. My take from the press release is that the chillers aren't fully on the back up system or they wouldn't be cycling repeatedly. I think it went like this:
Chillers are on main power.
Main power goes off. Generators kick in immediately. Chillers reset.
Power switches from Generators to secondary. Chillers reset.
Secondary power goes off. Generators kick in again. Chillers reset.
Secondary goes back on. Chillers reset.
Main power goes back on. Chillers reset.
After four-five cycles of the chillers reseting like that, they had lost enough cooling capacity for enough time to be concerned.
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Kearnstd
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Mullica Hill, NJ
| reply to phoneboy3
and that they might not have enough generator capacity to keep the chillers at full power, i mean even most supermarkets cant run the reefers on backup power even if the lights and registers are on and they stand to loose a lot more then if you shut off some servers for a few hours.
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Moon1234
@charter.com
| said by Kearnstd :and that they might not have enough generator capacity to keep the chillers at full power, i mean even most supermarkets cant run the reefers on backup power even if the lights and registers are on and they stand to loose a lot more then if you shut off some servers for a few hours. You would probably be surprised to know that many grocery stores have NO backup generators. I work as a night manager on the weekends in a million dollar a week grocery store in Wisconin. We have NO backup generators. When we were purchased by Roundys I asked if we would be getting them. They said no. They would never recoup the cost of the genertors. Everything in the reefers is good for around 12 hours provided the doors on the sales floor are no opened. The freezer is kept at -25 and is good for 12-24 hours provided that no doors are open. The only thing that we really have a problem with is ice cream which melts aroun 20 degrees farenheit. Some melts lower or higher depending on fat content.
Roundys has insurance on all perishable items in the store. Should we have an outage that lasts more than 4-5 hours they would be reimbursed for any loss. I have worked there for 15 years and we have had maybe 5-10 thousand dollars worth of shink due to loss of refrigeration. We have 27 compressors to run. A generator sized to keep all of them operating would be very expensive.
Almost all grocery stores work this way. We used to have a contract with a dry ice company for the main freezer in case the power went out, but Roundys eliminated that as well. They do keep about 4 pallets of bagged ice in the freezer which is intended to be sold to customers, but does act as a nice backup insurance plan as well. |
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wierdo
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Tulsa, OK
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| A few months ago I was at a nearby supermarket when the power crapped out. I was quite happy that they had a generator, since it allowed them to run half the lights and the registers.
Had it not been for the generator, I wouldn't have left with any food that evening. Not that I could do much with it when I got home, since my power was also out, but still! 
Thank god for megacorp grocery stores?
Once your company gets to a certain size, the cost of insurance is greater than either absorbing the loss on your own or taking steps (like generators) to mitigate the chance of loss. |
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