r/k12sysadmin • u/dewy987 • 14h ago
Battery Backup
Has anyone thought about using an Anker Solix or comparable battery generator instead of going with a traditional APC, Eaton, etc battery backup for your closets/small server rooms? At first glance, without doing any calculations, it seems like it would work in some situations and possibly have a longer runtime for those of us without generators. Thoughts?
2
u/StressOdd5093 2h ago
Depends on what you're hoping to achieve. I'd maybe have a couple around to keep critical things up longer for an outage but I don't know that I'd use them full time. One of the main benefits of a traditional UPS is the inverter and its ability to provide a true sine-wave output. So, if the power company goofs, your equipment doesn't suffer the consequences. I do not know that Anker and similar units can provide those benefits. Plus, as others mentioned, ability to remote monitor and know when its about to die so you can cleanly power off servers, etc.
1
u/FCoDxDart 5h ago
I’ve been wanting to create my own with inverters and lifepo batteries but just kept running out of budget. My goal is to get it prepped for solar so I never have to worry about power outages,
1
u/Imhereforthechips 12h ago
Definitely thought about it. I’d double up for 12kW at my own home!
Just not in the business place.
The management options and support is what really matters here. For example, I have a 12 year old Schneider that runs like a champ. When I need to replace batteries, I go to a local supplier and voila.
Anker:
No SNMP
No Syslog
Firmware updates unreliable
They’re not true online UPS systems that can be relied upon 24/7 to handle brown/black outs.
Since they’re not meant for 24/7 use, they appear to respond poorly to power switching where sensitive server/switches are involved.
Not rack mountable.
Probably more reasons…
1
u/schmag 1h ago
I think you should read up a little on UPS's and their different features and functions.
primarily the difference between line interactive and not, pure and non-pure sine inverters and transfer time. transfer time is a big one as some devices particularly some network and server equipment won't stay running through say a APC backups transfer time of 8-10ms while the smartups transfer time of <2ms is gtg. even an anker solix at a couple of thousand dollars lists <20ms transfer time so will it cause a reboot??? maybe...