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View Full Version : Auto start a computer after power restoration


hardhatinc
May 12, 2008, 08:23 AM
I have numerous servers on a UPS. Is there a way that I can set the computers to automatically turn on once the power is restored?

Scleros
May 12, 2008, 08:53 AM
There is usually a BIOS option for what happens after power loss. Set to "Always On" or Last State". You may need to contact your UPS vendor and see what they recommend. If your BIOS and UPS don't play nice together, you can add a contact relay to the UPS if it supports it and/or a generic time delay relay connected to the server's motherboard power button header to replicate pushing the button.

[you could also get a bigger UPS so they never go off... ]

hardhatinc
May 12, 2008, 08:56 AM
Can you be more specific?? Lol

Scleros
May 12, 2008, 08:59 AM
can you be more specific??? lol

What don't you understand?

hardhatinc
May 12, 2008, 09:02 AM
... add a contact relay to the UPS if it supports it and/or a generic time delay relay connected to the server's motherboard power button header to replicate pushing the button.

[you could also get a bigger UPS so they never go off...]

That part. The ups is a 1500va ups

Scleros
May 12, 2008, 09:46 AM
Ok, as a quick for-instance, you could take a time-delay momentary relay something like an Altronix 6062 (http://www.hometech.com/brains/timers.html) and wire the relay contacts to the motherboard's power button header. You plug the relay into the UPS outputs. When the UPS powers on, the relay timer is activated for however many minutes you configure it for. At the end of the timing cycle, the relay closes momentarily replicating pushing the power button and turning the computer on.

Setting the BIOS option is far simpler if the UPS shuts things down properly. This Computer with Uninterruptible Power Supply Does Not Start After Power Loss Even After AC Power Is Restored (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/819038) article and this Windows turns off the power after it shuts down the computer if a program calls the ExitWindowsEx or the InitiateSystemShutdownEx function (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819760) article may also be of interest.

chuckhole
May 14, 2008, 07:39 AM
If your server BIOS does not support the automatic power on as Sleros has suggested, then check and see if your server supports Wake-on-LAN or if a DRAC card is available for it.

The DRAC cards are preferrable since they allow you to access the server even when it is powered off. The DRAC has an IP address and is web enabled so that you can access it from a browser. This also allows you to remotely power it on or off, perform OS installations and BIOS or Firmware updates.

Being that small of a UPS, I would doubt that it has a network management interface for it. You might be able to offload that UPS onto your critical network gear and then get at least a 3KW UPS with a network management card in it as well. They can be set up for email and text messaging alerts so that you will be notified of an outage or pending failure.