Question : Problem: Battery Backup with auto-reset?

Hello,

I am looking for a more reliable battery backup / power restoration system for our servers, running windows 2003.

For reference, we are currently using the CyberPower 1500VA AVR units, but have used similar APC units in the past.

What I would ultimately like to see is in the event of a power failure, the following events take place:
1) Power fails
2) If power is restored, nothing happens, otherwise, go to 3
3) After 15 minutes +/- go by, begin safely powering down the servers
4) When power is restored, boot up the servers

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a UPS system with this capability.

My current action is generally one of these:
1) Power fails
2) If power is restored, nothing happens, otherwise, go to 3
3) Servers run until batteries die, then battery shuts off power
4) When power is restored, BIOS detected power on, booting servers
This is a bad setup, since the servers are not shut off properly, and additionally, some UPS batteries have drained so low that the unit requires a manual reset before properly functioning.

OR

1) Power fails
2) If power is restored, nothing happens, otherwise, go to 3
3) After 15 +/- minutes, servers begin shutdown
4) Servers remain off until manual reset
This is also undesirable... I would like the servers to automatically power themselves back up without intervention when power is restored.

Does anyone know of a UPS unit that fits these requirements?

Answer : Problem: Battery Backup with auto-reset?

I have three of these units for my PC's and HTPC's:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101225

They work very nicely, and work as you described you would like as long as you have the PC set to automatically turn on when power is applied (typically a BIOS setting).

In other words:

1) Power fails
2) If power is restored, nothing happens [actually you'll get console messages at both power fail and power restore points ... but nothing happens to the PC :-) ]
3) After 15 minutes +/- go by (this time is configurable in the UPS monitoring software -- or you can let it run until the battery reaches a specified % of remaining capacity) the server will be gracefully shut down ... after which the UPS will shut itself down.
4) When power is restored, the UPS turns itself back on and reapplies power to the PC => if the PC is set to turn on when power is applied, it will reboot.