Uninterruptible Power Supplies for the Rack: Tripp Lite’s SU1000RT2U

In the world of data protection, we have an ever-increasing array of products to help us either prevent, minimize or manage that impending disaster. We all know, sooner or later, disaster will strike every single computer installation, we as VARs maintain or sell.

One tool, which has been around for some time now is the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). From its earliest beginnings as just a fancy car battery and inverter able to supply one small PC, this industry has improved its product's capacities as well as the technologies used. Today, UPS' not only condition outgoing power, and provide emergency power, but are able to control individual pieces of hardware, from near or afar.

One such contestant in the UPS marketplace is the Tripp Lite SU1000RT2U, a 1000VA, 800-watt rack mountable UPS. Street price for the UPS is $600.

This unit can either stand alone (feet are included) or be mounted in your 19-in. rack (uses only 2 slots). It is has six outlets, where four are controllable (in two groups) via Tripp Lite's PowerAlert Plus software (version 11.0 will be released shortly). Additionally, Tripp Lite also provides an SNMP card for remote management (not tested).

Some other features of the SU1000RT2U include a two-year warranty, Ultimate Lifetime Insurance that protects connected equipment from damage due to surges up to $100,000 (USA & Canada only) on connect equipment only, and a replaceable battery along with several optional (we mentioned the SNMP card already) additions/attachments.

We took this 62-pound sleek-looking unit for a test run. We wanted to see how easy it was to a) set up, b) install the software, c) manage the UPS and d) test the UPS and software in how it manages a disaster. We were a bit stymied until we spoke with Mike Delgrosso, Tripp Lite's Director of Software Development.

Why? Lets start at the beginning. Setting up a UPS is basic. Unpackage the unit, lug it to where you'll be keeping it (whether a standalone, or on the rack) and plug it into your power grid. Then plug the hardware you wish to protect into the UPS and essentially you're set. The SU1000RT2U didn't require us to attach the battery to the electronics, like some of their competitors require, so setup was a snap.

Here comes the confusing part. We were going to connect the data cable (the SU1000RT2U uses a standard DB9 -- RS232 cable, which is included) to our W2K workstation. Our W2K box found the Tripp Lite, but couldn't find the drivers. Neither could we. Frustrated, we went to the Web site, but couldn't find hide nor hair of either the drivers or an explanation. Failing a successful resolution, we decided to proceed and load the PowerAlert Plus software.

After loading the software--again for the most part pretty straightforward--we were again confused. The software worked. The Web interface worked. How? The drivers for W2K weren't loaded. Typically, in Microsoft Windows, if you don't have the driver, the hardware/software will not work. Well this is where Mike Delgrosso comes into the picture. He told us that the PowerAlert Plus software and/or the SU1000RT2U didn't require a W2K driver. In fact, Tripp Lite was in the process of getting certified by Microsoft, a dummy driver, just to satisfy W2K's plug and play need for a driver install. The driver will just exist, but won't do anything.

During this conversation, I learned the PowerAlert Plus software was not 100 percent completed (I got a gold copy) and what was basically missing from the CD-ROM were the manuals, the Unix drivers/software and some tweaking of the installation process. That was evident when I tried to figure out how to configure my other system(s) for remote shutdown. After Mike gave me the pointers, I was able (on the second try) to properly install the software on our NT 4.0 Server. Without the manual, I was a little confused about how to properly use some of the configuration screens, but managed to get my NT Server to talk with my W2K box, and the software connected.

A couple of words about the Windows version of the software are needed. To say the least, it's very efficient (though I did suggest some improvements). Upon opening, you get a summary of your UPS, with configurable text entries (like voltage, model, etc) and three different graph displays that also allow you to change the graphs. The next tabs allows you to see all the variables in detail, followed by an event viewer an alarm viewer and an attached device controller. The last tab gives you a contact list, so you know whom to call when trouble brews...

Then came the test--if the power goes out, do the computers turn off before the UPS dies?. I added some more devices to the UPS (my Netgear switches, Snap Server and a Win95 box). The load on the UPS hovered around 29 percent to 35 percent. The battery was fully charged. I played with the software settings for shutting down the three different components of the UPS system. These components are: the Operating System Software (our W2K box), the UPS itself and the Remote devices. I admit now, that this was initially a mistake.

The default is to shut down the remote units in 1 minute, the operating system in 2 minutes and the UPS in 6. In this way, the operating system unit (W2K box) would still be up as the remote units (NT 4.0 Server) were shutting down. The UPS would stay live another 4 to 5 minutes to allow all units time to shutdown properly. I changed them to 20, 20 and 25 minutes.

The W2K box and UPS shutdown properly, the NT 4.0 Server did not. Our Win95 box just turned off with the UPS. In fact, supporting these devices didn't faze the UPS. It would probably have run another 10 or 20 minutes. According to Tripp Lite, the SU1000RT2U should run 6 minutes at full load, 18 minutes at half load and up to 65 minutes at lower loads.

As I said, I played with these features, and the shutdown didn't happen properly. I then re-configured so that the times reflected the initial shutdown parameters (just longer). During this new test I hit some other snags. The first problem was an oversight (whether on my part or Tripp Lite's is up for grab) with the UPS Battery Low settings.

The software was set to shutdown the UPS, the operating system and remote systems should the UPS Battery Low hit approximately 10 percent. When I plugged the UPS back into the power grid after my remote system failed to shut down, I figured it would just recharge the battery. The UPS turned off three minutes later. That was a shocker. But it does work, and they have modified this setting in the latest version of the UPS bios, according to Mike Delgrosso of Tripp Lite. Mike said the reason for the shutdown was to protect the UPS battery from too deep a discharge.

The next problem was that the remote system was still not turning off. Mike then had me look at the remote system setup. Again, if I had the manuals, I would have done better, but I misconfigured the remote setup on the NT 4.0 Server. This now fixed, I tried my experiment once again (waiting about 3 hours to give the UPS more than enough time to recharge-- Tripp Lite claims 4 to 6 hours for approximately 90% charge).

This time is worked like a charm.

There are some other very nifty features available from Tripp Lite. They have given you the ability to send (receive) e-mail and pager alerts based upon about 11 different conditions, from the UPS internal temperature too high, to the obvious on-battery/off-battery condition to a failed self-test. Along with the ability to use your Web browser to monitor not only Tipp Lite's UPS, but any manufacturer's UPS. Tripp Lite has created a major contender in the UPS marketplace with not only their hardware, but their software. Another just announced new feature is a link with the Palm Pilot (again not tested).

And now for the ultimate test. Would I recommend this product to my customers or other VAR's? The answer seems quite simple, based on my tests--YES. My only cautions are a) read the documentation and b) go slow the first time you set-up the software and c) test, test and then test your setup and make sure it works.