NASLite Network Attached Storage

Hi.


Does NASLite-2 happen to support any kind of UPS-instructed shutdown procedure during a power-cut?

I note that just about any new UPS these days(even the cheap ones) have an RS232 port, and this can be used(normally under a Windoze system), to shut-down the system if there is a power cut, and the UPS battery starts to weaken.

Is this at all possible with NASLite?

Developers can chime in too ... but I think extremely unlikely.

The linux drivers for RS232 (or USB) connected UPS aren't the greatest from my experience -- so with stability (and size) being a prime objective for NL ... you can guess why I think it's so unlikely. (Also, the shutdown mechanism for different UPS manufacturers aren't well standardized.)

I have an APC UPS connected via USB to a Linux server. I had to compile the appropriate drivers/daemons from linux source available on the net (not too hard, but somewhat time-consuming). During a power failure the server runs scripts to remotely shutdown the NASLite server before shutting itself down.

Though allot of those ports look like they are RS-232 they are in fact just a few contacts that are used to signal alarms or trigger other things. There are ways to do what you are wanting and there was a thread about that. One of the users wrote a script to shut down the NAS in the case of extended power loss, I can't recall where it is but a search should find it. An UPS with a USB port is your best bet though.

Mike

I regularly shutdown my server by pressing the power button (circa 0.5 second press). This has not in my experience caused a disorderly shutdown. So, if a device was attached to the power switch which makes momentary contact in the event of mains power failure....

Yah, it could work but would require that you build a circuit that converted the what is usually a latched contact to a single pulse of a set duration, IE a one shot would work. Good Idea and could be made to work with older UPS that have simple contact outputs.

Mike

Hokey pokey - thanks guys.


I like the power-switch interface idea, and as I do lots of electronic design work especially with PIC microcontrollers, I could easily build a small circuit which would do this. My first thoughts(for simplicity really), would be a small transformer running from the normal mains input(not the UPS output), which simply provides a reference voltage to a PIC input pin. You could do it even cheaper with a diode(or bridge rectifier) and a potential divider, but for safety and mains isolation, I prefer the transformer method...(i have lots of low power ones doing nothing but gathering dust!).

The rest of the circuit would be powered by tapping into the UPS 12v battery or batteries.

So, while the mains is up, the tranny provides a reference voltage to the controller, which vanishes when the mains fails. The circuit still being powered by the UPS battery supply, picks up on this, and trips a one-shot relay across the computer power-button contacts, which if what "NickC" says is correct, would shut down the server.

I could program the PIC for whatever "ON" time was needed before releasing the computer power-button, but as "NickC" says, about 0.5 seconds seems about normal...

Using the PIC, I could even have a timer routine when the mains fails, so that it only shuts off the server after a few minutes(depending on how juicy the UPS is).

This has possibilities, and sounds like it would be easier to do then using RS232 control...

NE556, a super cap and resistor, a few more caps and resistors, Need I say more? CHEAP and simple.

For the power switch shutdown to work you need to make sure that the APCI is working properly, it sometimes doesn't .

Glad we could help,

Mike