From: Stig Eriksson (stig@cactus.se)
Date: Thu Jun 20 2002 - 03:28:24 EDT
Hi List,
As usual, this list (especially Bill Hassel), gave me the
answer. I include his answer below...
Original Q:
> Last night we experienced a power outage, and all our servers
> went down. About one hour later, power was back and the servers
> rebooted normally, EXCEPT FOR THE A400 servers.
>
> The A400:eds stopped with a GSP message on the console, and
> i had to manually toggle the power switch to make them boot.
> After that, the servers booted normally...
>
> This means that we will have to send out people, (sometimes
> in the middle of the night), to unlock the server rooms and
> toggle the power switch after a power outage. This can't
> be true, can it...?
>
> Now the question: is this normal behaviour for A400 servers?
> Is there any way to make them boot automatically after a
> power outage?
Answer from Bill:
> It is a design flaw in the GSP processor and interface to
> the power supplies. The scenario is:
>
> 1. Clean powerfail of more than 5 seconds: autoboots fine
>
> 2. Powerfails for less than 5 seconds: autoboot fails
>
> What happens is that the GSP interface cannot determine the state of
> power on the CPU adequately and therefore, as long as the GSP is still
> running (up to 5 seconds), it is unable to reset the powersupply rails
> and bring the CPU back up again. If the powerfailure lasts more than
> 5 seconds, the GSP loses power too and when power returns, it comes up
> in a reset mode which allows it to start the main power supplies.
>
> There is no fix as this is inherent to all A-class systems. For
> reliability, you need a UPS that will prevent power that goes off
> and on very quickly. There are simple power conditioners that will
> drop power completely during a voltage sag and not come back online
> for a predetermined delay (in anticipation of bouncy power spikes).
>
> Of course, unprotected power for computers is dangerous to the health
> of the computers (and disks and printers, etc)...bad power could wipe
> out everything.
Best Regards
--
Stig Eriksson email: stig@cactus.se
Cactus Automation AB phone: +46 31 86 97 10
Krokslätts Fabriker 30 fax: +46 31 86 97 24
431 37 Mölndal http: www.cactus.se
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