OK, let's see if we can turn this thread from BBN-bashing into something
a bit more constructive. I've seen several posts in the past few days
concerning optimal power backup strategies, both short and long term
(battery, diesel, and/or nuclear). Anybody out there care to share your
strategies?
eric
That takes us back to UPSi on equipment, and generators. Technologies
available are:
....
Don't forget cogeneration equipment.
One would think that local power, UPS, and one flavor of generator should
suffice. For the "reasonable". 
Tony
That takes us back to UPSi on equipment, and generators. Technologies
available are:
....Don't forget cogeneration equipment.
One would think that local power, UPS, and one flavor of generator should
suffice. For the "reasonable".
Having built a large datacenter recently (PointCast's), I can say that we
planned for local power failures that lasted up to about 48 hours. If it's
worse than that, you have A Big Problem.
We made our system completely automatic since it might have to operate when
there was no operator to initiate a transfer (although for the first year
we didn't have this). One thing to watch out for is the problem of utility
power "coming back" and then dying again. This caused at least one ISP
accident since they had insufficient battery power to transfer from
Utility->Battery->Generator and back to Utility and then do it again. This
is especially a problem if you manually initiate your generators (which is
by far the most common situation).
These kinds of multiple transfers are actually more common than you think.
-jcp-
Anyone have experiences with vented vs. non-vented cells when building out
your DC plant?
- Felix
Co-Generation/Off-grid Generation is becoming more available to even small
installations. The Aerospace division of AlliedSignal is now marketing a
small turbine-based power plant that's about the size of a 75-kVA
transformer. The unit can produce something like 50-100 kW of power and
will run on LP, Natural Gas, Diesel, Gasoline or grandpa's bathtub whiskey.
I believe the pricetag is in the $250k range.
See:
http://www.alliedsignal.com/aerospace/product/turbogen/turbo2.html
--zawada