Mini-redundant PSU that doesn't break the bank?

[Windows7ge]

I have a custom built server at home that runs a number of important services for me 24/7. While it's been fairly well behaved we had a short power outage last night and for some reason despite being on UPS the server still lost power. Though I believe the UPS to be at fault I've been meaning to replace the servers Corsair RMx 850W with something mini-redundant. The problem is anything near 850W capacity is really expensive.

 

I know from years past the server really only pulls something around 475W maximum load. With some headroom in mind I'd like a PSU around 600W+ but it will require dual EPS (dual socket server).

 

I don't have a fixed budget but I'm hoping there's a niche market of redundant PSU's that aren't $600 for a 800W...

 

The chassis I'm using is a NORCO RPC-4224 4U rack mount. It will accept ATX and has the bracket adapters for server 4U redundant PSU's.

[johnno23]

yeah the redundant types are expensive. best i seen is over the 600 but on paper looks better than the lower wattage and more expensive items on New egg

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X6BJQSM/ref=olp-opf-redir?aod=1&th=1

I can only imagine that the market is less saturated as it is not a common consumer item and i would assume the components are of a higher quality. still does not make them easily affordable though.

 

[Windows7ge]

16 minutes ago, johnno23 said:

yeah the redundant types are expensive. best i seen is over the 600 but on paper looks better than the lower wattage and more expensive items on New egg

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08X6BJQSM/ref=olp-opf-redir?aod=1&th=1

I can only imagine that the market is less saturated as it is not a common consumer item and i would assume the components are of a higher quality. still does not make them easily affordable though.

 

This is a fair point. Unfortunately the suggested PSU only has 2 molex on the same cable at that. I can't power twenty-four 3.5" drive bays off of that and using SATA power for more than one drive can be sort of sketchy.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

You dont just buy a used one?

i assume itll problably yeild massive discounts similar to how used consumer psus have massive discounts over new

 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

A bit of a different solution. Swap the case with one with dual PSUs built in. There are a good amount of supermicro 4u 24 bay cases on ebay with dual PSUs included. Here is an example. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255572451192?hash=item3b814e1f78:g:cTsAAOSwsYFin94N&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4ApmN3W3n8yppJ0twW6NEW0HLL5xCqPThxeYX9KsPHU5%2FCbF7kbAL5CdiDc3qwoccbW6DGAfPfTVu%2Fs05eALWp0v92h9%2BbIffiE3X9zuPb8jjunZh%2F%2FsZE6KlzzUccJ7wLeWOLhNCBxi1lDbM52tWo%2FgNo%2B4spsHhXwuGmXi8MNjuXAFO0hGADqwz5AGDVod8j7ECU7GVPmlkWuWxGcKnkPblVk8Lua84WiQcLAxybiqC6XC9URl7QuRX4iYFnTUqwIMSos%2BuF%2B06%2B2RSRB3SUxzH%2BKDnB%2Fmeb1l7pSyEYmN|tkp%3ABFBM_u25tPph

[Windows7ge]

5 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

You dont just buy a used one?

i assume itll problably yeild massive discounts similar to how used consumer psus have massive discounts over new

 

 

I thought about this but besides eBay I don't really know where else to look. I've been told Zippy is a good brand but besides that I'd have no leads to go on as far as what I should avoid, and what I can readily get a replacement modular unit for should one die.

 

7 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

A bit of a different solution. Swap the case with one with dual PSUs built in. There are a good amount of supermicro 4u 24 bay cases on ebay with dual PSUs included. Here is an example. 

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/255572451192?hash=item3b814e1f78:g:cTsAAOSwsYFin94N&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4ApmN3W3n8yppJ0twW6NEW0HLL5xCqPThxeYX9KsPHU5%2FCbF7kbAL5CdiDc3qwoccbW6DGAfPfTVu%2Fs05eALWp0v92h9%2BbIffiE3X9zuPb8jjunZh%2F%2FsZE6KlzzUccJ7wLeWOLhNCBxi1lDbM52tWo%2FgNo%2B4spsHhXwuGmXi8MNjuXAFO0hGADqwz5AGDVod8j7ECU7GVPmlkWuWxGcKnkPblVk8Lua84WiQcLAxybiqC6XC9URl7QuRX4iYFnTUqwIMSos%2BuF%2B06%2B2RSRB3SUxzH%2BKDnB%2Fmeb1l7pSyEYmN|tkp%3ABFBM_u25tPph

If I was looking to build a box from scratch I wouldn't be against the idea if I could spot one with all it's sleds for about the same price. It'd actually make for quite the cost savings given what I paid for the NORCO. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

I thought about this but besides eBay I don't really know where else to look. I've been told Zippy is a good brand but besides that I'd have no leads to go on as far as what I should avoid, and what I can readily get a replacement modular unit for should one die.

By logic if any ONE of these brands psus are unreliable trash theyd be out of buisness already because in the server space reliability is #1

 

also you dont just buy another used rm850(x) and have that laying around? If you want redundancy so you can quickly get your server back up and running the cheapest solution is to just have another psu laying around

[Windows7ge]

16 minutes ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

By logic if any ONE of these brands psus are unreliable trash theyd be out of buisness already because in the server space reliability is #1

 

also you dont just buy another used rm850(x) and have that laying around? If you want redundancy so you can quickly get your server back up and running the cheapest solution is to just have another psu laying around

I don't think you understood my concerns.

 

If your idea of cheap redundancy is to suggest keeping a spare desktop PSU around I don't think this is a topic you can help with.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

I don't think you understood my concerns.

 

If your idea of cheap redundancy is to suggest keeping a spare desktop PSU around I don't think this is a topic you can help with.

I mean isnt redundancy just having something to swap over to quickly when something dies?

 

Sinnce the rm850x is modular if your unit does up and die and you have a spare just take the dead psu out disconnecting all the modular cables and put the backup in and reconnect the modular cables to that so it isnt gonna be a painful hour and a half psu swap recconecting everything but a mere 5 minute psu replacement

 

I mean i can build a damn pc <5 minutes w/o case if im being quick so a psu swap is all but trivial compared to that (literally just disconnecting and reconnecting modular cables and swaping out a dead psu)

 

If you want cost effectiveness then heres something to consider

[Windows7ge]

1 minute ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

I mean isnt redundancy just having something to swap over to quickly when something dies?

No, no it absolutely is not.

 

Redundancy is synonymous with fault tolerance. If the server loses power because I have to swap a PSU that is not fault tolerance and by extension is not redundancy.

 

Not to mention if the failed PSU decides to take other hardware with it.