Proliant ML350 reboots on power failure, APC UPS attached

[McDiesel]

We recently installed a Proliant ML350 G5 Server. It was connected to a brand new APC BACK-UPS 865 Watts / 1500 VA, MODEL BX1500LCD. If the power blinks off, the server reboots. Thinking that the APC was "faulty" we pulled it off the server and connected the server to a new BN1250LCD (1250VA) but after a couple weeks when the next power event took place it did the exact same thing. I have been researching this online and it was suggested that an HP server needs a "SmartUPS" instead of a unit from the "BackUPS" line but we have used this same APC BackUPS on many other servers w/o any trouble so it seems strange that the HP would choke on it. I need to get this resolved ASAP before we have a power induced incident. If you have any insight please let me know.
Thanks

[TarunJain]

Dear McDiesel,

We have faced the similar issue with DL380 G5 server which got resolved after replacing power supply

So I would suggest to contact hp support to get the power supply replaced
Hope that info would help

TarunJain

[TL Verdone]

I'm certainly no expert on this, but we did have the same problem on an ML350 G3 Novell 6 server using the Power Chute software... once I replaced the Back-UPS with a "Smart UPS" that power loss rebooting problem never surfaced again.

[Vernon Osting]

Were you able to resolve this problem? It seem I have the same problem with my new ML350 G5 Quad-Core. I connected it to a new ACP Smart UPS SC620 and the load on the UPS was around 50% but during any power fluctuation the server would restart. Thinking the UPS may be to small I connected the server to a new APC XS1500 the server only put a 20% load on the UPS but I still have the same problem. If I remove power to the UPS the server immediately powers off and restarts.

[McDiesel]

HI
No we have not solved the issue. We tried a Tripp-Lite Smart UPS but it was still 1500VA (900w), so not much larger in size but it produced same exact results as the APC.

We tried getting HP to ship new power supplies as the previous poster had stated fixed his issues but we keep getting the "run-around".

What good is a warranty if all they want to do is ask questions that seem pointless? They told us that we needed a 2700VA UPS for adequate protection. I have 3 Dell servers on a 1500VA APC and they are fine thru power drops all the time.

I would love to solve this before we have a bigger problem; guess we will have to be more forceful and call again. If this is the type of service we get from HP we will go back to building our own servers on an Intel Server Board.

I was wondering if it was OK to try to power the server on two UPS units; one for each power supply. We almost never have anything bigger than a 1500VA here and what's the sense of paying a pile of $$$ to buy one for a test?

If anyone else has any results fixing an isue like this please share what you did and I will do the same. Thanks

[Brian_Murdoch]

Hi,

There are a number of problems with the G5 power supplies at the moment mainly because HP has standardised on one model of PSU for the DL/ML 3XX G5 Proliant series.
Check by removal to see if you have revision 02M or 03M psu's. The label on the power supply will read 379123-001 and the Revision level will be to the right of this on the label. Revisions 02M, 03M can be bad. For ML370 G5 there is another issue where the PSU's can be very noisy (the psu fans stay on when they should be off). Try to obtain new PSU's with revision 06M if you have 03M or below installed and inform HP that you know there to be a known issue with these older revisions. The correct spare part number for these PSU's is 403781-001.

See similar issues on the forum......

I hope this helps,

Brian

http://forums12.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1206650788788+28353475&threadId=1145647


http://forums12.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1206650509999+28353475&threadId=1158001

http://forums12.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1206650864715+28353475&threadId=1118732

[Vernon Osting]

Hi Thanks for the response I too seem to be getting the run around from HP. My servers only have one supply so was thinking of ordering another and trying that but it sounds like you already have. I can replicate the problem at any time just by unplugging the UPS and the server loses power and restart. I know the ACP 1500LCD units uses a modified sine wave output while on battery. I think this may be the root of the problem since some power supply's perhaps the ML350 will not function correctly with that type of input. I don't know the exact model of your Trip-lite UPS but most of them use(PWM) wave forms which are also not a true sine waves. Turns out the APC Smart-UPS I tried was the SC variant which also puts out a modified sine wave. I'm going to order a APC Smart-UPS 1500 that outputs a true sine wave according to APC specs and see if that makes a difference. I'll let you know.

Vern

[Brian_Murdoch]

There may be a solution in newer firmware.

Please see this forum entry....

http://forums12.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1206654695530+28353475&threadId=1214143

Regards,

Brian

[Vernon Osting]

Here is the latest information I received from HP support regarding the ML350. This looks like the reason for my power related problems.

It has been noticed that this issue occurs when the server is connected to line-interactive UPS of other manufacturers. To fix this issue please use a higher end Online UPS. If an online UPS is used, the server stays up when the UPS switched to battery power.

The Online UPS takes incoming power, converts it to DC, conditions it, and converts it back to AC. This means the UPS is Online since there is no delay to switch to battery.

We have tested the following Uninterruptible Power Systems on the ML350 servers and have recommended them as option parts:

o Tower
â ¢ HP, T1000 UPS AF403A
â ¢ HP, T1500 UPS AF406A
â ¢ HP, R/T 2200 UPS AF409A

o Rack
â ¢ HP, R1.5kVA UPS, 1U AF419A
â ¢ HP R3000 VA UPS, 2U, L5-30 AF422A
â ¢ HP R3000 VA UPS, 2U, L6-20 AF423A
â ¢ HP R5500 VA UPS AF426A

You can purchase any of the above mentioned parts from nearest HP part seller or from the following web links:

http://www.hp.com/buy/parts

[Vernon Osting]

The problem with my two HP ML350 G5 servers rebooting with unexpected power loses appears to have been solved by replacing the APC UPS units with UPS units the output a true sine wave. Although I tried several different models of APC UPS units only the APC SmartUPS (not the SC variant) and HP UPS units seem to work with theses servers. The other units worked fine on my other servers but not on the HP ML350. It appears the power supplies in the ML350 are unable to operate on UPS units the output a modified sine wave.