We must take into account certain aspects when operating the computer and storage equipment for the protection and backup of information; one of them, is to avoid the use of a sudden shutdown and instead, favor the use of a “soft shutdown”.
Why? Web servers are an indispensable part of the technological infrastructure of any organization. Everyday tasks like video conferencing, banking, communication between productive machinery and even work at home, would not be possible without a quality ICT infrastructure.
The smooth shutdown
Most computer equipment is not designed to shut down “abruptly”, i.e., completely removing power from the equipment from one moment to the next. This happens at the moment of unplugging it, when we press the “off” button continuously or due to a lack of power from the mains. This form of shutdown jeopardizes the protection and data backup of the system.
Now, what can happen to the system when an abrupt shutdown is performed?
All computer equipment has active processes and information exchange, and in the absence of power, these processes are left unfinished, making the possibility of file corruption and damage to the operating system latent. In this sense, the greatest danger lies in the fact that the system files can become corrupted and no longer be useful.
Benefits of soft shutdown for protection and backup
However, this is not the only possible damage in the event of a power failure, as hard drive, whether traditional or solid state, are also at risk. In traditional mechanical disks, a sudden power interruption can result in wear to the disk read/write heads.
Thus, if this wear is continuous, the mechanical hard disk may no longer be useful. On the other hand, in solid hard drive, the most common failure in the event of a power failure is also linked to data corruption.
To avoid such damage, a shutdown sequence must be carried out to allow all processes to complete their execution before the computer can be turned off. This process of shutting down the computer in a controlled manner is known as soft shutdown.
On the other hand, one of the ways to implement this soft shutdown in the absence of power is by installing a UPS that is capable of communicating with a power management system.
Through the use of these technologies it is possible to perform different types of soft shutdown according to the user’s need, among them:
- Total shutdown. The UPS sends the command to the PC to shut down the equipment.
- Shutdown and logoff. In addition to shutting down the computer, the UPS sends the command to put it into a low power consumption mode.
Both shutdown commands represent a soft shutdown, which should always be favored over a mechanical shutdown or a total absence of power.
UPS + SNMP, the ideal combination for a smooth shutdown
Communication between the UPS and the power management systems, SAI, is carried out using SNMP connectivity. Through the SNMP protocol, UPS’s can be monitored over an Ethernet network by the network administrator, from any station connected to the Internet or intranet of the company.
As mentioned before, this allows the administrator to avoid the abrupt shutdown of their equipment in the event of a power outage. It also includes two additional benefits:
- Plan and execute soft shutdown processes according to the backup time available in the UPS.
- Shorten system recovery times, once the power returns.
To sum up, installing a UPS with connectivity to a power management platform is of vital importance, otherwise the UPS will only have the function of delaying the Inevitable: abrupt shutdown of equipment after UPS backup time expires.
At Industronic, all of our UPSs have an SNMP card included, which allows our ICT users to react appropriately in the absence of sustained energy and be able to execute the necessary actions to safeguard the information that ensures the continuity of the operation of your company.
