November 24, 2013

An alternative to Double Double UPS Redundancy ... now in Kit form (KIT8)

After another weekend explaining to a paranoid IT service tech the nature of backup power and redundancy, the Greenlight Lab guys created another Kit to solve a frequent problem.
UPSes provide backup power, but what if your UPS needs to be changed or goes down?   Mass Hysteria, Right?

To solve this, many people end up getting a 2nd UPS, in what I call double double redundancy.  While UPS failures are rare they do happen.  But instead of buying a 2nd UPS, why not consider an Automatic transfer switch?  These switches made by APC transfer power nearly instantly to another source.  If source 1 fails, power is taken from source 2.  

Kit8 includes a splitter dongle that plugs into your outlet and gives source 1 and source 2 from the same outlet.   Then the UPS is installed into source 1's path.   The transfer switch connects to the UPS's output and connects to the dongle to pickup source 2.   Out of the transfer switch is a PDU with all your equipment.  
Under normal operation power flows through the outlet, through source 1's path, into the UPS and then out of the UPS through the transfer switch .  Our of the transfer switch and to your PDU.  If the UPS fails, the transfer switches disconnects source 1 and goes to source 2 directly from the outlet and through to your equipment.  If the house power fails, your UPS switches on and still provides the normal backup power through the transfer switch and on to the PDU.

Our plug and play Kit8 allows this to occur at a fraction of the cost of a 2nd UPS.   A high voltage Kit8 with dongle, transfer switch and basic PDU costs $375.00


November 22, 2013

Dont be afraid of big bad High Voltage!

While the uninitiated may cower at the thought of high voltage power for their server room, its not as scary or complicated you may think.

Remember, nearly every bit of IT equipment was designed and made for the world IT community.  And since the world uses a wide variety of electrical power and voltages, all this equipment is designed to run on any distribution power.  Your server can run on the Japanese's stingy 100volt, to Argentina's hefty 240volt. The US is lucky or cursed, that we have 2 levels of power... low and high.

The low (120v) is like your normal household outlets and the high (240v) is like your dryer or range power at home, or the AC or large machinery in the workplace.

Since high voltage has many performance advantages, its worth considering changing over to high voltage for your server room.

The problem is that your server room has PDUs, extension cords, and power cords for a 120volt world.... wont changeover be a hassle and major expense?

Not necessarily.

Start with a nice high voltage 5kva UPS and add our "Kit6" special.  This kit includes a high voltage 0U PDU and server patch power cables to meet your needs.   The Kit6 is $149 with free shipping with a UPS purchase.


November 17, 2013

Affordable APC RT Smart Online Internal Fault Repairs exclusively from GreenlightUPS

We all know the dreaded Red "X" that seems to too often affect the APC Smart UPS RT Online units.

If you call APC, they will tell you its un-repairable or recommend you using their TradeUPS program to get a paltry discount off the retail price of a new one.  If you are lucky, they recommend either SAC or CBM as authorized repair centers.   But as many of customers know, their solutions and service are even more unreasonable.

Good News!  GreenlightUPS has learned more about repairing these units, so we are fairly sure we can get your unit working back in order at a reasonable price.



  • Step 1:  Download our 3U or 6U Repair Ticket Form.   
  • Step 2:  Send us back the Form
  • Step 3:  We'll give you an estimate on the repair
  • Step 4:  Send it in for a FREE evaluation.  We even offer easy and affordable ways of getting the unit the unit to us.  Plus every unit good or bad is worth real CASH, so dont throw them away
GreenlightUPS - the affordable UNAUTHORIZED repair center