• Can I draw enough power from a UK Socket?
    18 replies, posted
So Basically I run one server and some networking equipment at the moment, This is all run on a standard UK socket breaker. And my father noted that if we get any more servers, we may have to get a different breaker put in just for the servers or it could trip the whole house. Is this true? Or can I draw enough power for 2-3 servers. [editline]30th June 2012[/editline] If so can I have a rough idea of how much it would cost to have a seperate breaker installed and a new socket in my room.
A server will draw anywhere to a few hundred watts, really doubt it'd go any higher. Usually mains fuses are at 10 Amps, at 230 volts that's a maximum of 2300 watts per fuse. Now a few servers alone won't be enough to reach that but if whatever room the servers are in is sharing a fuse with some other high power draw room like a kitchen then reaching that 2300 watts will be a piece of cake. Simply put the answer depends on how your house is wired.
Well I keep my servers inside my bedroom, Along side my PC and my deskfan which seems to draw quite a bit of power. As a matter of fact sometimes when I switch my fan on my screen flashes on and off and my speakers buzz.
[QUOTE=12voltsdc;36565045]Well I keep my servers inside my bedroom, Along side my PC and my deskfan which seems to draw quite a bit of power. As a matter of fact sometimes when I switch my fan on my screen flashes on and off and my speakers buzz.[/QUOTE] That flashing has nothing to do with what we're discussing here, the fan just doesn't have an inrush current limiter so for a split second when it turns on way too much current rushes in causing the voltage around your house to dip momentarily in what's called a brown-out. Usually this isn't a problem and if you know some electronics you can fit a beefy NTC in the fan to stop that from happening. Or just buy a better fan. The fan doesn't draw more than a few dozen watts probably. As I said a computer doesn't draw more than a couple hundred watts. Say you have your pc and 4 servers, let's assume they're all working at maximum capacity (which is a rare occurring unless you're doing some sort of heavy computation), 300w tops for the pc and 200w per server, that's 1100 watts. Toss in a hundred watts for the fan, another hundred watts for lighting and another hundred for routers and switches and the like and we're still below 1500 watts. You need to get a fair bit over 2000 watts to blow a fuse so as I said, unless your room is sharing a fuse with another room that's consuming a few hundred watts of its own you should be fine up to about half a dozen servers. [editline]30th June 2012[/editline] Well, when you get up to more than like 4 computers you should start doing some power measurment (a plug in watt meter is dirt cheap) to make sure you're in the clear but in your current situation, getting another server or two isn't going to be an issue.
[QUOTE=chipset;36565160]That flashing has nothing to do with what we're discussing here, the fan just doesn't have an inrush current limiter so for a split second when it turns on way too much current rushes in causing the voltage around your house to dip momentarily in what's called a brown-out. Usually this isn't a problem and if you know some electronics you can fit a beefy NTC in the fan to stop that from happening. Or just buy a better fan. The fan doesn't draw more than a few dozen watts probably. As I said a computer doesn't draw more than a couple hundred watts. Say you have your pc and 4 servers, let's assume they're all working at maximum capacity (which is a rare occurring unless you're doing some sort of heavy computation), 300w tops for the pc and 200w per server, that's 1100 watts. Toss in a hundred watts for the fan, another hundred watts for lighting and another hundred for routers and switches and the like and we're still below 1500 watts. You need to get a fair bit over 2000 watts to blow a fuse so as I said, unless your room is sharing a fuse with another room that's consuming a few hundred watts of its own you should be fine up to about half a dozen servers. [editline]30th June 2012[/editline] Well, when you get up to more than like 4 computers you should start doing some power measurment (a plug in watt meter is dirt cheap) to make sure you're in the clear but in your current situation, getting another server or two isn't going to be an issue.[/QUOTE] Okay! Thanks for the reply, Very useful information.
Unprotected inductive loads can sure ruin your day when used inproperly, better get a new fan like chipset posted. Also make sure the sockets are properly grounded. I got a lot of shocks from the case or the mass (ground) of my pc, because not all sockets in my room are grounded. This also caused lot's of buzzing on speakers and the like. If this isn't the case, get an extention plug that has a ground connection, and connect it's ground to your central heating or something else that is grounded. This'll solve it.
Well the fan problem isn't really in issue, It's just in peak times when everyone is on their computers.
At work we run 10 PCs, 20 Monitors and a Network Switch from a single 13A socket for each row of desks. You'd be surprised at how little power modern computers use.
[QUOTE=yngndrw;36580481]At work we run 10 PCs, 20 Monitors and a Network Switch from a single 13A socket for each row of desks. You'd be surprised at how little power modern computers use.[/QUOTE] The big power draws are graphics cards really, a cpu wont do more than a hundred watts on max load and the power draw or things like ram, mobo and hard drives is almost negligible in comparison. An office computer at idle will struggle to even get above 100 watts.
[QUOTE=chipset;36583381]The big power draws are graphics cards really, a cpu wont do more than a hundred watts on max load and the power draw or things like ram, mobo and hard drives is almost negligible in comparison. An office computer at idle will struggle to even get above 100 watts.[/QUOTE] Thanks for your help, There is no GPU in servers, So like you said around 100 Watts? I have about 4 Hard drives in my current server, And the server I plan to get will have 6 Hard Drives.
HDDs draw around 10 watts a piece give or take a couple.
If you are unlucky as soon as someone puts on the oven your main fuse will come, older ones are only for about 10 to 15 amps(here in Germany), new ones take a bit more. But really, just have a look at your electronics and calculate?
What the hell. A standard ring-circuit circuit breaker is 32A. (For each floor.) Lights are usually on their own circuit breaker. (16A, again for each floor.) The oven is usually on its own circuit breaker, 32A again. The main incoming circuit breaker size varies, but is usually 100A. This is for the UK, I.e. 230V. A 10-15A circuit breaker wouldn't be enough for an electric oven on its own, never-mind for the main incoming circuit breaker.
The old ones in my grannies house are 15 if I remember correctly. That's why I said "older ones"
Ovens typically draw around 10 amps per element/burner, so unless someone is going to utilize 2+ burners on maximum heat I don't see an issue. I know in Canada/USA, ovens are given their own circuits considering they require special sockets with double the voltage. The average house here also runs off a 200 amp incoming fuse.
In my house at least, (the wiring is about 8 years old), all major appliances including my ovens (2x), washer, dryer, refrigerator, etc all I have different breakers. Each oven has a 1.5 inch thick braid as a power source. Most likely due to code regulations and fire laws. For a large server setup, I don't see why you wouldn't put in a separate breaker and outlet. It just seems like the logical option so you won't have to go to bed each night, wondering if you'll wake up with a few walls missing and smoldering pajamas. [editline]7th August 2012[/editline] I would also recommend investing in some kind of rackmount power conditioner that would take a 240V input and output several standard NEMA house plug. This way, you could run one large output to your rack, and have a branched power system going down the rack for each server to pull from. [editline]7th August 2012[/editline] Perhaps one of [URL="http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=478"]these?[/URL]
If I were you, invest in a decent UPS for your servers. It will give the servers themselves protection against spikes/brown outs/black outs and if your servers do pull slightly over for a little bit, the UPS will compensate.
This is my experience of this situation - I had exactly the same issue here. I had 5 HP ProLiant servers running out in the garage at one point, with a network switch. They were constantly on. I did some research before installing them and four of the five servers would use 345w maximum per PSU. I had redundant PSUs but of course, only one at any one time was being used. So going by that as a margin, 4x345 = 1380w of potential throughput at any one time. The amount of current would never reach this level, as this is just what HP had rated the PSUs to, but regardless I chose this as a figure to start off with. I bought a small breaker and installed it between my main house power circuit and a new "garage circuit" I built. The breaker has its own manual toggle incase the main fails, so I can be sure that if I need to, I can shut off power to the servers immediately if need be. I have essentially isolated the garage as much as I can from the main house. I now run only 2 servers. :(
Where I live theres two lines that connect for a 420 line total. half of that is dedicated to the Air-Conditioner when it is in use and the rest is used to power the home. My house was built in 1952 we have a whole entertainment system, two computers with GPUs etc running on one socket for over 12 years nothing bad has happened. Don't know how its relevant, but meh I think this thread has devolved into "Share your homes wiring".
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