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57918
May 27th, 2009 13:00
Power Cable options for Dell PowerEdge R710
Just ordered a batch of the new R710 PowerEdge servers. They all have the high output 870W power supplies.
I also ordered a handful of shorter cables to help the cable management in the racks (it's a mess right now). Dell sends some heavy duty 10ft 15A/125V NEMA cables with the systems. Might be a dumb question, but the shorter cables are rated 10A/125V - now I know Dell sells the 12A PDU style cables as well, but the question is will the 10A be sufficient for the high output power supply?
I'm not a power expert, but I'm assuming it will be fine although the cable supplier wouldn't give their blessing for server use since it wasn't tested.
Thoughts?
pcmeiners
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May 28th, 2009 16:00
I tried figuring out the input current with the link below at 870 output, it shows what the PS would normally use, not the absolute wattage input at 870watts output.
Dells Energy Smart Solution Advisor
http://solutions.dell.com/DellStarOnline/DCCP.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=555&s=biz&Template=6945c07e-3be7-47aa-b318-18f9052df893;1
If the output is 870 watts, input has to be at least 10 to 15% more, roughly 1000 watts ( this is considering you max out the load on the power supply which would be very difficult to do... you would need a great deal of hardware connected to the server.....tons of ram and disks). As is, I went up to 631 watts with 2 processors, 48 Gig ram and 40 disks.
Figuring a 10 amp cable x 125v= 1250 watts, should be fine, as these servers would be hard pressed to use half this wattage. If you want a higher safety margin, you could use the 15amp cords, cut down to size, having someone attach new plugs purchased from a hardware store. About 3 bucks for each 15 amp rated plug, 5 minutes labor per plug, an hour for the trip to the store, not bad. Far flung scenario, the power supply is directly shorted due to a hardware issue or a technician creates a direct short , possibly the PS is capable of producing more then 870 watts for a short duration, in that case possibly the 10 amp cord could be an issue...since the machines came with a 15 amp cord, personally I would resize the cord and attach a new plug
MStenz
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June 1st, 2009 11:00
Good to know - thanks for the information.