PSA: Check your UPS batteries before they fail

Had a client in St. Louis lose 3 servers last week because their APC Smart-UPS battery packs were 5 years old. I always assumed the warning beeps would catch it. Turns out the self-test passed but the runtime dropped to 2 minutes. Anyone else seen this with older UPS units?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabeth_ramirez8d ago

Replaced mine every 3 years after that happened to me.

anderson.jason8d ago

Man you get it though, right? I had the exact same thing happen to me a few years back and it was a total nightmare. I was just going about my day and then bam, everything fell apart out of nowhere. Now I just set a calendar reminder on my phone for every 2 and a half years to be safe, I don't even wait the full 3 years anymore. Learned my lesson the hard way when I had to scramble for a replacement at the worst possible time. It's just not worth the stress to push it past that point honestly.