[Mispa-l] Replace at MIX router power: UPS with AVS - automatic voltage switcher - 25 January 2016

[Dr Paulos B Nyirenda]

MISPA,

Experience at the Malawi Internet Exchange (MIX) over the past two years has shown that it 
has been very difficult to get peers and ISPs to provide a UPS for powering each peer's 
router and connection equipment.

This has meant that all routers depend on UPS from one or two peers. These UPS are hence 
often on overload and do not sustain power when ESCON supply goes off.

Despite these set backs the MIX has been performing very well as an Internet Exchange 
Point - IXP

It appears then plausible to conclude that there is no real need to have UPS support for 
routers and switches at the MIX.

I would therefore like to recommend that we remove UPS support for all routers and switches 
at the MIX and replace powering through the failing UPS with powering through Automatic 
Voltage Switchers (AVS) - like the AVS30 or lower current ones for each router or switch.

The removal of UPS for routers will allow us to clear the room of dead or non functional UPS.

The removal of the unwanted UPS will provide more room for us to fit in an additional rack 
which MISPA needs since we have ran out of space on the current rack and yet we have a 
request from AKAMAI to host Akamai services at the MIX.

I would therefore like to schedule this change for power at the MIX to take place on 25 
January 2016 or as soon as possible during that week. I propose that funds from the MISPA 
account be used to purchase AVS units for each power socket at the MIX and for required 
power cords to implement the new power arrangement. I would like to welcome offers from 
peers at the MIX to supply 3-pin plugs and power cords for their equipment before that week.

UPS may still be required for servers BUT experience shows that these servers have so far 
survived on unreliable UPS and may hence also survive onjust an AVS power connection.

I will also be checking if there is a generator now at College of Medicine that provides backup 
power to the MIX. Any comments from CoM staff on this list would be most appreciated.

Regards,

Paulos
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Dr Paulos B Nyirenda
Malawi SDNP PC: http://www.sdnp.org.mw
NIC.MW & .mw ccTLD http://www.registrar.mw
Chair: MISPA http://www.mispa.org.mw