Because I *Still* Can

Last week I posted an article on my log from a cruise ship off the coast of Alaska. Just because I could. Part of the reason I could was the wireless technology the cruise line had in place, but the other part was the self-sustaining server I had back here in Michigan, equipped and configured to handle just about anything, unattended. Short of a failure of my ISP (which would be up to them to correct) or a half-hour-plus failure of my electricity supplier, the server would stay online.

Well I'm currently in the middle of a power failure of more than half an hour. But since I'm here, I can deal with that, too. The UPS on my server and router kept it online as long as the UPS battery held out. The server then shut down, gracefully, as I'd configured it to do. Since I wanted to get back online right away, I had to go get the generator and fire it up. It's a small unit, just a kilowatt or so maximum output. For the record, it's a Yamaha EF1000/S, which uses inverter technology to put out a smoother power curve than your typical budget-priced Chinese-made generator. The more sine-like output is healthier for computers, and the inverter approach also improves its efficiency.

Even so, I'm running the power through the UPS, to help "clean" it further, and also to conveniently distribute it to all of the devices that are plugged into the UPS. Those are: the server CPU (not its monitor), the router/firewall, the hub that server and router use to communicate, and the SDSL adapter that provides my connection to Covad, Speakeasy, and the world. The server's monitor is an LCD, which doesn't draw much power, so I probably could run that off the UPS or the generator without losing too much "live" time, but so far I'm sticking to just essential gear.

So how am I typing this entry? A laptop, plugged into the same hub as the router. Sitting on the porch, with the generator for the server purring next to me. The battery life on my iBook is only 4.5 hours (with the backlight turned down), compared to an estimated 12 hours on the generator (without refueling), but if I have an outage that long, I can presumably find someplace to go to recharge it (much like I can refuel the generator).

You may think I'm a bit of a freak for having an actual generator, but I come by it honestly. A year and a few months ago my part of the state was hit by an ice storm that coated everything with ice, bringing down tree branches all over the place, and power lines along with them. Between the difficulty of making repairs under such conditions, and the sheer number of local power lines down, it took over three days for the power on my block to be restored.

I didn't freak out about it - I like to think that I've gained enough wisdom and maturity to accept things over which I have no control with a modicum of grace, and I'm not the kind of TV or Web junkie who can't live without it for a few days - but I was frustrated at my inability to keep my own web site and mail server online. So I invested several hundred dollars in a generator.

(Ironically, although the heat to my house is natural-gas powered, the motor that pumps the hot water around the house is electric, and over the course of those three days, the temperature inside gradually crept down to around 40F. While the temperature in my freezer crept up to match it).

I've only used the generator a couple times since then (including this one), and in both cases the power came back in pretty short order. In fact, the power has come back on since I started writing this, about an hour after it went out. Being offline for that long wouldn't be any big deal in the greater scheme of things; I've voluntarily taken my systems offline for that long just to futz with them. But that's kinda the point: to be prepared for something worse than what you actually experience. And it's nice to know that I can stay online that long... and longer. In fact, as long as the downtown SBC office (where Covad's gear is located) has power (and I have yet to experience a situation in which they did not), and there's a gas station somewhere within driving distance that has power for their pumps (and short of a failure of the local grid, that's unlikely), I can keep GodsExBoyfriend.com online indefinitely.

And I plan to.