Is there any interest in a hardware board which will allow remote power cycling - page 4.

DeathAndTaxes

donator

Activity: 1218

Merit: 1079

Gerald Davis

Quote from: Inspector 2211 on March 03, 2012, 12:39:09 AM

Quote from: The-Real-Link on March 02, 2012, 07:09:06 PM

For my remote systems, it's always nice to go issue a remote physical power-on and off reboot should something crash. I was really thinking of how to do this aside from setting up and testing WOL.

If a simple box / interface that is hooked up to the machine(s) could cycle them off and on remotely if necessary that'd be great.

I'm interested to see how this works out. For $100 that's not bad at all to invest in.

OK, PM me how many you want, I'll buy them at Amazon for $24.54 (see my previous post), mark them up to $100 and resell them to you.

Maybe you have trouble reading so I'll help you.

Quote

Can physically power on, power off, and power cycle up to 8 rigs (multiple boards could be used to control more rigs)

So you going to buy him 8 for $200 and mark it down to $100? Your a nice guy.

Inspector 2211

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

Quote from: The-Real-Link on March 02, 2012, 07:09:06 PM

For my remote systems, it's always nice to go issue a remote physical power-on and off reboot should something crash. I was really thinking of how to do this aside from setting up and testing WOL.

If a simple box / interface that is hooked up to the machine(s) could cycle them off and on remotely if necessary that'd be great.

I'm interested to see how this works out. For $100 that's not bad at all to invest in.

OK, PM me how many you want, I'll buy them at Amazon for $24.54 (see my previous post), mark them up to $100 and resell them to you.

gnar1ta$

donator

Activity: 798

Merit: 500

I'd be in for 1 maybe 2. Can't even count how many times I've waited days for someone to power cycle my remote rigs. Angry

Inaba

legendary

Activity: 1260

Merit: 1000

I'd probably be in for a couple at least.

The-Real-Link

hero member

Activity: 533

Merit: 500

For my remote systems, it's always nice to go issue a remote physical power-on and off reboot should something crash. I was really thinking of how to do this aside from setting up and testing WOL.

If a simple box / interface that is hooked up to the machine(s) could cycle them off and on remotely if necessary that'd be great.

I'm interested to see how this works out. For $100 that's not bad at all to invest in.

rjk

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

1ngldh

This place makes a ton of awesome little boards and control relays that would be perfect for this. Tons of options. Have a browse through their site, you won't be disappointed at the selection.

twobitcoins

full member

Activity: 144

Merit: 100

It sounds pretty much like what I already use. See Kit 108 on kitsrus.com. It is a serial port controlled relay board with 8 relays. Available assembled from sources including:

I just had to wire it into the power switch of each machine. I used some phone wire spliced with these power switch extension cables:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1835/ele-187/FrozenCPU_Standard_Motherboard_Power_Switch_Extension_Cable.html

So yes, it's a good approach, and I would have been interested in a ready made solution with all the necessary wiring if it were available when I was looking, but I already have what I need now.

Inspector 2211

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

Quote from: DeathAndTaxes on March 02, 2012, 11:34:41 AM

Background (can safely skip if TL/DR):

on edit: removed as it seems to be a distraction.

..

Remote out of band power control
There are PDU that offer ability to power cycle devices remotely but they tend to be very expensive and have insufficient wattage for a large number of rigs. For example the unit in the link below has 16 individually switched outlets but only 5.76 KW of switchable power or about $100 per KW. Using conventional remote power solutions is cost prohibitive.
http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-PDUMH30HVNET-Distribution-Switching/dp/B0013HY9E2

So why not just shutdown/reboot the rig via the command line using ssh? That certainly is a solution most of the time but the rig may be unresponsive, the mining software may hang when it tries to shutdown with crashed GPUs, or rig may hang during reboot.

An analog power switch is essentially fool proof. Power rig off, wait, power rig on. It can't be defeated by failing software on the mining rig. I am gauging interest (no guarantees, no pre-orders, no timelines just gauging interest) for a control board which would provide remote out of band power control for multiple mining rigs.

Tentative simplified board specs:

Requires a host "server" (any non mining computer) with an RS-232 port (USB to RS-232 adapters are available for ~$10)
Can physically power on, power off, and power cycle up to 8 rigs (multiple boards could be used to control more rigs)
Linux and windows OS supported.
Will expose an API for integration into existing or custom applications (like hypothetically ANUBIS)

Cost: ~$100 (rough estimate)

Recently, I bought such a device for $24.54 at Amazon.
It is the "USB Net Power 8800 Single Outlet Network AC Power Controller" and it has a USB cable. While intended for Windows, someone has written a Linux driver, which can be downloaded. In fact, I use it with Ubuntu Linux.

http://www.amazon.com/Power-Single-Outlet-Network-Controller/dp/B004L7NDVQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1330713310&sr=8-1

I use it to power-cycle my %^$#%& DSL modem, which once in a while decides to go catatonic.
I wrote a perl script which detects that the aggregate hash rate of all graphics cards on this particular rig has fallen to 0.0 MH/s, whereupon the script turns the power to the modem off for one second, then on again.
Works like a charm.

Edit: I just looked at the type plate of this device, and it says "6 Amps".
Definitely OK for a DSL modem, but probably too lightweight for a 4-GPU or 5-GPU mining rig.

DeathAndTaxes

donator

Activity: 1218

Merit: 1079

Gerald Davis

Quote from: ?? on ??

If you worry about the water flow, you should put flow sensors with network/wired interface into your loop and detect that
on your supervisor machine.

Pump failure, overheating should be of concern, I agree. In that case, supervisor should immediately cut the power to the failing rig.
In your setup, you need S/W power management/distribution to control power to all your rigs. Just buy off the shelf.

apc.com or any other.

I think you are missing the point. I am already building a control board for myself. I have done extensive research. Off the shelf PDU are cost prohibitive and custom networked sensors are expensive and complex. I already have a solution for myself I am just seeing if others would be interested in a scaled down version for rebooting rigs. I now regret putting any of that background in the first post (on edit: removed).

The purpose of the thread is to gauge interest in an out of band power control board. I will put you down as "No. Have no use". Thank you for keeping this on topic.

DeathAndTaxes

donator

Activity: 1218

Merit: 1079

Gerald Davis

Well for me with a cooling failure the entire rig could become unresponsive and keeping it powered on without cooling is a good way to slag couple thousand worth of gear.

So for myself having an out of band controller is simply a requirement. One would be gambling every second that no rig would become unresponsive in a "loss of coolant" accident. That is just an asininely stupid risk to take. So I will be building my custom controller anyways. I already have an "server" which has no miners and runs p2pool anyways.

Now for other users there may not be a demand. If people never run into an unresponsive rig or a rig which hangs during reboot then there likely is no value. That is what I am trying to gauge before I build 20 boards that nobody needs.

DeathAndTaxes

donator

Activity: 1218

Merit: 1079

Gerald Davis

Background (can safely skip if TL/DR):

on edit: removed as it seems to be a distraction.

..

Remote out of band power control
There are PDU that offer ability to power cycle devices remotely but they tend to be very expensive and have insufficient wattage for a large number of rigs. For example the unit in the link below has 16 individually switched outlets but only 5.76 KW of switchable power or about $100 per KW. Using conventional remote power solutions is cost prohibitive.
http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-PDUMH30HVNET-Distribution-Switching/dp/B0013HY9E2

So why not just shutdown/reboot the rig via the command line using ssh? That certainly is a solution most of the time but the rig may be unresponsive, the mining software may hang when it tries to shutdown with crashed GPUs, or rig may hang during reboot.

An analog power switch is essentially fool proof. Power rig off, wait, power rig on. It can't be defeated by failing software on the mining rig. I am gauging interest (no guarantees, no pre-orders, no timelines just gauging interest) for a control board which would provide remote out of band power control for multiple mining rigs.

Tentative simplified board specs:

Requires a host "server" (any non mining computer) with an RS-232 port (USB to RS-232 adapters are available for ~$10)
Can physically power on, power off, and power cycle up to 8 rigs (multiple boards could be used to control more rigs)
Linux and windows OS supported.
Will expose an API for integration into existing or custom applications (like hypothetically ANUBIS)

Cost: ~$100 (rough estimate)

Topic: Is there any interest in a hardware board which will allow remote power cycling - page 4. (Read 19526 times)