IBM Changed UPS Vendors

Just recently, I discovered that IBM decided to quietly switch their UPS vendor from APC to Eaton (Powerware). We needed to replace a dead IBM UPS 3000 XHV (SmartUPS-3000) and so I ordered a new IBM UPS, the UPS 3000 HV (Eaton 5125). Upon receiving the UPS, I noticed that the battery and power module were rather different. So I boot up the UPS and start configuring the web management card and it hits me… this isn’t an APC UPS, it’s an Eaton! ARG! Why?!? WHY?!? :'(

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Check Your UPS Batteries!

Every now and then it’s a good idea to check your UPS batteries, right? Sure, we all know that. But who really does it? In well run environments UPSes are monitored, internally and/or externally but in a small machine room with only a couple racks, the individual UPS systems may not be monitored. These machine rooms (closets?) might also not be frequented by people very often or may not even get a visit, ever unless something goes wrong.

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l2c.pl – Lines to Columns

Here is a little perl script I wrote some time back for converting a text file’s contents from lines to columns.

I’d like to present this script and then psuedo-challenge other visitors of this site to write a more efficient algorithm in the language of their choice. Unfortunately, any way (that I know of) for measuring the efficiency of two or more algorithms across different languages is going to be skewed due to differences in efficiency of compilers, interpreters and what not.

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