6 ms·

Are you saying there is a device to splice the power cable while it is still hot, and re-route power to the computer without causing a hiccup?

villgax 7y ago
I think they could run wires to the motherboard pins on the backside or something too
dijit 7y ago
Oh for sure this is possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5MA685ApE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5MA685ApE the devices that do it without doing what these guys did is quite pricey though https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit_product/ https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit...
- jwr 7y ago
  > the devices that do it without doing what these guys did is quite pricey though https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit.. https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit.... It's somewhat interesting how this company can sell a product which obviously violates pretty much any electrical safety regulations (a plug with exposed prongs that can become hot). I'm guessing this is sold as a kit, not as a complete product.
- blackrock 7y ago
  I was thinking more along the lines of a single power input like your home desktop PC. That you would need to splice into this power cable while it’s still hot. For servers I expect that they would have redundant inputs, that you can easily hot swap it. The second link had a video on how to do that. With multiple ways to achieve a power re-route, including a tool to easily splice into the wire. The easiest technique was to just use a sheath to touch the metal prongs on the cable. But the surprise for me was the power strip technique, where he plugged in his battery source into one of the 6 outlets, thereby simulating a power input. I didn’t even know that was possible.
  - jlokier 7y ago
    > For servers I expect that they would have redundant inputs, that you can easily hot swap it. This is true, but there is still a real risk that the dual power input on the server fails when you actually do the swap. For example, the second PSU may not work, or it may have failed in the past and then be forgotten about, or connector or cable internally may be flaky, or the component that combines power from both PSUs may fail (although I think that's quite rare). If it's a really critical service, those risks may be unacceptable.
  - ZenPHP 7y ago
    Hot swapping servers with redundant power supplies is great, until you discover the hard way that some nimrod plugged both power supplies into the same UPS. And not just once, but on every server in both racks, one UPS per server.
- bouke 7y ago
  That requires the computer to hotswap to be plugged into a power strip. It doesn't work if the computer is plugged into the wall directly. (Well leaving aside modifying the house's electricity / opening up the wall obviously.)
  - dijit 7y ago
    you can do it pretty easily if you have a dual socket wall socket because it follows the exact same principles. But you have to be very careful. In these cases it's probably worth doing it though. https://media.screwfix.com/is/image//ae235?src=ae235/38040_P&$prodImageMedium$ https://media.screwfix.com/is/image//ae235?src=ae235/38040_P... FWIW I do not endorse doing this, just stating that its possible and would work, it's not electrically safe and is dangerous for not only the hardware but for you too.
  - Defenestresque 7y ago
    Incorrect. See this video[0] from the product stage. They have two ways to hotswap if it's not plugged into a powerbar: 1) plugging in their device into the adjacent power outlet then removing the socket assembly and 2) an adapter that can splice leads into the power cable https://youtu.be/-G8sEYCOv-o https://youtu.be/-G8sEYCOv-o Pretty ingenious, tbh. Though I'm a bit concerned about how much you end up handling energized plugs.
    - bouke 7y ago
      Well that’s what I meant by “opening up the wall”.
- lexicality 7y ago
  In the grand scheme of things, $600 is nothing money to a company.

villgax 7y ago

I think they could run wires to the motherboard pins on the backside or something too

dijit 7y ago

Oh for sure this is possible: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5MA685ApE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ5MA685ApE the devices that do it without doing what these guys did is quite pricey though https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit_product/ https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit...

jwr 7y ago
> the devices that do it without doing what these guys did is quite pricey though https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit.. https://www.cru-inc.com/products/wiebetech/hotplug_field_kit.... It's somewhat interesting how this company can sell a product which obviously violates pretty much any electrical safety regulations (a plug with exposed prongs that can become hot). I'm guessing this is sold as a kit, not as a complete product.
blackrock 7y ago
I was thinking more along the lines of a single power input like your home desktop PC. That you would need to splice into this power cable while it’s still hot. For servers I expect that they would have redundant inputs, that you can easily hot swap it. The second link had a video on how to do that. With multiple ways to achieve a power re-route, including a tool to easily splice into the wire. The easiest technique was to just use a sheath to touch the metal prongs on the cable. But the surprise for me was the power strip technique, where he plugged in his battery source into one of the 6 outlets, thereby simulating a power input. I didn’t even know that was possible.
- jlokier 7y ago
  > For servers I expect that they would have redundant inputs, that you can easily hot swap it. This is true, but there is still a real risk that the dual power input on the server fails when you actually do the swap. For example, the second PSU may not work, or it may have failed in the past and then be forgotten about, or connector or cable internally may be flaky, or the component that combines power from both PSUs may fail (although I think that's quite rare). If it's a really critical service, those risks may be unacceptable.
- ZenPHP 7y ago
  Hot swapping servers with redundant power supplies is great, until you discover the hard way that some nimrod plugged both power supplies into the same UPS. And not just once, but on every server in both racks, one UPS per server.
bouke 7y ago
That requires the computer to hotswap to be plugged into a power strip. It doesn't work if the computer is plugged into the wall directly. (Well leaving aside modifying the house's electricity / opening up the wall obviously.)
- dijit 7y ago
  you can do it pretty easily if you have a dual socket wall socket because it follows the exact same principles. But you have to be very careful. In these cases it's probably worth doing it though. https://media.screwfix.com/is/image//ae235?src=ae235/38040_P&$prodImageMedium$ https://media.screwfix.com/is/image//ae235?src=ae235/38040_P... FWIW I do not endorse doing this, just stating that its possible and would work, it's not electrically safe and is dangerous for not only the hardware but for you too.
- Defenestresque 7y ago
  Incorrect. See this video[0] from the product stage. They have two ways to hotswap if it's not plugged into a powerbar: 1) plugging in their device into the adjacent power outlet then removing the socket assembly and 2) an adapter that can splice leads into the power cable https://youtu.be/-G8sEYCOv-o https://youtu.be/-G8sEYCOv-o Pretty ingenious, tbh. Though I'm a bit concerned about how much you end up handling energized plugs.
  - bouke 7y ago
    Well that’s what I meant by “opening up the wall”.
lexicality 7y ago
In the grand scheme of things, $600 is nothing money to a company.