> > Theoretically, it can provide a signal that tells my > > computers to prepare for shutdown, but it doesn't seem > > to play nice with Linux. Most of the outages have been > > less than 30 seconds, so triggered shutdown is not a > > "must have". However, extra bonus points if the UPS > > /does/ behave well with more than one Linux machine.
This part shouldn't be a problem as Linux Network UPS Tools have been around since at least 2008 according to this article that explains how to use them. https://www.linux.com/news/adding-ups-desktop-linux-machine/ Out of curiosity I did a few quick searches on "environmentally friendly" battery backup systems. Current UPS models from APC and Tripp Lite have "eco-friendly" ports which power down when the device connected to them is turned off or in sleep mode but they all use SLA batteries. They also have USB charging ports, which if you don't have a battery bank for you cell phone, would be very useful in a many hours / days long power outage. I use a dirt cheap laptop running Debian that doesn't have any life critical data on it that is plugged into a $2 used surge protector that I daily just pull the power plug out of it while it's running and then just plug it in somewhere else. Obviously, if you've got file servers and databases that are being constantly written to then you want a clean shutdown if there's a power outage.
