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[kiboy6]

Hi,

I recently bought a DNS 320L (with two 5TB toshiba drives), but have yet to set it up.

I want to plug it into a UPS as in live in an area with frequent power outages.

The only UPS models I can find that could send an auto-shutdown signal via USB are 1200 Kva - this is way bigger than I need for the 320L alone isn't it?
I also don't know if the 320L would even be able to receive the shutdown signal from that model.

Then i started thinking: do i actually need a UPS with the auto-shutdown feature?

AM i correct in thinking that the 320L will spin down the HDDs automatically when they idle? (And in the event of a power cut the drives would definitley be idle because router would not be plugged into the UPS). If so how much idle time need there be before the drives spin down? Because if the HDDs spin down within the period of battery power provided by the UPS then the remaining consequences of the hard shutdown would be pretty inconsequential, right?

Finally, would installing funplug have any effect on the functioning of the 320L's auto-spin down feature

Thanks a lot if anyone can tell me whether or not I'm thinking along the right lines here. 

[FurryNutz]

I recommend that you look at other UPS mfrs for auto shut down signaling features. There maybe smaller sized UPS devices out there that are better suited for your needs. If the power outages are short in duration, then having a UPS with or with out Auto Shut Down may not be needed if the UPS lasts longer than the main outage.

Yes if the drives are spun down and at idle then this would ok. I don't know long lasting affects if you have frequent outages. UPS would be a start at any rate and if you can find a UPS that lasts 15-30 minutes. If you were home when the outage happens then you can shut down the DNS if you think you need to before the UPS runs out.

I presume some add-ons may or may not interfere with spin down and would depend on who or what is using any add-ons and what is enabled. You might post this queston about add-ons here: http://forums.dlink.com/index.php?board=423.0

[kiboy6]

Many thanks for the helpful reply FurryNutz.
I found a UPS of the right size that does have auto shut-down signalling features.
(http://takas.lk/dcp-650va-with-software-usb.html)

However, I have no way of knowing if the signal it sends would be understood by the 320L. Apparently it comes with software that can be installed on Linux - any idea if I would I be able to install the software on the 320L with or without funplug? (Sorry for the noobish question - I won't even have the chance to play with the 320L for another week or so, but I want to go ahead and purchase the UPS now). The official UPS compatibility list only has three models listed, none of which are easily available to me.

In the event that I don't get the auto-shutdown signaling working, do you have any idea of the idle time period the 320L uses before spinning down the HDDs?

Thanks so much for the help!

[FurryNutz]

If the time isn't listed anywhere in the UI or a manual, I don't know. I can only presume maybe 5-10 minutes?

I don't know about the triggering of the shut down and how it's done. I presume that there maybe a network packet sent from the UPS thru the network to the DNS. I don't know how of if the DNS would understand that. You might contact the Mfr of the UPS and ask them about this information and compatibility before buying.

[kiboy6]

Thanks a lot FurryNutz - I'm going to get that UPS anyway and hope the shutdown signalling works. If not, with any luck the auto spindown will protect the HDDs as I had hoped.

Anybody else have any thoughts?

[FurryNutz]

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[ivan]

I wish that the UPS manufacturers would agree on some standard shutdown signals.  They vary from something as a signal line going to ground in some RE232 based connections to a complex signal that indicates the state of the UPS and also gives a shutdown signal via a USB connector.

The first type are simple to deal with and usually work for most equipment - win XP has the necessary interface built in to the operating system.

The USB interface usually requires specialist software to be able to use the signals generated and while many devices will quite easily read and display the text strings the switching signals are a totally different matter and this is why you can't use one manufacturers software with another manufactures hardware.

Now the question in hand regarding using a UPS to supply a NAS box.  Some time ago our area had the electrical mains cables updated which resulted in quite frequent loss of power to our building.  While we have a very large UPS to power our server and other essential equipment not all of our NAS boxes are on that supply.  There are 4 sited beside me at the moment that went through several power loss situations without any problems.  The only precaution I took was to make sure the drives would spin down after 10 minutes of non use.  When power returned the units powered up without any problems and they operated as if nothing had happened.

With a DNS-320L being on a UPS usually the power outages are short enough that the supply time of the UPS is never exceeded but if the outage is very long then there should be time either for the NAS to spin down the disks or someone can apply a manual shutdown with the power button.

Our experience with the older non L series is that they are sufficiently robust to survive a power outage without damage to the hardware or data unless the data is actually being written at the time the power goes down.