Investigating a Power Outage: Key Steps to Take

The Impact of Power Outages on Server Accessibility

Question

A company recently experienced a power outage that lasted 30 minutes.

During this time, a whole rack of servers was inaccessible, even though the servers did not lose power.

Which of the following should be investigated FIRST?

Answers

Explanations

Click on the arrows to vote for the correct answer

A. B. C. D.

C.

In this scenario, a whole rack of servers became inaccessible during a power outage that lasted for 30 minutes. The servers did not lose power, but they were inaccessible, suggesting that there may be an issue with the power supply to the rack or the networking equipment that connects the servers to the rest of the infrastructure.

To identify the root cause of the issue, the first thing that should be investigated is the rack power (answer B). This is because the whole rack of servers was affected, which suggests that the issue may be related to the power supply to the rack. It is possible that there was a power surge or outage that affected the power supply to the rack, causing the servers to become inaccessible. Checking the rack power can help identify if there was any issue with the power supply, such as a circuit breaker tripping, a power supply unit failure, or a power cable becoming disconnected.

Once the rack power has been checked and any issues have been resolved, the next step would be to investigate the other components that may have been affected. This could include the server power (answer A), switch power (answer C), and SAN power (answer D). However, since the whole rack of servers was affected, it is more likely that the issue was related to the rack power.

In summary, the first thing that should be investigated is the rack power (answer B) since the whole rack of servers was affected, and checking the rack power can help identify any issues with the power supply to the rack. Once the rack power has been checked, the other components can be investigated if necessary.