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I have been hit by my inexperience with power supplies... I bought a Ablecom (SuperMicro) PWS-801-1R redundant power supply. But this is in fact a module, that is not redundant in itself, and must be plugged into ... don't know what ??? So my question is : what is needed to assemble a redundant power supply for a 3U rack, idealy from a PWS-801-1S part ? Is there any standard ?

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I've given you an answer, though I don't know how good it is since I'm not sure exactly what you're asking. I can tell you for sure that the power supply you purchased must be plugged in to a server (MealstroM listed compatible models), but that's only part of the story... – voretaq7♦ Apr 7 '11 at 14:18

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I'm not sure what you're asking, so I'll answer the two questions I think you're asking -- let me know if I'm off base:

Q1: What is required to provide redundant power to a server?
You need the following:

  1. A server that supports redundant power supplies.
  2. compatible power supply modules.
  3. Two separate sources of power (different circuits/UPS feeds/etc. that are reasonably independent)

Q2: What is required to provide redundant power to a whole rack?
Way more than just redundant power supplies in the server. You will need, at a minimum:

  1. Two independent sources of power
    (This can be as simple as separate breakers, or infinitely more complex: 2 UPS systems, multiple utility feeds, utility + full-time generator, etc.)
  2. Redundant power distribution
    (either a "dual-infeed" CDU or two CDUs/power strips - connected to the 2 sources in (1) via separate circuits)
  3. Redundant power supplies in all servers
    (One PSU connected to each distribution unit in (2))

In power, as in all things, true redundancy is expensive.

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My question was about the inside of the server. I have a chassis, and I want to replace the original power supply (600W non redundant) with a redundant 800W power supply. I bought the PWS-801-1R from a web site, but it seems it can not work on its own, it needs to be plugged into something... I'm looking for that something... – alci Apr 8 '11 at 8:02
@alci That "something" is a compatible server chassis - See MealstroM's answer for a list of them. The device you purchased is a single module: You put two of them into a compatible server chassis to provide redundant power. With this power supply, If you have a compatible server chassis it should literally just slide in to a space in the back of the machine * lock in to place. – voretaq7♦ Apr 8 '11 at 15:31
So no way to buy the spare part that makes the chassis compatible, however this spare part is called ? Because I already have the chassis, it has a 600W power supply that can be removed, and I wanted to replace this power supply with a redundant one... – alci Apr 8 '11 at 16:19
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Compatibility for PWS-801-1R

* Supermicro A+ Server 4021M-32R
* Supermicro A+ Server 4021M-T2R+
* Supermicro A+ Server 4021M-82R+
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