That APC page doesn’t contain a single mention of the word “room”. So the google query is effectively “egg smell server”. Which, however hard I try, I can’t get to point me to that page.

My room smells of eggs and there isn’t a server in sight!

Perhaps an even better indicator of a failing ups would be all the flashing lights?

I’m inclined to say: “what, no monitoring?”

My 2c: google for nagios…

Some of our group of geeks and gear-heads had driven thousands of miles to get to the desert for an off-roading excursion. Second day in, miles into the trail, we’re smelling something like rotten eggs, and can’t source it – after all the exhaust of a 1960’s Land Rover doesn’t have catalytic converters to go bad. So after pondering the situation no-one puts 2+2 together, we shrug our shoulders, the convoy starts to creep along and we carry on. Next morning the stinky Series IIa Rover isn’t starting on the trail. It had been bump started a few times but this is not good. More determined investigation indicates the electrics have run out of juice, and literally the battery is nearly dry. A collective d’OH! arises and water bottles are emptied into the unintentionally dry cells. — BTW, on the left side of the pond a capacitor seems to be defined as having an insulator between plates, which in the case of UPCs are large cans with plates and insulators wrapped in a spiral where the insulator is usually some sort of petroleum based/doped product, and in my experience when those smoke it is quite different smell to the liquid boiling sulphuric acid out of a lead-acid battery leading to the release of nasty gasses both poisonous and very explosive.

Try this;
http://www.dailycampus.com/2.7440/physics-building-evacuates-1.1057279

I used “egg smell server room” in google…

I’m a field service engineer with APC, and I can tell you that an “eggy smell” is usually a battery that has blown one of its vent caps. An overcharging battery builds up hydrogen until either the pressure pops a vent cap or a spark ignites the gas, popping the cap open. Excess hydrogen sulfate gas then vents out, smelling like rotten eggs.

Hmmm.. given the slightly patronzing way of responding (Steve Cassidy post #8), it must be said that Steve forgot that monitoring is not someone sitting in a server room checking lights every few minutes.. As John said in post #12, it’s about using SNMP.

Steve didn’t then say “ah yes, SNMP. Comment #8 was a bit reactionary and I didn’t think of SNMP”

!!

Quoting Steve:

“Read carefully, Gabby: no blinking lights involved. They were all on, which everyone took as Situation Normal for a highly loaded rack. Now, however, it seems this set of lights actually idicates “imminently dead”.”

Even worse, the burnt plastic smell in a server room which pretty much means disaster in 15 minutes or less.

Years since I was near a server room, but back in the day I recall a christmas party at which someone left the garbage bags full of seafood shells in the corner. For a week.

Spencer: you fearless seeker after the truth, you! Fact is I don’t know if these guys had SNMP set up: one can wish for many things at a client site (including polite responses…) but they’re not always perfect, or ideal. Heaven forbid.

Could be the batteries of your UPS, had this happen once and it smelled like rotten eggs.

I had an APC 2200VA Smart UPS boil over and it stunk the entire office up. It was like burnt hair and eggs. The batteries expended through the inner framework and had to be surgically removed.

which, smells or windows? (or do you mean Windows, in the Linux-evangelist sense) I guess I come across windows about 2/3rds of the time, and a smallish number that open. They tend to survive death of the aircon better than the other kinds (except for the room with 13 aisles of racks – that’s surrounded by windows but if it ever lost air-handling, life would be … stressful)

Yes to the first, and using last names, to the second, Daniel. I won’t give clues on the organisation of the first client, but you may jump to understanding the second lot if I tell you that it’s “herr” this and “frau” that, at that company.