C6503-E Power requirements

[ciscobigcat]

I need some help regarding the power requirements. I have this Cisco 6503-E switch and I need to know what I need in terms of power.

The manual says if using 120VAC, I will need 16A. If using 230VAC, the unit will require 8A.

I have 2 dedicated 20amps circuits both at 120V. Am I correct on plugging each of the power supplies of the cisco unit to each of these circuits?

Another question will be, do I really need to dedicated 2 dedicated 20amps circuits for the unit? Can't I just use one dedicated 20amps circtuis and connect both power supplies to it?

thank you

[Zubair.Sayed_2 · Accepted solution]

Hi.

For question 1, yes the 20amp circuits wll be fine.

For question 2, I think the mimumum requirement is 16amps, so 20amps per power supply would be better. Also remember there are 2 power supplies in the chassis for redundancy so connecting both power supplies to 1 power circuit will not provide any redundancy should that circuit go down.

I would say connect them to seperate power sources.

HTH,

Regards

ZS

[ciscobigcat]

Hi Zubair,

Thank you for the answer. For my second questions, yes, I think it certainly makes a lot more sense to plug each power supply to their own 20amp circuit. It is really hard for me to digest that the "minimum" requirement for each power supply is actually 16amps!!   That is a lot. So one single 20amp circuit will not actually handle the 2 power supplies which require a total of 32amps..

We have gone ahead and purchased 2 dedicated 30amps circuits (sourced from 125V each). What is the best way to do this now? Connect each power supply directly to each one of these circuits OR have 2 UPS units, connect them directly to each of the 30amps circuits and then connect each power supply to each of the UPS units?

thanks

[Leo Laohoo]

Each power supply for the 6503 requires one power input or feed.  If you have two PS then I'd feed one to "dirty" power and the second one to UPS.  Two feeds to the UPS would be nice but take note that if your UPS fails ...

[ciscobigcat]

Hi leolaohoo ,

thank you for your input. Due to budget limits, I was just told to only utilize one UPS behind dedicated 20amp circuit #1 and connect the 6503-E PS1 in there. And for the second PS, PS2, I was told to directly (no UPS in between) connect it to the dedicated 20amp circuit outlet.

Are there any real disadvantages with this? The entire building has generators as backup, so in the event of a power failure, they will kick in but I have been told that there will be like an 8 to 10 seconds delay. So I understand this to be a downtown of 8 to 10 seconds for anything directly connected to the outlets.

So, if power goes, and I have the switch chassi connected as you suggested, what will happen? Will I be at risk of something?

thank you

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

I was just told to only utilize one UPS behind dedicated 20amp circuit #1 and connect the 6503-E PS1 in there. And for the second PS, PS2, I was told to directly (no UPS in between) connect it to the dedicated 20amp circuit outlet.

Are there any real disadvantages with this?

Heck no!  I'd recommend it, i.  e.  PS1 feed goes to UPS and PS2 feed goes to "dirty" power (or the other way around).

One more thing, I'm no electrical engineer but have you verified how long will the UPS last in case of a power outage?  I'd be happy if your UPS can provide continuous power to the PS1 for, say, 20 minutes.

what will happen? Will I be at risk of something?

Gee whiz.  There's alot of things that could happen.  For instance, a faulty UPS component could bring down the entire building's electrical system.  Happened to me once.  Lots of red faces (not mine).

[Leo Laohoo]

Thanks for the ratings.