Things that unaccountably don't exist

fivemack · 2012-12-02, 23:45

I'd like a power strip with four or six outlets and an Ethernet port, running a Web server which will report at any time the instantaneous power use from each of the six outlets.

As far as I can tell, these exist but are called 'Metered-by-outlet Rack PDUs', have 24 or so outlets, and sell for many hundred dollars.

f1pokerspeed · 2012-12-03, 18:35

Dedicate 1 port to a USB charger, add a USB battery and link it to a portable router (if possible). Then use multi-plug adapters and a Kill-a-Watt on each.

Not really practical, but it may work.

chalsall · 2012-12-03, 19:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

I'd like a power strip with four or six outlets and an Ethernet port, running a Web server which will report at any time the instantaneous power use from each of the six outlets.

As far as I can tell, these exist but are called 'Metered-by-outlet Rack PDUs', have 24 or so outlets, and sell for many hundred dollars.

Further to f1pokerspeed's above, why limit the solution space to Ethernet?

Since this is read-only, USB would be much cheaper to implement.

xilman · 2012-12-03, 20:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by chalsall

Further to f1pokerspeed's above, why limit the solution space to Ethernet?

Remote accessibility?

ig1 · 2012-12-04, 10:06

You could always plug the USB devices into the web server you are monitoring and remote access that server to get access to the USB data.

fivemack · 2012-12-04, 11:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by f1pokerspeed

Dedicate 1 port to a USB charger, add a USB battery and link it to a portable router (if possible). Then use multi-plug adapters and a Kill-a-Watt on each.

Umm, I wasn't aware that Kill-a-Watt had output other than to the LCD screen on the front.

I'd be happy to buy one kill-a-watt per server, but figuring out how to rig up a webcam and OCR software to transfer the output from the screen to the digital world (or how to dismantle a kill-a-watt safely to get some LCD-driver pin attached to an input pin on a microcontroller board) seem like quite a lot of work. I have microcontroller boards (TI were selling https://estore.ti.com/Stellaris-LaunchPad.aspx at an initial price of five dollars, now risen to the not-very-impractical heights of $12.99) but I don't have EE experience.

frmky · 2012-12-04, 19:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by fivemack

I'd be happy to buy one kill-a-watt per server, but figuring out how to rig up a webcam and OCR software to transfer the output from the screen to the digital world (or how to dismantle a kill-a-watt safely to get some LCD-driver pin attached to an input pin on a microcontroller board) seem like quite a lot of work.

Just follow the instructions: http://www.ladyada.net/make/tweetawatt/

kladner · 2012-12-04, 19:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by frmky

Just follow the instructions: http://www.ladyada.net/make/tweetawatt/

It is fascinating that someone dreamed this up and is marketing the modifications.

2012-12-02, 23:45	#1
fivemack (loop (#_fork)) Feb 2006 Cambridge, England 2³×11×73 Posts	Things that unaccountably don't exist I'd like a power strip with four or six outlets and an Ethernet port, running a Web server which will report at any time the instantaneous power use from each of the six outlets. As far as I can tell, these exist but are called 'Metered-by-outlet Rack PDUs', have 24 or so outlets, and sell for many hundred dollars.

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2012-12-03, 18:35	#2
f1pokerspeed Jun 2012 152₈ Posts	Dedicate 1 port to a USB charger, add a USB battery and link it to a portable router (if possible). Then use multi-plug adapters and a Kill-a-Watt on each. Not really practical, but it may work.

2012-12-04, 10:06	#5
ig1 Oct 2012 Houston, TX 25₁₆ Posts	You could always plug the USB devices into the web server you are monitoring and remote access that server to get access to the USB data.