Skip to main content

Flea Draining Equipment

Scott Forehand Troubleshooting

I recently had someone ask me about flea power, or electrostatic discharge. I thought it might be useful for some to go over what it is, and how to drain it. This little procedure can be the magic touch that gets a piece of hardware up and working again.

So first, what is flea power in computer equipment?
Flea power is the residual static electricity that remains on electrical components (like the capacitors on a motherboard, for example) the computer even after it has been powered off, even if a battery has been removed.

What symptoms are typical?
This gets a little tricky. I’ve personally seen issues where a server refuses to power on. A good rule of thumb is, if you can power the server down to troubleshoot any issue with any component, a flea drain may help you resolve issues with bad power causing inconsistencies with the components.

Now, how do we fix it?
This part’s easy. Enterprise components are designed to remain powered on 24/7 but when you face an issue, a Reset of your device can make things work. There are 3 levels of Reset, all defined below. In order, you should try to Restart the system first, then try to Reset the system, and if the problem is not resolved you should Hard Reset the system. Here’s what that means:

Restart: Use the normal procedure to restart your device.

Reset: If the device is not responding to any command, press the power button for 10 seconds. Power is cut, and device will restart.

Hard Reset: As some components are still powered and do not reboot when you reset (for example the iDRAC on a Dell EMC server), it is advised to perform a hard reset if the 2 above procedures are not solving the issue or if some components are not responding.

  1. Power the system down.
  2. Disconnect all power cables and network cables from the system.
  3. Hold down the power button continuously for at least 15 seconds.
  4. Reconnect all power cables and network cables to the system.
  5. Wait about 2 minutes before powering on server to give the out-of-band management, like a Dell EMC iDRAC, time to initialize.
  6. Power the system on.

  • Details
  • Accolades
  • Latest Posts
Scott Forehand
Infrastructure Architect
http://virtuallystable.com
stforehand@gmail.com

Scott is an experienced professional and recognized leader specializing in the design and implementation of enterprise virtualization, enterprise storage, server infrastructures and operations. A self-starter able to work both independently and in a team-oriented environment, Scott has a proven ability to create and automate solutions to improve productivity, reliability and performance.

Throughout his professional career, Scott has proven successes implementing technology and service improvement initiatives and has a demonstrated ability to think strategically about business, create technical definition around objectives in complex situations, develop solution strategies, motivate and mobilize resources, and deliver end-to-end technology solutions.

Scott has achieved multiple industry recognized certifications in virtualization, networking, cloud, storage, converged infrastructure, hyperconverged infrastructure and other technologies, and is honored to be a VMware vExpert in 2018-2022, and vExpert EUC 2020-2022.

Achievements

VMware vExpert EUC 2020-2022
VMware vExpert 2022
VMware vExpert 2021
VMware vExpert 2020
VMware vExpert 2019
VMware vExpert 2018

Double VCP – Data Center Virtualization & Desktop Mobility
Double VCP – Data Center Virtualization & Cloud Management
Double VCP – Data Center Virtualization & Network Virtualization
Double VCP – Network Virtualization & Desktop Mobility
Double VCP – Network Virtualization & Cloud Management
Double VCP – Cloud Management & Desktop Mobility

Dell Technologies Proven Professional Exam Developer – 2021

Certifications

VMware Certified Associate – Digital Business Transformation 2020
VMware Certified Professional – Desktop and Mobility 2020
VMware Certified Professional – Data Center Virtualization 2020
VMware Certified Professional 6 – Desktop and Mobility
VMware Certified Professional 6 – Cloud Management and Automation
VMware Certified Professional 6 – Network Virtualization
VMware Certified Professional 6 – Data Center Virtualization
VMware vSphere 6 Foundations
Dell Technologies Cloud Platform Administrator 2020
Dell Technologies Virtual Desktop Infrastructure 2019
Dell Technologies Specialist – Infrastructure Security Version 1.0
Dell Technologies Specialist – Systems Administrator, VxRail Appliance Version 2.0
Dell Technologies Specialist – Systems Administrator, VxRail Appliance Version 1.0
Dell Technologies Associate – Converged Systems and Hybrid Cloud Version 2.0
Dell Technologies and VMware Co-Skilled Associate – Converged Systems and Hybrid Cloud
IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Practitioner
IBM Enterprise Design Thinking Co-Creator
SolarWinds Certified Professional

Spread the love!

Scott Forehand

Scott is an experienced professional and recognized leader specializing in the design and implementation of enterprise virtualization, enterprise storage, server infrastructures and operations. A self-starter able to work both independently and in a team-oriented environment, Scott has a proven ability to create and automate solutions to improve productivity, reliability and performance. Throughout his professional career, Scott has proven successes implementing technology and service improvement initiatives and has a demonstrated ability to think strategically about business, create technical definition around objectives in complex situations, develop solution strategies, motivate and mobilize resources, and deliver end-to-end technology solutions. Scott has achieved multiple industry recognized certifications in virtualization, networking, cloud, storage, converged infrastructure, hyperconverged infrastructure and other technologies, and is honored to be a VMware vExpert in 2018-2022, and vExpert EUC 2020-2022.