Redundant power system with no latent single failure point

1. A redundant power supply apparatus comprising:

a plurality of power inlets to supply electrical power in a first form;

a plurality of power supplies to supply at least a minimum required power to a load, each power supply to convert electrical power from one of the power inlets to a second form;

at least one steering network coupled to one power supply of the plurality of power supplies to connect one power inlet of the plurality of power inlets to the one power supply of the plurality of power supplies; and

at least one tester coupled to the steering network to detect a failure of a connection in the steering network between the one of the plurality of power inlets and the one of the plurality of power supplies.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the failure of the steering network is a latent single-point failure.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein more than one power supply of the plurality of power supplies and fewer than all power supplies of the plurality of power supplies can supply the minimum required power to the load.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a maximum power that any one of the plurality of power supplies can provide is less than the minimum required power.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the maximum power that one of the plurality of power supplies can provide is substantially equal to the minimum required power divided by an integer greater than one and less than the number of the plurality of power supplies.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the number of the plurality of power supplies is three (3).

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one of the plurality of power supplies is coupled directly to one of the plurality of power inlets, and the other power supplies of the plurality of power supplies are coupled to the steering network.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of power supplies is coupled to a steering network of the steering network.

9. A system comprising:

a computer system that requires a minimum operating power;

a plurality of power supplies to supply at least the minimum operating power;

a plurality of power connections to supply electrical power to each of the plurality of power supplies from substantially identical power sources, the number of power connections being less than the number of the plurality of power supplies;

a switching device to connect one of the plurality of power supplies to one of the plurality of power connections; and

a tester to detect a failure of a connection in the switching device between the one of the plurality of power supplies and the one of the plurality of power connections.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein the switching device is a field-replaceable unit.

11. The system of claim 9 wherein the switching device is a hot-swappable unit.

12. The system of claim 9 , further comprising:

a memory to store instructions for the computer system that, when executed, cause the computer system to activate the tester and to report the failure.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the computer system activates the tester periodically.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein a period for the tester activations is between one hour and one week.

15. A computer-readable storage medium containing instructions to control a computer having an interface to control and monitor a switching relay that connects a power supply to one of a plurality of power sources, the instructions comprising:

for each of the plurality of power sources, signaling the switching relay to connect the power supply to the power source;

testing the switching relay to determine whether there is a failure of a connection in the switching relay between the power supply and the one power source; and

producing a fault notification if the switching relay failed to connect the power supply to the power source.

16. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that cause the testing operation to occur according to a predetermined schedule.

17. The computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising instructions that cause the computer to produce a warning notification in response to a failure of a connection in the switching relay between the power supply and the power source in the testing operation.

18. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the warning notification is activation of one of a visual signal and an audible signal.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 17 , wherein the warning notification is an electronic mail message.