Have you thought about a UPS....

arad85

arad85

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Andy
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Just a heads up really. I have enough computers here to power a battleship, but two of these are on 24/7 and it would be painful if a power spike/cut took them out, especially if they took a power supply or worse - one or more disks - out in the process.

Spurred on by a complete power failure here last week, I decided to get my act together and get a UPS for the two machines. After a bit of investigation, I'd convinced myself I really needed one UPS per machine and started looking. By the time I'd finished, I'd convinced myself that I was looking at £400-£600 for a pair of decent UPS'. Then the thought struck to check e-bay. 2 minutes searching turned up a seller who specialises in refurbished UPS' including installing a brand new set of non-OEM batteries. Price £110 each delivered (bear in mind these weigh over 20kg each and come with power cords) instead of £310 new (APC Smart UPS 1000). I took a chance....

.... they arrived today and to say I'm pleased with them for the price is an understatement. 1000VA/670W capacity with a pure sinewave invertor (so not cheap n nasty). I'm running my disk server off one and it says that it can power it for 69 minutes before shutting down and the one on my desktop is powering the computer and 2 24" IPS monitors and it thinks it will keep them running for 52 minutes.

Software is available for configuring auto shutdown, reboot etc.. and the unit is also a power conditioner as it will auto regulate if it sees lower or higher voltages. If you don't want to install the management software, Win 7 (at least) just sees your PC as running on batteries when you plug in the USB cable (not supplied, but very cheap) so you effectively have a very unportable laptop...

I've pulled the plug - they work as expected. In normal operation they are silent - they have fans, but they don't operate unless needed which is under high load but neither of my units fans kicked in when I turned off the power. I now feel a lot happier that if we get a power outage/spike etc, I'm both protected against failure (the UPS's will sacrifice themselves before passing onto the PC) and the systems will shut down gracefully when needed.

If you want to take a look, search for the shop of ups-trader on e-bay. I have absolutely no connection with the person other than being a very happy customer.
 
I went a slightly different route which is also very cost effective.
My main storage is on a NAS - it's the only kit hooked up to the UPS.
The UPS is a decent APC unit, but with the smallest available batteries - hence it is cheap.
Those small batteries keep the NAS alive for a LONG time.
The UPS is hooked up to the NAS by USB, when the battery level starts to drop, the NAS automatically shuts itself down. :cool:
 
Neil: what are the fans like on the 1500? On all the time/occasionally/never? The 1000's here don't seem to come on in the extensive 6 hour testing I've done so far.

Think I'm going to get one of their APC Back-UPS 400 supplies to power the router/internet connection. I can be online then if the power goes out :D
 
arad85 said:
Neil: what are the fans like on the 1500? On all the time/occasionally/never? The 1000's here don't seem to come on in the extensive 6 hour testing I've done so far.
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err id say never (ive just stuck my head next to it and cant hear anything over my NAS), apart from when it does its battery check thing every now and again when it does 30 secs. but then i only use 1/5 of the capacity LED gauge, 2/5 with the CPU and GPU loaded.

from mine im running: PC (i7-2600 with twin GPU), 2x 22" screens, NAS (5 bay), external HD (2 bay), switch, speakers, router, cordless phone (and all that has the above usage).
 
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Been running a pair of 1200VA UPS for a few years. In fact too long. The last time it was needed I barely had two minutes of power because the batteries were shot.
Still not got round to replacing them :bonk:
I am trying to decide whether to replace them like for like or up the Ah (if the charging circuit would even allow) as the computers' power consumption has increased quite a bit, although the monitor consumption has reduced.

So,,,, remember to run a full test of the UPS at least every 6 months to save the panic when you see the charge dropping like a stone during a power fail :eek:
 
Not thought about it - did it - and a 5kVA petrol generator (can you tell that we get lots of "events" here?). Testing is critical - I do it bi-monthly (genny one month, UPS the other) unless we've had an event where either/both were used. 'Er indoors thinks I'm bonkers until we have an event and ours is the only house with power :)

Best one was when the local delivery network company's own crew "found" the local distribution cable with a minidigger - I spotted it as I left for work that morning and called in to tell them. Still took them 2½ days to "find" the fault and fix it. That's actually when I bought the generator (and acquired a dog kennel from Freecycle which was modified - walls removed - to protect the genny from falling rain & snow but still allow the exhaust to function).
 
The Smart UPS's have a self test mode which kicks in for 30 seconds every 2 weeks. I'm guessing that should do the rudimentary checks. TBH, I'm only after something that is up long enough to gracefully power down the PCs. The 2 UPS' are responsible for keeping 12 disks and an SSD running (not to mention the mobos/CPUs and PSUS...). It's more those I'm worried about.
 
Any chance of a link to the seller.

I need some more UPS :)
 
UPS run times seem to be misleading these days. I had an old belkin 1200va which lasted as it said it would. Got a Trust one with identical spec and it ran down in about 5 minutes! For that load it should have lasted 30 mins at least. I replaced that when it just cut straight off in the last power cut. Was only a couple of years old too.

Got another 1200va cyber power thing. Not had a power cut since so I can't tell whether that lasts as it should or will cut off in a couple of minutes.

The original Belkin I still have. It does the pvr and lasts for ages. It was one of those with the normal 3 pin sockets on the back. Probably need to get replacement batteries for it but no idea where I'd get them from. I also have a smaller one sitting on a projector as they are damaged by power cuts during use.

Only problem with having multiple ones is the incessant meeping during a power cut!

APC are a good brand. Pricey but seem to be decent.
 
srichards said:
Got another 1200va cyber power thing. Not had a power cut since so I can't tell whether that lasts as it should or will cut off in a couple of minutes.
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Turn it off at the socket and see what happens ;)

srichards said:
APC are a good brand. Pricey but seem to be decent.
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Yes, they seem to be the standard against which others are measured for the SOHO environment. As I say, I'm very happy with mine - and for £110 each delivered is the price of a much smaller and inferior unit new. The fact they keep the PC up for a long while is a bonus (just turning off the monitors will keep the system up for almost 2x as long!).
 
Almost_Invisible said:
So,,,, remember to run a full test of the UPS at least every 6 months to save the panic when you see the charge dropping like a stone during a power fail :eek:
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yes youre right you should really do a check every now and again even if the UPS has built in auto test. for home/small office users thats easy as you can turn off any sensitive kit..

at work we hadnt tested the production network backup for a while and when the power went off one day we realised the short term UPS (the size of a small cupboard) that covers the 15 secs between the diesel genny kicking in had killed its batteries and 30 odd servers, a big ol' IBM iSeries and a SAN comes crashing to a stop :bang:
 
neil_g said:
jinx

:D
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Wannabe :p

neil_g said:
at work we hadnt tested the production network backup for a while and when the power went off one day we realised the short term UPS (the size of a small cupboard) that covers the 15 secs between the diesel genny kicking in had killed its batteries and 30 odd servers, a big ol' IBM iSeries and a SAN comes crashing to a stop :bang:
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Ooops.. What can go wrong will eh?
 
srichards said:
The original Belkin I still have. It does the pvr and lasts for ages. It was one of those with the normal 3 pin sockets on the back. Probably need to get replacement batteries for it but no idea where I'd get them from. I also have a smaller one sitting on a projector as they are damaged by power cuts during use.
Click to expand...

While I was looking for replacement batteries I found 2 places with what looked like suitable batteries. I can only find one bookmarked here.
If I re-discover the other I will let you know. The site has many batteries if you have another model. The other site I found was not model specific just batteries which were cheaper I am sure - wonder why I didn't bookmark that one :thinking:
 
neil_g said:
at work we hadnt tested the production network backup for a while and when the power went off one day we realised the short term UPS (the size of a small cupboard) that covers the 15 secs between the diesel genny kicking in had killed its batteries and 30 odd servers, a big ol' IBM iSeries and a SAN comes crashing to a stop :bang:
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Ouch!
Hope it wasn't too much work getting them back up & running. I often wonder if modern hard drives cope better with sudden power loss. While I assume so I dare not test myself :)
 
Almost_Invisible said:
While I was looking for replacement batteries I found 2 places with what looked like suitable batteries. I can only find one bookmarked here.
If I re-discover the other I will let you know. The site has many batteries if you have another model. The other site I found was not model specific just batteries which were cheaper I am sure - wonder why I didn't bookmark that one :thinking:
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Thanks. Will have a look. It still works and requires some skill to change them which is probably why I haven't done anything about it!
 
My home server is run off a netbook with its own battery :P
 
Good thread. I've never heard of a ups, but I will almost certainly get one now if it avoids the stress I had last week with a suddenly deceased comp.

In addition to protecting your comp from power surges etc,do they clean up the actual power itself. I use mainly cfl continuous lights and from what I can gather they can screw up the quality of the power in the circuit they are on. I started to look into this with regard to a lot of static build up, but lost the plot with all the tech waffle and gave up. Now, I wonder if 'dirty power' as they call it, can harm delicate electronics and how to avoid it.
 
Steve, it is difficult to pin down a suddenly deceased computer to power supply problems, however it is (IMHO) a small cost for some peace of mind. As to what they do, it depends which UPS you get as to how it works. The one I bought is a line interactive one which means it supplies direct from the mains unless the power supply goes outside a set of pre-defined conditions. It also does what is described as "full time multi-pole noise filtering: 0.3% IEEE surge let-through". What that means in practice is anybodys guess, but sounds like it does do some form of filtering. It supposedly is very quick to switch over to batteries if the power supply is outside of spec.

The "best" UPS for PSU noise rejection is a double conversion/online UPS. Basically, this feeds the equipment from the batteries all the time, isolating the output from the input. However, they tend to be expensive, noisy (fans on all the time to keep the batteries cool) and bulky (to get the power supply rating).

Have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply

for more details of the technology behind UPS. The other thing that may be important is the inversion process (when you're drawing power from the battery). A pure sine wave inverter (i.e. one that produces a signal like you'd see from the supply) is better and normally slightly more expensive implementation over an approximated sine wave (also called stepped sine wave).

Hope that gives you some bckground.
 
Almost_Invisible said:
While I was looking for replacement batteries I found 2 places with what looked like suitable batteries. I can only find one bookmarked here.
If I re-discover the other I will let you know. The site has many batteries if you have another model. The other site I found was not model specific just batteries which were cheaper I am sure - wonder why I didn't bookmark that one :thinking:
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I've been getting my UPS batteries from MDS Battery. They're a bit cheaper than Hardware Express (for APC batteries, at least).
 
Part of my day job is designing UPS and generator systems to keep our railways "running", so I think about UPSs a lot!
[and no it's not my fault that trains are delayed by 'signal failure' it's almost exclusively down to cable theft - honest guvnor.]
 
arad85 said:
Steve, it is difficult to pin down a suddenly deceased computer to power supply problems, however it is (IMHO) a small cost for some peace of mind. As to what they do, it depends which UPS you get as to how it works. The one I bought is a line interactive one which means it supplies direct from the mains unless the power supply goes outside a set of pre-defined conditions. It also does what is described as "full time multi-pole noise filtering: 0.3% IEEE surge let-through". What that means in practice is anybodys guess, but sounds like it does do some form of filtering. It supposedly is very quick to switch over to batteries if the power supply is outside of spec.

The "best" UPS for PSU noise rejection is a double conversion/online UPS. Basically, this feeds the equipment from the batteries all the time, isolating the output from the input. However, they tend to be expensive, noisy (fans on all the time to keep the batteries cool) and bulky (to get the power supply rating).
Have a look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply

for more details of the technology behind UPS. The other thing that may be important is the inversion process (when you're drawing power from the battery). A pure sine wave inverter (i.e. one that produces a signal like you'd see from the supply) is better and normally slightly more expensive implementation over an approximated sine wave (also called stepped sine wave).

Hope that gives you some bckground.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that Andy, now I know about them, I will definately be getting a ups. I shall also be checking out 'power filters' which I have been advised just plug into the circuit and 'decrapulate' it (I just made that word up) for want of the appropriate tech phrase, to see if it gets rid of the static problem I have.

I think a 'How to protect your vitals' would be a good sticky.
 
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