UPS recommendations
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Hi all, My UPS just crapped out on me, so I'm looking to replace it. Any recommendations for (or against) a particular product? I don't need anything special; the only requirement is four battery-protected outlets. Thanks, Jon
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
I've had a couple of APC Back UPS ES 500's running for a few years now with nary a problem, except when I plugged too much into them. It didn't return any errors or beep at me but it tripped and reset itself. I thought it was a power supply fault until I looked at meter in APC's PowerChute software. Oops. Got a bigger one to replace it. Had a lightning strike on the power pole just outside the window (7 metres / 20 feet) & everything survived, except for the laptop's video card (NVidia Quadro - thank Gawd for on-site warranties) but I think that was more to do with the EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) than any power surge cos the laptop is behind both the UPS surge-protection and its own AC-DC converter. I had to reset/reboot (EMP again, I think) everything but it all came back ok. Yes, it was loud.
CADbloke - The Broadcast Systems Documentation SYSTEM (one day) "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" -Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
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Hi all, My UPS just crapped out on me, so I'm looking to replace it. Any recommendations for (or against) a particular product? I don't need anything special; the only requirement is four battery-protected outlets. Thanks, Jon
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
Skip PCM Powercom brand units. Had a pair of 'em, both went flaky and would start beeping, switch to battery when line voltage OK. Tried contacting company about repair / replacement / upgrade; messages never acknowledged. Big APC 750 of same vintage still in service. James
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Johpoke wrote:
ou can just cut some wires, solder them back together and you can have a whole array of outlets...
why not just plug a power strip into one of the powered outlets ?
A power strip is OK -- provided it is NOT also a surge suppressor (which most power strips are). Most UPSs generate sawtooth wave rather the expected sine wave. A SP would consider that lots & lots of tiny surges, and it would be constantly "suppressing" them. This could lead it to overhead (and catch fire).
Truth, James
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I've had a couple of APC Back UPS ES 500's running for a few years now with nary a problem, except when I plugged too much into them. It didn't return any errors or beep at me but it tripped and reset itself. I thought it was a power supply fault until I looked at meter in APC's PowerChute software. Oops. Got a bigger one to replace it. Had a lightning strike on the power pole just outside the window (7 metres / 20 feet) & everything survived, except for the laptop's video card (NVidia Quadro - thank Gawd for on-site warranties) but I think that was more to do with the EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) than any power surge cos the laptop is behind both the UPS surge-protection and its own AC-DC converter. I had to reset/reboot (EMP again, I think) everything but it all came back ok. Yes, it was loud.
CADbloke - The Broadcast Systems Documentation SYSTEM (one day) "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" -Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I have to agree with all who support the APC brand UPSs. I have used them for many years; I also tried Tripplite, Belkin, and IBM UPSs along the way because I found a good sale on them. The APC products have not only been worth the extra cost (often they are on sale too), but they are also consistantly solid. Sure they burn out; every UPS will over time, but APC has a great trade-in/trade-up program as well as battery replacement/UPS update kit programs. Overall, I believe APC to have the best.:cool: As to what model and size, it does depend on the system you are protecting. The basic wattage of the equipment + the special needs + power conditions in your area (at my house, the EMC changes the squirrel every weekend and causes a power bump, 'the lights blinked again; go check the computers X|) + your budget. I try to get one that is the next step up from what i need at the time since things change and power needs may increase. I'm also looking at whole house surge suppressors right now; it just seems like a good idea with little downside. Hope this helps. Be Cool, Pheadjack
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I have to agree with all who support the APC brand UPSs. I have used them for many years; I also tried Tripplite, Belkin, and IBM UPSs along the way because I found a good sale on them. The APC products have not only been worth the extra cost (often they are on sale too), but they are also consistantly solid. Sure they burn out; every UPS will over time, but APC has a great trade-in/trade-up program as well as battery replacement/UPS update kit programs. Overall, I believe APC to have the best.:cool: As to what model and size, it does depend on the system you are protecting. The basic wattage of the equipment + the special needs + power conditions in your area (at my house, the EMC changes the squirrel every weekend and causes a power bump, 'the lights blinked again; go check the computers X|) + your budget. I try to get one that is the next step up from what i need at the time since things change and power needs may increase. I'm also looking at whole house surge suppressors right now; it just seems like a good idea with little downside. Hope this helps. Be Cool, Pheadjack
Pheadjack wrote:
but APC has a great trade-in/trade-up program
when I looked at this a few months ago the only difference between it and buying new nonsale models at a boxmart was the free disposal of your old one. Waiting for a good sale would be significantly cheaper.
Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull
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I've had a couple of APC Back UPS ES 500's running for a few years now with nary a problem, except when I plugged too much into them. It didn't return any errors or beep at me but it tripped and reset itself. I thought it was a power supply fault until I looked at meter in APC's PowerChute software. Oops. Got a bigger one to replace it. Had a lightning strike on the power pole just outside the window (7 metres / 20 feet) & everything survived, except for the laptop's video card (NVidia Quadro - thank Gawd for on-site warranties) but I think that was more to do with the EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) than any power surge cos the laptop is behind both the UPS surge-protection and its own AC-DC converter. I had to reset/reboot (EMP again, I think) everything but it all came back ok. Yes, it was loud.
CADbloke - The Broadcast Systems Documentation SYSTEM (one day) "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" -Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
I also recommend APC. Every workstation here at work has one, and I got the same model to use for my home setup. It's a Back-UPS ES 725. I've had mine for 2 years, and it's kept my computer up through brown-outs that happen during thunderstorms. For the few black-outs we've had, I had plenty of time to shut everything down (I don't use the PowerChute, etc).
"I think it's a trollophage and it's the beginning of a viral outbreak." - PerdidoPunk
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Hi all, My UPS just crapped out on me, so I'm looking to replace it. Any recommendations for (or against) a particular product? I don't need anything special; the only requirement is four battery-protected outlets. Thanks, Jon
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
I *highly* recommend APC. I've had Belkin in the past and the battery died after 1 year. The APC units are *slightly* more expensive but in this case you really do get what you pay for! I now have 3 APC RS800 units and an Ultra UPS for my NAS. My primary reason for the UPS's and the Wattage they ouput is that I only want enough time to be able to have them properly shut down. Plus, APC comes with software you can install on your computer to initiate different actions once a power outage is detected - i.e. Shutdown, Hibernate, etc. I also have several other critical things hooked up to them: 1. cable modem 2. Vonage modem 3. wireless router These are critical to me since I have Vonage and need to keep up my Internet conn. and Vonage modem in the case of a power outage. However, I also have Vonage configured to route incoming calls to my cell phone if my Vonage modem goes offline (very nice feature!). Make sure you plan ahead for a couple things: 1. What is your primary need for the UPS (obviously one of them is for Surge Protection? Is it to allow you to just have enough time to properly shut down your computer(s) or do you need it for an extended period of time? 2. Do you host any websites or applications for clients that need to be available? 3. What will you be plugging into the UPS? Just the one computer or several components like I do? Hope this helps - but definitely go with APC! :) DaveBlack
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I *highly* recommend APC. I've had Belkin in the past and the battery died after 1 year. The APC units are *slightly* more expensive but in this case you really do get what you pay for! I now have 3 APC RS800 units and an Ultra UPS for my NAS. My primary reason for the UPS's and the Wattage they ouput is that I only want enough time to be able to have them properly shut down. Plus, APC comes with software you can install on your computer to initiate different actions once a power outage is detected - i.e. Shutdown, Hibernate, etc. I also have several other critical things hooked up to them: 1. cable modem 2. Vonage modem 3. wireless router These are critical to me since I have Vonage and need to keep up my Internet conn. and Vonage modem in the case of a power outage. However, I also have Vonage configured to route incoming calls to my cell phone if my Vonage modem goes offline (very nice feature!). Make sure you plan ahead for a couple things: 1. What is your primary need for the UPS (obviously one of them is for Surge Protection? Is it to allow you to just have enough time to properly shut down your computer(s) or do you need it for an extended period of time? 2. Do you host any websites or applications for clients that need to be available? 3. What will you be plugging into the UPS? Just the one computer or several components like I do? Hope this helps - but definitely go with APC! :) DaveBlack
DaveBlack wrote:
Hope this helps - but definitely go with APC
Absolutely - thanks for the tips. I did go with an APC. Yep, my Belkin just died on me without warning. I thought about trying to replace the battery, but after reading the many negative reviews about it, I decided to just chuck it and buy a brand new one.
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
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I think both Costco and Sams Club sell APC, which is excellent.
Best wishes, Hans
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After researching, I went with an APC. Thanks, Hans.
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
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Im on a APC Back-UPS CS 650VA, works great so far. It only has 3 battery protected outputs, but you can just cut some wires, solder them back together and you can have a whole array of outlets... ( Read a bit about the UPS in my CP blog[^] )
//Johannes
Thanks for the recommendation.
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
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Ive used an ultra UPS from tigerdirect.com for a few years without any issues. It came with a 3 yr product warranty and a $125,000 connected equipment warranty. It also has some software and a usb connection for monitoring the psu, or for the psu to react to an incident. This is the newer version of what I use for right around $100 http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=770423&CatId=20[^] you can poke around that site and find a few higher end models as well though
DrewG, MCSD .Net
I decided to grab an APC. Thanks for the response, though!
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
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I've had a couple of APC Back UPS ES 500's running for a few years now with nary a problem, except when I plugged too much into them. It didn't return any errors or beep at me but it tripped and reset itself. I thought it was a power supply fault until I looked at meter in APC's PowerChute software. Oops. Got a bigger one to replace it. Had a lightning strike on the power pole just outside the window (7 metres / 20 feet) & everything survived, except for the laptop's video card (NVidia Quadro - thank Gawd for on-site warranties) but I think that was more to do with the EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse) than any power surge cos the laptop is behind both the UPS surge-protection and its own AC-DC converter. I had to reset/reboot (EMP again, I think) everything but it all came back ok. Yes, it was loud.
CADbloke - The Broadcast Systems Documentation SYSTEM (one day) "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation" -Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Thanks - I did end up going with an APC. - Jon
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
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Skip PCM Powercom brand units. Had a pair of 'em, both went flaky and would start beeping, switch to battery when line voltage OK. Tried contacting company about repair / replacement / upgrade; messages never acknowledged. Big APC 750 of same vintage still in service. James
Thanks for the response, James. I did end up going with an APC.
Jon Sagara On a traffic light yellow means yield, and green means go. On a banana, it's just the opposite, yellow means go ahead, green means stop, and red means, where'd you get that banana? -- Mitch Hedberg .NET Blog | Personal Blog | Articles
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A power strip is OK -- provided it is NOT also a surge suppressor (which most power strips are). Most UPSs generate sawtooth wave rather the expected sine wave. A SP would consider that lots & lots of tiny surges, and it would be constantly "suppressing" them. This could lead it to overhead (and catch fire).
Truth, James
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A power strip is OK -- provided it is NOT also a surge suppressor (which most power strips are). Most UPSs generate sawtooth wave rather the expected sine wave. A SP would consider that lots & lots of tiny surges, and it would be constantly "suppressing" them. This could lead it to overhead (and catch fire).
Truth, James
I've never heard of a sawtooth wave UPS. Most consumer/entry level commercial units use a modified square wave. http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/ext/ups/funcOutput-c.html[^]
Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull
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I've never heard of a sawtooth wave UPS. Most consumer/entry level commercial units use a modified square wave. http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/ext/ups/funcOutput-c.html[^]
Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull
"Sawtooth" is probably the wrong word. "Stairstep" is probably closer to what I was thinking. (if you look at this page, http://www.dspguide.com/ch3/1.htm[^] -- scroll down about half way to the graph label "b. Sampled Analog Signal" -- and yes, I know that's about audio signal, but waves are waves for this discussion -- that roughly should what he was talking about) But, regardless of what the waveform actually looks like, the advise about surge suppressors on UPSs was told to me by an engineer at ups-maker APC, who show know what he was talking about.
Truth, James
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Well there is a feature in BIOS, "Restore on AC power loss", with typical settings of power on, power off and last state. This would be able to turn the pc back on when power is restored to the computer (meaning the UPS went got fully discharged). Would be nice if the UPSes would soft OFF and soft ON for the PC though...
//Johannes
If you buy an APC (I recommend) look for the software & cable. Almost all APC units support a connection (via USB, these days) to the protected system, and software that will allow your system to monitor the UPS status and auto-shutdown when the battery drops below a certain threshold. Some units support the functionality, but won't come bundled with the software/cable. (You can order it from APC directly if you get one of those.) Many units have it in the package. If you get one of the larger server-level or rack-mountable units, it may have networkable software packaged with it. One server actually connects to and monitors the UPS, but the software would be able to auto-shutdown an array of systems instead of just the one.
Grim (aka Toby) MCDBA, MCSD, MCP+SB SELECT * FROM users WHERE clue IS NOT NULL (0 row(s) affected)
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Pheadjack wrote:
but APC has a great trade-in/trade-up program
when I looked at this a few months ago the only difference between it and buying new nonsale models at a boxmart was the free disposal of your old one. Waiting for a good sale would be significantly cheaper.
Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull
True. the cost savings is not huge. Here is a listing for a 620VA that is probably comparable to the 650 that was qoute at the begining of this subject. less that $200 is not bad, but not the deal of the year either. some things just require balanced compensation for their benefit. NEW! APC Smart-UPS SC 620VA 120V APC Smart-UPS SC, 390 Watts / 620 VA,Input 120V / Output 120V, Interface Port DB-9 RS-232 Includes: CD with software, Smart UPS signalling RS-232 cable, User Manual $189.00 peace, Pheadjack
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True. the cost savings is not huge. Here is a listing for a 620VA that is probably comparable to the 650 that was qoute at the begining of this subject. less that $200 is not bad, but not the deal of the year either. some things just require balanced compensation for their benefit. NEW! APC Smart-UPS SC 620VA 120V APC Smart-UPS SC, 390 Watts / 620 VA,Input 120V / Output 120V, Interface Port DB-9 RS-232 Includes: CD with software, Smart UPS signalling RS-232 cable, User Manual $189.00 peace, Pheadjack
I paid significantly less than that for a 1300VA model. IIRC the nonsale retail price for the 1300s is around that.
Otherwise [Microsoft is] toast in the long term no matter how much money they've got. They would be already if the Linux community didn't have it's head so firmly up it's own command line buffer that it looks like taking 15 years to find the desktop. -- Matthew Faithfull
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"Sawtooth" is probably the wrong word. "Stairstep" is probably closer to what I was thinking. (if you look at this page, http://www.dspguide.com/ch3/1.htm[^] -- scroll down about half way to the graph label "b. Sampled Analog Signal" -- and yes, I know that's about audio signal, but waves are waves for this discussion -- that roughly should what he was talking about) But, regardless of what the waveform actually looks like, the advise about surge suppressors on UPSs was told to me by an engineer at ups-maker APC, who show know what he was talking about.
Truth, James
James Curran wrote:
he advise about surge suppressors on UPSs was told to me by an engineer at ups-maker APC, who show know what he was talking about
Or be trying to sell you a bigger UPS. :)