Recommend me a UPS please

Roll · 21 May 2007 at 11:09

I'm thinking about getting an uninterruptable power supply to protect my file server and system generally.

I must admit that I don't know that much about them, but am probably leaning towards something by APC as they seem to be a decent brand.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Thanks for replies

squiffy · 21 May 2007 at 11:14

Good choice. First off what things are you going to plug into the UPS?
How much run time do you want/need?
Do you want over and under voltage protection?

*** I have two PC's, one 20" TFT, 15" CRT, adsl modem/router, switch, telephone, 3.5" USB HD all plugged into my APC Smart UPS-1500

The Back UPS line are cheaper but don't have under/over voltage protection.

lsg1r · 21 May 2007 at 11:19

belkin 1200VA UPS
It's the only UPS (available in other sizes too) that I know of (of that sort of size) that takes standard UK 3 pin plugs straight out of the box rather than needing an adapter like the apc ones etc. I'm using 2 of them at present with one powering my opteron 175 at sub 30% usage with the monitor etc, the software is pretty good too in my opinion.

shine · 21 May 2007 at 11:20

I have this[/url[ one and can't recommend it enough.

shine · 21 May 2007 at 11:21

I have this one and highly recommend it.

Roll · 21 May 2007 at 11:56

Thanks for replies guys.

Basically I'll have my file server (550W PSU) my main system (480W PSU) and a monitor plugged in and thats about all. So long as it gives me protection against surges and enough time to power down I'm happy. But I think its probably best to go for one which will give some future proofing. Think I'll probably go for the one recommended by shine.

Phil2008 · 21 May 2007 at 13:10

Roll said:
Thanks for replies guys.

Basically I'll have my file server (550W PSU) my main system (480W PSU) and a monitor plugged in and thats about all. So long as it gives me protection against surges and enough time to power down I'm happy. But I think its probably best to go for one which will give some future proofing. Think I'll probably go for the one recommended by shine.

750va isnt very powerful, its about 300watts, I have a 1200VA and thats 670watts, and it only keeps my pc and stuff going for 20mins. All may stuff comes to about 280 - 320 watts thats plugged in the ups

Just noticed that ups is 500watt, But I cant see how thats possible If I have a 1200va ups and thats 670watts :confused:

squiffy · 21 May 2007 at 15:26

Roll said:
Thanks for replies guys.

Basically I'll have my file server (550W PSU) my main system (480W PSU) and a monitor plugged in and thats about all. So long as it gives me protection against surges and enough time to power down I'm happy. But I think its probably best to go for one which will give some future proofing. Think I'll probably go for the one recommended by shine.

Yeah have to agree with speedy, 750VA isn't enough for two computers, might also want to connect monitor so you can shut them down manually/continue during power outage.

This is run time test I did on my 1500VA a while ago.

Started 18:45, was at 100% charge
Finished 19:21 with 1 LED lit. I don't have UPS software installed so don't know of exact discharge level.

Connected equipment- PC in sig, windows idle, but overclocked CPU. All hard drives switched on.
HTPC, 3700+, 2.5" HD, 1GB RAM, ATI X300, windows idle, CAQ enabled
Philips 20" display, on
USB 2 3.5" enclosure, reading to HD on sig rig.
Router
Landline Phone base station

DNS-323 isn't being powered off UPS.

Roll · 21 May 2007 at 15:52

Sounds like you're right.

Will just have my file server connected then. The main system will just have to take its chances if theres a power failure :eek:

Psycho Sonny · 21 May 2007 at 16:09

how often do you guys get power cuts? ive only had like 3 power cuts in 10 years, i dont think thats worth shelling out £150 for a UPS, unless of course you are trying to cure cancer or do something very worthwhile, hell my vista pc crashes all the time when gaming and i never lose data from my torrents

squiffy · 21 May 2007 at 16:57

Psycho Sonny said:
how often do you guys get power cuts? ive only had like 3 power cuts in 10 years, i dont think thats worth shelling out £150 for a UPS, unless of course you are trying to cure cancer or do something very worthwhile, hell my vista pc crashes all the time when gaming and i never lose data from my torrents

You also get brown outs, which can damage equipment. So a UPS is worthwhile.

So basically a UPS protects against brown outs, spikes, total power failures. Consdering I have a couple of thousand pounds connected to the UPS it's peace of mind.

I can also flash my router, motherboard, drives without the 1 million chance of getting total power failure at that exact time. Yes it has happened, not to me but someone else. Talk about bad luck. A UPS would have meant BIOS would have flashed.

lsg1r · 21 May 2007 at 17:43

yep totally agree, my old home had brown outs quite reguarly, now the new place, even in the same village it isnt quite so bad. The UPS's are still peace of mind that I will be protected on the off chance of the brown outs.

squiffy · 22 May 2007 at 12:15

woop just had a power failure, worst possible time- updating Linux kernal!! ok though as linux machine was plugged into ups, and so is this monitor...typing away browsing net during power outage (router and switch also in the UPS)

Phil2008 · 24 May 2007 at 13:31

Remember you will have the ups running 24/7, or you should do anyway and cos its monitoring the power all the time It uses quite a bit of power. My Belkin 1200va with AVR uses about 40watts, and thats quite a lot of power when its on 24/7.

So basically If you dont really need one, dont get one, just get a decent surge protector.

lsg1r · 24 May 2007 at 14:33

speedy2004 said:
Remember you will have the ups running 24/7, or you should do anyway and cos its monitoring the power all the time It uses quite a bit of power. My Belkin 1200va with AVR uses about 40watts, and thats quite a lot of power when its on 24/7.

So basically If you dont really need one, dont get one, just get a decent surge protector.

You don't have to have the ups running 24/7, it will protect against a surge even when turned off. I usually turn mine off at night when as I don't have my pc on 24/7.

And you saying if you dont need one, don't get one - well I would disagree, anyone who uses a pc should really have one, a power cut can kill a computer, I've seen it done as no doubt have many others here.

Psycho Sonny · 24 May 2007 at 14:33

speedy2004 said:
Remember you will have the ups running 24/7, or you should do anyway and cos its monitoring the power all the time It uses quite a bit of power. My Belkin 1200va with AVR uses about 40watts, and thats quite a lot of power when its on 24/7.

So basically If you dont really need one, dont get one, just get a decent surge protector.

exactly i got a surge protector for £4.99 and its a belkin one which does everything, whats a brown out is that when the power dips? that never happens here either, if this is happening to oyu, its either your wiring or electricity suppliers fault

squiffy · 24 May 2007 at 14:40

Psycho Sonny said:
exactly i got a surge protector for £4.99 and its a belkin one which does everything, whats a brown out is that when the power dips? that never happens here either, if this is happening to oyu, its either your wiring or electricity suppliers fault

A UPS is worth the money. You might not notice brown out's, as TV's, PC's power supply have enough energy storage. Still can damage the PSU though. Saying brown out's never occur is daft.

A surge/spike protector is better than nothing, but UPS provides further protection. Considering how much you might have connected- two PC's, two large TFT's, printer, router/switch/phones...what's £100? :confused:

hp7909 · 24 May 2007 at 14:47

speedy2004 said:
{snip}Just noticed that ups is 500watt, But I cant see how thats possible If I have a 1200va ups and thats 670watts

Think APCs are built better/efficient just the same way with some PSUs. I've got an APC 650VA & that does 400w

Above is happily backing up system in sig with a 400W PSU & 19" CRT monitor. Gives about 12 minutes battery life & can be controlled by Windows to safely hibernate the machine when it runs-down

squiffy · 24 May 2007 at 14:49

speedy2004 said:
So basically If you dont really need one, dont get one, just get a decent surge protector.

You don't need a fire extinguisher, because you've never had a fire. So why bother buy one?

A surge protector won't offer brown out or total power failure protection, and can easily knacker power supply.