Spec Me A UPS For Home Use

Valo

Valo

Valo

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I’m about to start some DIY in my study and during this I’m going to be installing some new double power sockets to get rid of some of my 8 way socket surge protectors and tidy up my setup.

While I’m doing this I’m planning on purchasing a UPS of some sort to provide my Windows 2008 Server with some proper redundancy against sudden power cuts and surge protection rather than run it of a surge protector as it is currently. Depending on cost and capacity I’d also possibly like to run my main Desktop PC , ADSL Router and GB Switch through it as well.

My budget would be no more than £150.00 what should I be looking at?
 
I have a 1500va Back-UPS APC Ups at home that runs 2x24" monitors and my work and gaming pc.

I cant have both PCs at full load at the same time as the overload alarm goes off. It is fine with gaming and some office work or web browsing tho.

Im thinking of taking off the Monitors but Im not sure yet.

As for what to get the 800va APC one sold here should be ok for the server and router/switch but not a second desktop. Maybe worth going up to 1500va to give you that extra but they are not sold here.

Hope that helps.
 
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Thanks for the advice. I've used the APC UPS configuration utility and it looks like the 800va should do the job fine. When I come to connect my switch and router to the UPS, these use a standard 13amp wall plug and the UPS uses IEC connectors can I just use similar extension socket like the picture to run them through the UPS? If not how should I connect them up to the UPS?

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Valo said:
When I come to connect my switch and router to the UPS, these use a standard 13amp wall plug and the UPS uses IEC connectors can I just use similar extension socket like the picture to run them through the UPS? If not how should I connect them up to the UPS?
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This is exactly how I have had it set up for a couple of years now, and it's been fine.
 
What is the life of home/small office UPS like these? I know that the batteries have to be replaced every few years, but is there a more specific estimate or does it depend entirely on the conditions of the UPS (temperature, load etc...), and how much does a new set of batteries cost when they do need to be replaced?
 
Holy Thread Resurrection!

I put off purchasing a UPS until now as my intended DIY to my home office had to be put on hold. I’m now in a position to get this sorted out now I mentioned in my first post I want to provide my Windows 2008 Server with some proper redundancy against sudden power cuts and surge protection.

I possibly depending on cost may want to run my desktop from the UPS to.
Ideally for a bare minimum I’m looking for the server to in the event of a power failure to safely shut itself down automatically.

If it’s possible without major cost I want to run both my server and my desktop from the UPS and in the event of a power failure for both machines to automatically shut down safely. I’m not sure if this will be possible as the UPS will be directly connected to the server via USB for the powerchute software to monitor the UPS.

My desktop and server specs are:

Server:
Intel C2D E4500
4GB DDR2 RAM
4x 1TB Disks (RAID5)
Windows Server 2008
Corsair HX520 PSU

Main Desktop:
Intel C2D E6400
4GB DDR2 RAM
1x 500GB HD
Windows 7 Professional
Enermax Liberty 500W PSU

I’ll also want battery backup/surge protection for my ADSL Router, Network Switch and Network Printer which will be run from a IEC 4-way gang socket like the one pictured above.

Can anyone advise me on my best options?
 
Really at home, unless you have known issues with your power supply (given that the UK has one of the most stable power supplies going) i wouldn't bother.

The cost of purchase and maintaining a UPS (bearing in mind once batteries start going it can cause more problems than just running off the mains) outweighs the small possibility of a power outage in your home.

Is your server for business use (ie you run your business from home?) or is it just a home server/media store type setup?
 
dave-lew99 said:
Really at home, unless you have known issues with your power supply (given that the UK has one of the most stable power supplies going) i wouldn't bother.

The cost of purchase and maintaining a UPS (bearing in mind once batteries start going it can cause more problems than just running off the mains) outweighs the small possibility of a power outage in your home.

Is your server for business use (ie you run your business from home?) or is it just a home server/media store type setup?
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My server is just for home use so it's a central store for Music, Photos and Movies etc. I don't have any issues with power distribution where I live, I'm more concerned with data corruption on my server in the event of a power cut however remote the chances of it happening.

Would something like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=UP-017-AP&groupid=702&catid=55&subcat= provide my server with enough power for a few minutes to perform a safe shutdown as well as provide battery backup for my router and switch? I could then use the surge protection only plugs to protect and run my printer.
 
Maybe in the old days, but you rarely see corruption from power outages in anything but transactional activity these days (Exchange, SQL, Oracle etc.) As always, YMMV.

I'd prefer to spend the money on some kind of backup solution.
 
Thanks for suggestions about a backup set-up. I do have a small external drive that I can set up to take backups of Documents and Photos, while not big enough to backup everything it can backup irreplaceable files.

As it stands I can't install enough double sockets for all my equipment, so I will still need to use a socket extension cord of some sort. I don't mind spending the money on a new ups surge protector like this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=UP-017-AP&groupid=702&catid=55&subcat= providing it can power my server for a short time in the event of a power cut.
 
That should be fine for the Server, the PSU is 520w. I'm only looking to power my ADSL router and GB Network Switch off the UPS as well but these draw a nominal amount of power.
 
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