UPS Advice

[Harpz]

Hi

 

I've finally finished transferring all my data to my unRaid box and have decided its now time to get a UPS, A power cut today proved the fact its needed as I live in the country lol.

 

My current spec is:

CPU: AMD Sempron 145 2.8GHz Socket AM3 45W 1MB L2 Cache OEM Processor

Crucial 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1066MHz Memory CL7 1.5V Unbuffered None-ECC

Case: Antec P182

MB: Asus M5A78L-M LX V2 Socket AM3+ onboard VGA 8 channel Audio mATX Motherboard

PSU: Antec 520W High Current Gamer Modular PSU

USB: Lexar JumpDrive FireFly 4GB USB Flash Drive

USB Header: StarTech 2 Port USB Motherboard Header Adapter

 

Drives:

/dev/sda WDC_WD20EARX (2TB)

/dev/sdc WDC_WD20EARX (2TB)

/dev/sdb SAMSUNG_HD204UI (2TB)

/dev/sdd WDC_WD20EARS (2TB)

/dev/sde WDC_WD10EARS (1TB)

 

/dev/sdf WDC_WD10EACS (1TB)  (No data on and not part of the array, soon to be removed developed a clicking noise)

 

I don't have a Kill a Watt meter but I have something similar I got off eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280894930435

 

According to the meter the system ideal at 58.4watts and when all disks are span up and a parity check under way (Power Cut  ) it draws 89.7watts with a recorded peak of 124.3watts.

 

I have space for 1 more drive (Once WD10EACS  removed) and if I add 2x Icy Dock MB973SP-B (3 in 2) Hard Drive Enclosure I can get another 6 drives in the case and max it out.

 

I've done a little reading a determined I should go for a APC one and am leaning toward the CS 650VA

 

I've looked on Amazon and come across these 2 (pretty sure there the same UPS, why different prices?):

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-BK650EI-Back-UPS-650VA-230V/dp/B0002V73O8/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786112&sr=8-7

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-BK650EI-Back-UPS-Output-Connectors/dp/B005DL5I4O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786112&sr=8-3

 

Now my question is this, will this UPS allow me to to have my server,  switch and main pc with monitor plugged into it and shut them down straight away in the event of a power cut with out problems, or am I pushing the UPS to its limit?

 

If need be I can just have my server plugged into the UPS and as long as it shuts down the server that's fine (I don't have a massive budget, possible up to £100 max, baby on route  ) just need that added protection.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

 

 

[BobPhoenix]

I've looked on Amazon and come across these 2 (pretty sure there the same UPS, why different prices?):

You are probably paying for the Dell name on the more expensive one.  They charge a premium for those 4 letters stenciled on a device.  OK now that I have that over with. 

 

You might also find that the Dell version has a longer warranty, better build components, etc...

 

[Harpz]

Hi

 

Will probably get the Dell one as it same price as the cheaper with postage one on Amazon super saver with free postage.

 

Do you think this UPS allow me to to have my server,  switch and main pc with monitor plugged into it and shut them down straight away in the event of a power cut with out problems, or am I pushing the UPS to its limit?

 

Or should I just have my server plugged into the UPS?

 

Thanks in advance.

[BobPhoenix]

Do you think this UPS allow me to to have my server,  switch and main pc with monitor plugged into it and shut them down straight away in the event of a power cut with out problems, or am I pushing the UPS to its limit?

 

Or should I just have my server plugged into the UPS?

 

Thanks in advance.

I think you would be pushing the UPS some.  It should handle your server but I think it would be a little small for more than that and another PC.  You could probably hook up things like a switch and possibly your monitor but a second PC would probably only give a very small number of minutes on battery power.  Two minutes may not be enough to shut down and with 2 PC's a monitor and a switch on it that is likely all you will get. And you might find your server not shutting down correctly.  Also while possible I've never tried to shutdown two PCs off of a single UPS.  I have one for each to make it simpler to maintain with regards to shutdown.

 

With that said I don't think I'm the best to advise you on this.  I always try to overestimate the requirements so that I have at least 10-20+ minutes on battery power before the computer shuts down.  If I'm home that will give me a chance to make sure things shut down properly and to turn off those items that I don't/can't have shutdown automatically.  Like my switch, cable boxes, router, cable modem, etc...

 

Ultimately if no one else has input I would try it and see how long the software tells you it will power your equipment before running out of power.  If the time isn't long enough see if you can return it and get bigger or remove items that are plugged into it or get a second one to power more items.  Maybe  server and switch on one and main pc and monitor on another if a single one can't handle it.

[Harpz]

Hi

 

Thanks for the input, been having a look on ebay and cam across the following:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APC-1000VA-Tower-UPS-new-cells-black-USB-/180718631895?pt=UK_Computing_Uninterruptible_Power_Supplies&hash=item2a13ab7bd7

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IBM-750-Tower-UPS-1000VA-with-new-APC-RBC6-cell-fully-working-GTEED-/180952191033?pt=UK_Computing_Uninterruptible_Power_Supplies&hash=item2a21975039

 

Also came across this one, it has no batteries but if there not to expensive it may be worth it?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APC-Smart-UPS-1000-1000VA-SUA1000I-Black-USB-Serial-8xIEC-System-NO-BATTERIES-/110947693319?pt=UK_Computing_Uninterruptible_Power_Supplies&hash=item19d4ff7307

 

Would something like this be better suited for my needs, that's assuming it runs with unRaid OK?

 

 

I'm leaning toward the IBM UPS750THV unit with the APC 1000VA Cells, I would like to know if its OK with unRaid though.

 

[Frank1940]

I would stick with APC UPS's.  That is the brand of UPS that the UPS software for Slackware is written for.  I understand that some CyberPower UPS's emulate APC and do work with the software package but you would be taking a risk if you purchase without verifing that that model you are considering works before purchase. 

 

Of course, it is possible that APC is participating in private labeling of their units.  I would think these would work. (For example, I would rather doubt that IBM has designed and built their own UPS.) Be a bit careful as the battery sizes (used in UPS's) are fairly standard and APC batteries will fit in many UPS's that are not made by APC.  Just because it says that a UPS contains APC batteries does not mean that is a clone of a APC unit. 

[Harpz]

Hi and thanks for reply.

 

So i would be better off with something like:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APC-1000VA-Tower-UPS-new-cells-black-USB-/180718631895?pt=UK_Computing_Uninterruptible_Power_Supplies&hash=item2a13ab7bd7

[Frank1940]

Hi and thanks for reply.

 

So i would be better off with something like:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APC-1000VA-Tower-UPS-new-cells-black-USB-/180718631895?pt=UK_Computing_Uninterruptible_Power_Supplies&hash=item2a13ab7bd7

 

You should realize that since they are not listing a model number so that probably means that these are refurnished units of varying ages.  Of course, the seller in this case has a very high rating so you should be getting what is being advertized and in the condition described in the ad. 

[Harpz]

The six million dollar question is though will this UPS allow me to to have my server,  switch and main pc with monitor plugged into it and shut them down straight away in the event of a power cut with out problems, or am I pushing the UPS to its limit?

[Frank1940]

The six million dollar question is though will this UPS allow me to to have my server,  switch and main pc with monitor plugged into it and shut them down straight away in the event of a power cut with out problems, or am I pushing the UPS to its limit?

 

You need to determine the peak shutdown power load of EVERYTHING by measuring with your Wattmeter.  One thing that could help you is that if the UPS is triggering the shutdown of your main PC, you might consider connecting the monitor to a surge protection only outlet as the monitor is not required for proper shutdown to occur.  Then check on the APC site for approximate runtime.  Then cut that in half. 

 

Next thing I would do is to set the delay (after power failure) to something like 30 seconds.  (Odds are if it is out that long, it will be out for a longer period than the UPS can supply in the majority of cases.)  Now you will have to research to figure out exactly how you have to configure the setup as the UPS can only signal one computer.  That computer will then have to trigger the shutdown of the rest of the system.  If you do some searching on this website, you will find some discussions of how to setup all of this. 

 

A second reason to use a short power outage period is battery deterioration.  A ten minute window today in a couple of years will probably be approaching five minutes! 

[Harpz]

Took some reading with my meter as suggested:

 

Server:

Low: 59w

Load: 90w

Peak: 124w

 

Main PC:

low: 75w

Load: (Pime and defrag): 140w

Peak: 158w

 

Monitor: Constant 34.1w

 

Switch: Constant 2.6w

 

Total 320w

 

According to the APC 1000VA (SUA1000I) website that's around 22.2 min

 

http://apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SUA1000I

 

The  IBM 750i UPS I listed earlier is also around 22min according to website.

 

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=IBM750i

 

Would the IBM probably work OK with unRaid as its listed specs are on the APC website (both units have APC site links in the auctions)?

[Frank1940]

Check with the vendor to see if the units are actually made by APC.  That will be the only way you can determine this with absolute certainty.  And while you are contacting them, be sure that they are enclosing the USB data cable that connects the UPS to the computer.  If you have to get them from APC, they are really, really expensive!!!

[Harpz]

In the end i got an APC Smart UPS 1000 for £31.00 + £15.00 Postage, found it on eBay:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/320971488745?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

 

It arrived today so I connected my server to it and powered it up, installed the apcupsd-3.14.3-i486-1kjz.tgz package and away it went.

 

Ran apcaccess and it gave the following:

 

root@Pluto:~# apcaccess
APC      : 001,042,1040
DATE     : Tue Sep 11 18:44:36 BST 2012
HOSTNAME : Pluto
RELEASE  : 3.14.3
VERSION  : 3.14.3 (20 January 2008) slackware
UPSNAME  : Pluto
CABLE    : Custom Cable Smart
MODEL    : Smart-UPS 1000
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: Tue Sep 11 18:42:05 BST 2012
STATUS   : ONLINE
LINEV    : 234.7 Volts
LOADPCT  :   5.8 Percent Load Capacity
BCHARGE  : 076.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 128.0 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 80 Percent
MINTIMEL : 5 Minutes
MAXTIME  : 300 Seconds
OUTPUTV  : 234.7 Volts
SENSE    : High
DWAKE    : -01 Seconds
DSHUTD   : 090 Seconds
LOTRANS  : 208.0 Volts
HITRANS  : 253.0 Volts
RETPCT   : 000.0 Percent
ITEMP    : 21.1 C Internal
ALARMDEL : Always
BATTV    : 27.7 Volts
LINEFREQ : 50.0 Hz
LASTXFER : No transfers since turnon
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT  : 0 seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
SELFTEST : NO
STATFLAG : 0x07000008 Status Flag
SERIALNO : AS0945210203
BATTDATE : 2009-11-04
NOMOUTV  : 230 Volts
NOMBATTV :  24.0 Volts
FIRMWARE : 652.18.I USB FW:7.4
APCMODEL : Smart-UPS 1000
END APC  : Tue Sep 11 18:44:37 BST 2012

 

When i pressed the test button on the front it switched to batteries and appeared to be fine, it gave the following at apcaccess whilst on batteries:

 

root@Pluto:~# apcaccess
APC      : 001,044,1151
DATE     : Tue Sep 11 18:46:09 BST 2012
HOSTNAME : Pluto
RELEASE  : 3.14.3
VERSION  : 3.14.3 (20 January 2008) slackware
UPSNAME  : Pluto
CABLE    : Custom Cable Smart
MODEL    : Smart-UPS 1000
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: Tue Sep 11 18:42:05 BST 2012
STATUS   : ONBATT
LINEV    : 233.2 Volts
LOADPCT  :   6.5 Percent Load Capacity
BCHARGE  : 075.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 121.0 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 80 Percent
MINTIMEL : 5 Minutes
MAXTIME  : 300 Seconds
OUTPUTV  : 229.6 Volts
SENSE    : High
DWAKE    : -01 Seconds
DSHUTD   : 090 Seconds
LOTRANS  : 208.0 Volts
HITRANS  : 253.0 Volts
RETPCT   : 000.0 Percent
ITEMP    : 21.1 C Internal
ALARMDEL : Always
BATTV    : 25.5 Volts
LINEFREQ : 50.0 Hz
LASTXFER : Automatic or explicit self test
NUMXFERS : 2
XONBATT  : Tue Sep 11 18:46:09 BST 2012
TONBATT  : 2 seconds
CUMONBATT: 9 seconds
XOFFBATT : Tue Sep 11 18:45:57 BST 2012
LASTSTEST: Tue Sep 11 18:45:50 BST 2012
SELFTEST : NO
STATFLAG : 0x07040010 Status Flag
SERIALNO : AS0945210203
BATTDATE : 2009-11-04
NOMOUTV  : 230 Volts
NOMBATTV :  24.0 Volts
FIRMWARE : 652.18.I USB FW:7.4
APCMODEL : Smart-UPS 1000
END APC  : Tue Sep 11 18:46:11 BST 2012

 

Now a for couple of questions.

 

[*]Does the above look ok? have I brought a lemmon?

 

[*]My configuration script looks like this at moment:

 

Battery Level: 10

Minutes Remaining: 5

Total Seconds Outage: 300

Power Down UPS after shutdown?(YES/NO): YES

 

What confused me is that all I want the ups to do is shut down the server and allow enough time for my windows box to shut down in the event of a power failure.

 

Am I right in understanding that once Total Seconds Outage: 300 is reached a server shut down will be initiated.

 

Will this allow enough time for the windows box to shut down even with "Power Down UPS after shutdown?(YES/NO): YES" Set?

 

Should Power Down UPS after shutdown?(YES/NO): YES be set to NO as both boxes should be shut down and the only thing pulling power would be the main PC monitor and the switch?

 

[*] Finally whats the best way to test that the UPS does shut down the boxes and holds up OK?

 

 

Thanks in advance