December 11, 201312 yr I have a computer/miner that runs 24/7 and want to protect it from surges and spikes. I don't need battery backup since if electric goes down so will my Internet. It runs a constant 660 watts / 7 amps. What can I get to protect it from spikes and/or surges. Do those surge suppressors really work? I was trying to find out how to rate the 660 watts in joules (how these surge suppressors are rated) and really couldn't figure out the crazy math behind it. Maybe someone here knows of something available that is used to protect electrical devices and such?
December 11, 201312 yr Your logic is flowed , just because your internet will be down does not mean you do not need ups. A good ups not only alow your computer to stay up but let you do a proper safe shutdown so the os does not get corrupted. If you just want to save money get the ups that have just enough power to let your server shut down safely. Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk
December 11, 201312 yr Agree that your logic is flawed r.e. not needing battery backup. A UPS allows your system to perform an orderly shutdown ... so not only does it provide the best possible protection against spikes, brownouts, and sudden power loss; but it also eliminates problems caused by sudden loss of power and subsequent improper shutdown. In addition, it's not necessarily true that "... if electric goes down so will my Internet ..." ==> Most cable providers (for cable modem users) and telephone company lines (for DSL users) are on a dedicated power grid that will not necessarily fail if your house power does. As long as you include your broadband modem and router in the UPS-protected set of equipment you have, your internet connection will likely remain on until your UPS shuts down after the number of minutes you have it programmed for. If you really don't want a UPS, but want the best possible surge protection, get a 1200va Line-R suppressor: http://www.apc.com/products/family/?id=67
December 11, 201312 yr In addition, it's not necessarily true that "... if electric goes down so will my Internet ..." ==> Most cable providers (for cable modem users) and telephone company lines (for DSL users) are on a dedicated power grid that will not necessarily fail if your house power does. As long as you include your broadband modem and router in the UPS-protected set of equipment you have, your internet connection will likely remain on until your UPS shuts down after the number of minutes you have it programmed for. On a side-note, for all cable-broadband users: do not forget to include the back-channel amplifier into that power-plan. My guess is, that this amplifier is mounted somewhere in the cellar or basement, too far away from modem and router in >50% of all cases. So that can be quite some challenge to connect this to your UPS.
December 11, 201312 yr In addition, it's not necessarily true that "... if electric goes down so will my Internet ..." ==> Most cable providers (for cable modem users) and telephone company lines (for DSL users) are on a dedicated power grid that will not necessarily fail if your house power does. As long as you include your broadband modem and router in the UPS-protected set of equipment you have, your internet connection will likely remain on until your UPS shuts down after the number of minutes you have it programmed for. On a side-note, for all cable-broadband users: do not forget to include the back-channel amplifier into that power-plan. My guess is, that this amplifier is mounted somewhere in the cellar or basement, too far away from modem and router in >50% of all cases. So that can be quite some challenge to connect this to your UPS. Most of the installations I've seen that have cable amps at the household access points have a splitter that feeds the amplifier for the TV drops, but provides a direct run to the cable modem, so it's not in the amplifier's path. And if that's not the case, the amp is often powered via coax, so as long as the power feed is to a TV drop near the UPS, it's quite simple to power it from the UPS [as long as there's a TV outlet near the UPS].
December 11, 201312 yr So then whats an entry level UPS setup that will do the following: Support at least the server (these vary in size, so i'll assume any recommendation will have various levels/actual run time) Allow connection to Unraid so that it can send a signal to actually shut down unraid nicely? Anything else I missed?
December 11, 201312 yr I use the APC BE550G and it works great. http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BE550G&total_watts=200 It's on the small side for a UPS, but I also have a small system that only pulls 68W at full load with all drives spun up. It provides at least 15 minutes of runtime. Obviously the more power hungry your system, the larger a UPS you will want.
December 11, 201312 yr Most of the installations I've seen that have cable amps at the household access points have a splitter that feeds the amplifier for the TV drops, but provides a direct run to the cable modem, so it's not in the amplifier's path. And if that's not the case, the amp is often powered via coax, so as long as the power feed is to a TV drop near the UPS, it's quite simple to power it from the UPS [as long as there's a TV outlet near the UPS]. Hmmm....maybe in Europe this is different. At least in Germany the amps are not powered via coax. Edit: most buildings where I live have a cellar, where the suppliers will feed in....lots of concrete and steel...no-one has installed their modem+(wifi-)router down there. Also a larger building, serving many flats will only have *one* amp for uplink, mostly directly where the cable runs into the building, whilst every tenant/client will have an individual modem.
December 12, 201312 yr Author Since I'm pulling 865 watts continuously, don't I have to get an UPS that is rated higher then 865 watts? If you look at the line-up, there aren't too many there. The Pro series in APC highest wattage rating is only 865 watts itself. Kind of bummer. Thanks.
December 12, 201312 yr Since I'm pulling 865 watts continuously, don't I have to get an UPS that is rated higher then 865 watts? If you look at the line-up, there aren't too many there. The Pro series in APC highest wattage rating is only 865 watts itself. Kind of bummer. Thanks. 900 watts that is a bit hard tobelieve.... recheck?
December 12, 201312 yr ... It runs a constant 660 watts ... Since I'm pulling 865 watts continuously ... Which is it ?? In either case, that's a very high draw ... although for a full-time bitcoin mining system that's not unrealistic. Yes, with that much continuous draw a UPS would have to be rated at a minimum of that power level ... and you'd clearly have just a few minutes of run time, so you'd need to set it to shut down fairly quickly on a power failure (e.g. 5 minutes). You may simply want to go with a 1200va Line-R, which would provide excellent surge and brown-out protection; although no protection against actual outages. It's essentially a good UPS (with both superb surge protection and automatic voltage regulation) but without the inverter or batteries. For a UPS, I'd likely buy one of these for a system with your power demands: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102134 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101419 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102048
December 12, 201312 yr Yes, the UPS has to matched to the load and both the VA and wattage rating of the UPS must the higher then the VA and wattage of the load. Don't forget that a fully loaded consumer UPS typically only has 2-3 minutes of run time at full load and the time degrades as the batteries age. You'll need to have the PC set to shut-down rather quickly so it is off before the UPS gives out. The ones linked are around the size you would need. At work, we have used Eaton EX UPS for some applications and they are very solid units. Rather pricy though. You're looking at probably $700 for one of them. The EX is a full on-line double conversion UPS. I'd expect a cheaper line interactive model in the $300 range could be had. If your power is bad then a protection device with automatic voltage regulation and surge protection is a good idea as a minimum.
December 19, 201312 yr Author ... It runs a constant 660 watts ... Since I'm pulling 865 watts continuously ... Which is it ?? In either case, that's a very high draw ... although for a full-time bitcoin mining system that's not unrealistic. Yes, with that much continuous draw a UPS would have to be rated at a minimum of that power level ... and you'd clearly have just a few minutes of run time, so you'd need to set it to shut down fairly quickly on a power failure (e.g. 5 minutes). You may simply want to go with a 1200va Line-R, which would provide excellent surge and brown-out protection; although no protection against actual outages. It's essentially a good UPS (with both superb surge protection and automatic voltage regulation) but without the inverter or batteries. For a UPS, I'd likely buy one of these for a system with your power demands: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102134 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101419 or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102048 Sorry, power consumption is 660 watts, not 865 watts. I think I was half asleep when I wrote that one. I may invest in that LINE-R unit for at least the protection. The whole unit runs out of memory, no hard drive, so having an abnormal shut down I'll just have to deal with. Can't afford a UPS that can handle the time.
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