Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
Anyway, any pointers welcome as usual.
Thanks,
Ian.ianpiper@redacted.invalid wrote:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
Anyway, any pointers welcome as usual.
A recently went through this myself too. I think from choice, I would have gone for an APC model. However, I was looking to stick to a budget, and I couldn't afford a newer USB model (a 1000VA+ model being nearly £200. The USB ones apparently work well directly in OSX, and should just appear in the Energy Saver CP when it's plugged in. Have a look on eBay, there's a company specialising in refurbed UPSs with a 1 year warranty.
I ended up with the Belkin 1200VA Universal UPS, at about £112 from eBuyer. It has a USB connector, and also has four standard 3 pin sockets on the back too (rather than the usual IEC sockets) - one of which is a straight through 'Protection' socket only.
I can confirm that this does work in OSX, and appears in the control panel when plugged into the USB. I can also confirm that the Bulldog software works fine too, which you may want to run, as it can run scheduled battery test routines as well. You also get a well featured window that can show various combinations of input/output power data (mine shows input Voltage and frequency).
I did a power off test, and it ran my G5, two monitors and twin drive external HD box for about 15 minutes before the low battery warning flashed up, and another few minutes it had nicely shutdown my Mac.
You may want to do a quick web search on UPS failures, there are some about UPS fires. Although I found one a piece for both Belkin and APC, and in each it looked my like user error anyway (like using the UPS with a known failing battery, or not fitting power plugs correctly).
ianpiper@redacted.invalid wrote:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
I use an APC Smart UPS 1500 with a USB connection - a "UPS" item appears in Energy Saver allowing you to configure when to shut down - when it's been on battery for a certain time, when the UPS gets to a certain percentage of battery capacity, or when there are x minutes of battery power left. It seems to work OK but it doesn't have any options to execute a command before shutdown like Powerchute does which may or may not be a problem.
I suspect that if you get something like a Back UPS with only basic as opposed to smart signalling the number of options you get in Energy Saver/Powerchute will be reduced (probably to "shut down when on battery for x minutes").
On May 19, 9:41 am, wildrover.a...@redacted.invalid (Andy Hewitt) wrote:
A recently went through this myself too. I think from choice, I would have gone for an APC model. However, I was looking to stick to a budget, and I couldn't afford a newer USB model (a 1000VA+ model being nearly =A3200. The USB ones apparently work well directly in OSX, and should just appear in the Energy Saver CP when it's plugged in. Have a look on eBay, there's a company specialising in refurbed UPSs with a 1 year warranty.
I ended up with the Belkin 1200VA Universal UPS, at about =A3112 from eBuyer. It has a USB connector, and also has four standard 3 pin sockets on the back too (rather than the usual IEC sockets) - one of which is a straight through 'Protection' socket only.
I can confirm that this does work in OSX, and appears in the control panel when plugged into the USB. I can also confirm that the Bulldog software works fine too, which you may want to run, as it can run scheduled battery test routines as well. You also get a well featured window that can show various combinations of input/output power data (mine shows input Voltage and frequency).
I did a power off test, and it ran my G5, two monitors and twin drive external HD box for about 15 minutes before the low battery warning flashed up, and another few minutes it had nicely shutdown my Mac.
Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for.
Ian.Andy Hewitt wrote:
ianpiper@redacted.invalid wrote:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
Anyway, any pointers welcome as usual.
A recently went through this myself too. I think from choice, I would have gone for an APC model. However, I was looking to stick to a budget, and I couldn't afford a newer USB model (a 1000VA+ model being nearly £200. The USB ones apparently work well directly in OSX, and should just appear in the Energy Saver CP when it's plugged in. Have a look on eBay, there's a company specialising in refurbed UPSs with a 1 year warranty.
I ended up with the Belkin 1200VA Universal UPS,
That's exactly the one I had. Until it caught fire, of course.
Odie
On 19 May 2007 01:26:30 -0700, ianpiper@redacted.invalid wrote:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
I'm not sure about models which will do a graceful shutdown, but I will recommend a vendor: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/UPS-Trader
I just bought a couple of APC 1400VA 2U racks with spanking new batteries for 65quid each plus 25quid postage. Had trouble with the delivery people, and the vendor was an absolute star all through.
Cheers - Jaimie
Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:
On 19 May 2007 01:26:30 -0700, ianpiper@redacted.invalid wrote:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
I'm not sure about models which will do a graceful shutdown, but I will recommend a vendor: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/UPS-Trader
I just bought a couple of APC 1400VA 2U racks with spanking new batteries for 65quid each plus 25quid postage. Had trouble with the delivery people, and the vendor was an absolute star all through.
That's the chap I was thinking of. However, the cheaper units I was looking at had serial only communication.
On Sat, 19 May 2007 11:23:09 +0100, wildrover.andy@redacted.invalid (Andy Hewitt) wrote:
Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:
On 19 May 2007 01:26:30 -0700, ianpiper@redacted.invalid wrote:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
I'm not sure about models which will do a graceful shutdown, but I will recommend a vendor: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/UPS-Trader
I just bought a couple of APC 1400VA 2U racks with spanking new batteries for 65quid each plus 25quid postage. Had trouble with the delivery people, and the vendor was an absolute star all through.
That's the chap I was thinking of. However, the cheaper units I was looking at had serial only communication.
You misspelt "ebay" as "ebuyer" then!
Actually, if Ian's UPS is just suffering from dead batteries, he could always get new batts for much much less than a whole UPS.
Cheers - Jaimie
Chris Ridd chrisridd@redacted.invalid wrote:
On 2007-05-19 09:26:30 +0100, ianpiper@redacted.invalid said:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
Isn't it like the Bluetooth preference pane, and it only appears when there's some appropriate attached hardware?
Yes, it is/does.
On 2007-05-19 09:26:30 +0100, ianpiper@redacted.invalid said:
Hi all,
I've decided it's time to bite the bullet and upgrade my UPS (when the power went out a couple of weeks ago I discovered the battery only had about 2 minutes worth of charge!).
There are loads of UPSes on the market, of course. Can anyone recommend a model that will allow for graceful shutdown in the event of a power cut? I've read a range of opinions about the APC Powerchute software. I've also read a couple of posts about "Apple's support for UPS in the Energy Saver preferences" but can't see anything on either Mac OS X or Server on my network.
Isn't it like the Bluetooth preference pane, and it only appears when there's some appropriate attached hardware?
Cheers,
Chris
Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:
I just bought a couple of APC 1400VA 2U racks with spanking new batteries for 65quid each plus 25quid postage. Had trouble with the delivery people, and the vendor was an absolute star all through.
That's the chap I was thinking of. However, the cheaper units I was looking at had serial only communication.
You misspelt "ebay" as "ebuyer" then!
No, I mentioned eBay for the APC refurbisher, and eBuyer is where I got the Belkin from.
Actually, if Ian's UPS is just suffering from dead batteries, he could always get new batts for much much less than a whole UPS.
Indeed, that UPS supplier on eBay does those too.
On Sat, 19 May 2007 13:57:53 +0100, wildrover.andy@redacted.invalid (Andy Hewitt) wrote:
Jaimie Vandenbergh jaimie@redacted.invalid wrote:
I just bought a couple of APC 1400VA 2U racks with spanking new batteries for 65quid each plus 25quid postage. Had trouble with the delivery people, and the vendor was an absolute star all through.
That's the chap I was thinking of. However, the cheaper units I was looking at had serial only communication.
You misspelt "ebay" as "ebuyer" then!
No, I mentioned eBay for the APC refurbisher, and eBuyer is where I got the Belkin from.
D'oh. So you did, sorry.
Cheers - J
On May 19, 11:09 am, Odie Ferrous odie_ferr...@redacted.invalid wrote:
I ended up with the Belkin 1200VA Universal UPS,
That's exactly the one I had. Until it caught fire, of course.
Odie
Can you say more about this? Since I have now ordered two of them...
Ian.
ianpiper@redacted.invalid wrote:
On May 19, 11:09 am, Odie Ferrous odie_ferr...@redacted.invalid wrote:
I ended up with the Belkin 1200VA Universal UPS,
That's exactly the one I had. Until it caught fire, of course.
Odie
Can you say more about this? Since I have now ordered two of them...
Ian.
It worked fine until we had a power cut.
I'd been out and just returned home (during the day) when my son informed me there had been a power cut a few minutes before.
I thought nothing much of it, and drifted towards my office, and opened the door to a solid, acrid wall of smoke and fumes.
After a few seconds I was able to determine the fumes were coming from a TFT monitor plugged into the UPS, and then made out an orange glow coming from the UPS itself.
My computer (a dual core AMD X2 4800 - back then the CPU cost £600 on its own, let alone the other expensive equipment installed in the computer) was absolutely fried, as was the monitor, as was a "wall-wart" adaptor also plugged into the UPS.
I got straight onto Belkin with details. They admitted nothing, of course, and asked me to prepare a list of any equipment that was damaged, but arranged for an immediate (next day) replacement, with simultaneous collection on the faulty unit.
They replaced the 1200VA with a 1500VA unit.
I then emailed them with all the details of the incident, as well as a list of the damaged components.
After a week (the UPS had to go to a "special" laboratory for assessment) they emailed back words to the effect that "no fault has been found with the UPS."
Of course, by then, I was no longer in possession of the bomb. Stupid move on my part.
So, not only a crap product, but a very devious and dishonest company behind it.
APC, on the other hand, produce professional kit, which is obviously slightly more expensive, have decent support, and the reassurance of dealing with a company that supplies many blue-chip companies running mission-critical servers with all manner of UPS equipment.
Chalk and cheese.
On a slightly different point, I later (stupidly - I mean, what could go wrong with these things?) purchased some 6-way switched extension leads
- also manufactured by Belkin.
To cut a long story short, the on-off switches on both extensions didn't work, and I left running (despite having flicked the switch to the "off" position) a very expensive piece of equipment for a few days, which overheated and was destroyed. I telephoned Belkin about this rather serious matter (an open invitation to electrocution) and was told to take the item back to the store it was purchased from for an exchange. Like hell I was going to allow more of that crap in the office.
Belkin, to me, now represent the very poorest in quality that can be purchased.
Do yourself a favour (as well as anyone else occupying the same property as Belkin equipment) and get rid of the stuff. Take it back for refund / quote distance selling regulations as necessary - but do pay a little extra for quality. It's worth it.
Odie