UPS buying suggestion
Warren Block
wblock at wonkity.com
Tue Oct 15 15:31:48 UTC 2013
On Tue, 15 Oct 2013, yudi v wrote:
> I am planning on buying an UPS to protect my HP microserver
> n40l<http://n40l.wikia.com/wiki/HP_MicroServer_N40L_Wiki>,
> it will be running FreeBSD 9.2 RELEASE.
>
> I am looking at
> APC Power-Saving Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 700VA 230V AS
> 3112<http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BE700G%2DAZ&total_watts=400>
>
> is that supported by apcupsd? (already tried apcupsd mailing list, there
> was no response, hence asking here)
> If not, please recommend one that is supported.
>
> The HP server has a 150W PSU and the UPS is rated at 400Watts, and it comes
> with USB monitoring support.
I recommend the older APC Smart-UPS SUA1500, available either in
standalone or rackmount styles. The standalone style takes two large
18AH batteries, the rackmount takes four of the standard 12V 8AH
batteries.
These are very expensive UPS systems when new, but can sometimes be
found at school and local government auctions for about 3% of retail
price. The batteries are always bad, but not difficult to replace.
Well, the rackmount ones are stuck in with double-sided tape, and take
some convincing. These are standard sealed lead-acid batteries, used
for building emergency lights, alarm systems, and well, computer UPSes.
The advantages of the older SUA1500 are sinewave output, correct battery
charging for long battery life, metal construction, a fan that only
turns on when needed, and USB and serial monitoring connections.
sysutils/apcupsd works well with them, and they are large enough to
power multiple computers. The UPS is connected via USB or serial to one
machine, and the others speak to it over the network. For me, this is
easier to set up and more functional than the expensive network
management cards available for the smart card slot in the UPS.
The smaller Smart-UPS line aren't bad. Only the ones from 700VA on up
have sinewave output.
The Back-UPS units are better than nothing, but avoid the fat power
strip style.
> Also, how to measure exact power consumption by a device?
The "Kill-A-Watt" meters are popular and inexpensive.
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