UPS Selection

[JimPhreak]

I'm looking to purchase a decent UPS for my home network. Is there any fairly accurate way to determine my UPS power needs without a kill-a-watt?

I'd like to run the following on the UPS:

VM Server: Xeon D-1541 board with 2 x SFP+). No disks.
Storage server: Xeon D-1508 board with 2 x SFP+, 12-16 x 8TB Seagate SMR drives, 4 x Intel 730 480GB SSDs.
Switch: Currently a Netgear Prosafe Plus 8-port gigabit switch (will be upgrading to 10gig switch next year)
PC: i5-4690K, GTX970, 2 x WD Black 1TB 3.5" drives, 1 x 120GB Crucial SSD

 

[T_Minus]

I like to have as much battery as possible so I don't have to run to get the generator going this gives me some time to wait and see if it comes back on in a couple minutes, and saves hassle.

With that said you're likely on a 15A or 20A circuit so I would find the largest battery setup on 120v for my home setup, 1500w/2200va I think is standard which is fine even if you're at 100% I believe.

I use a APC unit + Extended run battery, and I only have that because I purchased the extended run on accident and was not going to pay to return ship it!!! I would have been happy with the single unit, and this was before I started buying used enterprise gear on ebay, I got a couple other APC units over the last 10 years and have replaced batteries once or twice (not much IMHO) and have been really happy with them during extended power outages (days) as well as brown outs, and flickers/adjustments/re-routes, etc...

The next question is do you want it to be an On-Line UPS or Line-Interactive UPS and how much $$ do you want to spend, used or new?

 

[pc-tecky]

Have you tried any of the online PSU wattage calculators for each system? From another angle, what is the wattage of each PSU currently in use?

From eXtreme Power Supply Calculator with 24/7, I get:
D-1548/-1541 w/ 4 x 16 GB DDR4 ~= 350VA; load: 136 W; recommended PSU: 180 W
D-1508(?? - used D-1528) w/ 4x 16GB DDR4 + 4x SSD + 20 10K SATA HDD ~= 1250 VA; load: 701 W; recommmended PSU 751 W
Core i5-4690K w/4x 16GB DDR4 + 1x SSD + 2x 10K SATA ~= 700VA; load: 358 W; Recommended PSU: 408 W

Excluding the switch
VA: 350 + 1250 + 700 = 2300 VA
load W: 136 + 701 + 358 ~= 1200 load W

I would venture to say that two 1300 VA UPS are needed, more or less, without the need of getting into industrial rack mounted or large filing cabinet sized hardware. All the major UPS players should have online recommendation tools based on systems and devices in use.

APC UPS Selection Page

UPS Sizing | Tripp Lite

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/ups

 

[rubylaser]

Those online calculators seem to be the worst case scenario and then a multiplication factor on top of it. The biggest offender is the d-1528 calculation, as that system, especially the all/most of the disks spun down would probably draw less than 75 watts, not anywhere close to 750 watts.

I have an APC-1500 like @T_Minus mentioned above and it works great for me. I currently have an e5-2670 system, i5-4590 with 24 spinning disks(most spun down), and celeron 847 system , plus 24 port gigabit switch. The current power draw on the APC reads at 135 watts.

 

[Blinky 42]

How long do you want/need things to run before shutting stuff down? How long does it take to do an orderly shutdown of the systems in the proper order (assuming the VM server needs to shutdown/suspend all VM's to free up mounts on storage server etc).
Consider how you want the whole setup to behave when you are away on vacation and the power is out for 24h, make sure the systems go down clean and come back clean without needing hand-holding. Also don't forget to put everything for your internet connection on a UPS.
While the calculators frequently do worst-case, don't discount the fact that the most load you would draw is probably when you spin up all the computers from a cold start. If the UPS can't handle everything turning on at the same moment then pick up a managed PDU and set the outlets to delay the turn-on to spread out things or enforce that the core servers are online before others so you don't have issues with resources not being ready on another server when requested.

I would 2nd @T_Minus and suggest going for longest run-time/battery capacity you can justify and fit in the space.
I have a lot of the APC SmartUPS's and for smaller loads I have recently purchased several of the BackUPS Pro's that are in theory more efficient.
http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Power-Saving-Back-UPS-Pro-1500/P-BR1500G
I have replaced the batteries in some of my units 2-3x over 15+ years and they are still doing fine.
With the lead-acid based units you can also save significant $ if you just buy batteries from one of the 3rd party vendors and move the harnesses between the old pack and the new vs paying the insane prices for APC RBC's.

 

[T_Minus]

How long do you want/need things to run before shutting stuff down? How long does it take to do an orderly shutdown of the systems in the proper order (assuming the VM server needs to shutdown/suspend all VM's to free up mounts on storage server etc).
Consider how you want the whole setup to behave when you are away on vacation and the power is out for 24h, make sure the systems go down clean and come back clean without needing hand-holding. Also don't forget to put everything for your internet connection on a UPS.
While the calculators frequently do worst-case, don't discount the fact that the most load you would draw is probably when you spin up all the computers from a cold start. If the UPS can't handle everything turning on at the same moment then pick up a managed PDU and set the outlets to delay the turn-on to spread out things or enforce that the core servers are online before others so you don't have issues with resources not being ready on another server when requested.

I would 2nd @T_Minus and suggest going for longest run-time/battery capacity you can justify and fit in the space.
I have a lot of the APC SmartUPS's and for smaller loads I have recently purchased several of the BackUPS Pro's that are in theory more efficient.
http://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/APC-Power-Saving-Back-UPS-Pro-1500/P-BR1500G
I have replaced the batteries in some of my units 2-3x over 15+ years and they are still doing fine.
With the lead-acid based units you can also save significant $ if you just buy batteries from one of the 3rd party vendors and move the harnesses between the old pack and the new vs paying the insane prices for APC RBC's.

Good point about batteries. I try to find the same aH based battery replacement or BETTER sometimes sellers sell lower capacity in the same size! For what it's worth I ordered ~4 sets of batteries from all different ebay "battery companies" last year to compare, and all were practically identical moldings (most were) and appeared identical except label.

I just had the APC (tall skinny unit) that I use for my network stack battery start to beep, time to replace that one! I think it will be ~7 years !! (And yes, I use these batteries -- sometimes I get 24 hours of the APC UPS depending what's on it!!! When I used to use 3G/Router for internet I could go 30hrs+ due to efficiency! and "AIO")

 

[JimPhreak]

Thanks everyone for chiming in, lot of good info.

I'm leaning towards picking up this unit but I think I may borrow a friend's kill-a-watt first before I pull the trigger.

 

[RyC]

Make sure your power supplies can take the "fake" stepped sine wave that APC produces

 

[JimPhreak]

Make sure your power supplies can take the "fake" stepped sine wave that APC produces

Could you elaborate on this some more? I don't have a lot of experience with UPS's.

 

[RyC]

Could you elaborate on this some more? I don't have a lot of experience with UPS's.

Certain newer power supplies with "active power correction" don't work with UPSses that produce a "fake" or "stepped approximation" to a sine wave while on battery. Generally PSUs without a voltage selector have active power correction. The cheaper APC models generally use fake sine waves, CyberPower makes a <$200 model with pure sine wave I think. See the top negative review on your Amazon link for more info, it may work, but you might just have to try it with your servers

 

[T_Minus]

Certain newer power supplies with "active power correction" don't work with UPSses that produce a "fake" or "stepped approximation" to a sine wave while on battery. Generally PSUs without a voltage selector have active power correction. The cheaper APC models generally use fake sine waves, CyberPower makes a <$200 model with pure sine wave I think. See the top negative review on your Amazon link for more info, it may work, but you might just have to try it with your servers

I have the model he's talking about, and it's worked perfect with every PSU I've thrown at it. From $30 Corsair to SeaSonic Platinum and numerous others in between. As far as systems go... 3930k, 5930K, 1620v3, Haswell Pentium, are off top of my head iive ran on it.

I would certainly test on battery with your systems but they PSU inside is likely already doing correction before or after stepping down for use inside the PC.

I have various line conditioners / voltage regulators from Tripp-LIte and I've tried them between UPS and PC and not, and my PC systems didn't care either, fwiw. I still use them on certain systems and/or entire UPS to be extra-safe

My generators are 100% Pure Sine-Wave so generator power = never an issue either, and my UPS units actually re-charge on generator vs. my old old generator that would trip the UPS every time it was switched on.

I've heard great things about the CyberPower Pure Sine Wave UPS too.

 

[Evan]

1220watt load ??
More like less than half of that I would say. How can the VM Xeon-D get 137 watt, not even flat out will it draw that, ~80 but to be safe any ~100 worst case.
Storage server is it bit unknown though...

 

[Gene]

i picked up an eaton 5px3000i and an ebm module for $300. also had network management module. had to get a craigslist apc stepdown transformer for $100. its easy to wire a single 220v 20amp circuit. Im also running my home theater audio/visual gear off it.

Guy i got the apc transformer from through in an apc surt 10000 6u ups for free and a second transformer. Batteries are bad but $320 in new batts and it'll be good as new. 60 amp outlet needed though. Its overkill for me but not my brothers company that has some cnc equipment. Keep an eye out on craigslist or local ebay auctions as there are some good deals on ups gear

 

[Blinky 42]

You can also pick up used Eaton and APC gear from the larger computer recycling folks pretty easy and cheap if you drive to pick them up vs shipping them since they weigh so much. We got a lot of 5kVA+ 208/240 gear used but with fresh batteries for well under half the new price that way.

 

[Deslok]

Thanks everyone for chiming in, lot of good info.

I'm leaning towards picking up this unit but I think I may borrow a friend's kill-a-watt first before I pull the trigger.

I actually have that unit right now running an i7-3770 system(my hyper-v host) avoton C2750 server with 6x4tb hdd(backup storage) cable modem and router(which will be replaced eventually) it isn't at capacity(although the 3770 isn't at full load most of the time)

Your storage server is the worst offender there power wise with 12-16 spinners which can pull ~5-10w each but even that isn't huge.

 

[JimPhreak]

I actually have that unit right now running an i7-3770 system(my hyper-v host) avoton C2750 server with 6x4tb hdd(backup storage) cable modem and router(which will be replaced eventually) it isn't at capacity(although the 3770 isn't at full load most of the time)

Your storage server is the worst offender there power wise with 12-16 spinners which can pull ~5-10w each but even that isn't huge.

The only time all the drives are spinning in my storage server though is at startup or during a parity check. Most of the time there are only 1-3 hdd's spinning.

I'm considering the APC and the Cyberpower 1500 sinewine right now.

 

[bds1904]

General rule: "Buy as much UPS as you can afford."

You tend to add more or realise more things should have UPS power once you get a good one.

Personally I always buy sinewave UPS units because I have had issues with active PFC power supplies. Under high load and the power goes out just at the wrong time for 3 seconds and the PSU resets the PC as the power comes back on. No fun.

Something else to consider is battery replacement cost and availability. Typically I get 2.5yrs-4yrs out of a set of batteries. If I can't get a good set of batteries in 3 years or they are going to cost $200 what's the point of "only" spending $200 on the UPS? It makes more sense to buy a $350+ UPS that'll last 10-15 years and cost $80 for batteries every 4 years.

Add multiple servers and now you need auto shutdown features. You may as well get a real UPS with a network card in it right now. If you are in a house you'll need a special circuit for this UPS, but that's easy. If you are in an apartment you'll be SOL. If you need a normal 15A 120v plug get the 1500va model with the network card.

I've done lots of business with this company including refurbished UPS units and new batteries. Always a good experience.

APC Smart-UPS 2200 Rack Mount 2U (SUA2200RM2U) - Remote Management Bundle - APC UPS System | RefurbUPS.com

 

[canta]

I picked smart 1500VA XL APC model from ebay.
Bought the ethernet card years back for $19 total.
add more cost on UPS rail for $15 total, and batteries

real UPS must has network management port .

been bought 3 smart APC UPS on ebay.. and additional extra network card.

ebay is a lot cheaper on my understanding by assuming a bit hassle to buy barebone UPS, network module, and batteries..

 

[canta]

i picked up an eaton 5px3000i and an ebm module for $300. also had network management module. had to get a craigslist apc stepdown transformer for $100. its easy to wire a single 220v 20amp circuit. Im also running my home theater audio/visual gear off it.

Guy i got the apc transformer from through in an apc surt 10000 6u ups for free and a second transformer. Batteries are bad but $320 in new batts and it'll be good as new. 60 amp outlet needed though. Its overkill for me but not my brothers company that has some cnc equipment. Keep an eye out on craigslist or local ebay auctions as there are some good deals on ups gear

craiglist in my area is drain-dead on good deal. UPS is very rare on craiglist. I knew some Out of business company selling 2200VA or bigger that not I was looking for.

ebay is my best resources to get a good deal UPS with total shipping.

 

[Fritz]

Somebody gave me a APC 1500va Smart UPS, they said it didn't work. I opened it up and the batteries were swelled and about ready to bust. I pried them out and put in a fresh new set and now it's good as new. Fully tested and fully functional.