Small UPS recommendation ?

Posted by: james n on 16 January 2011

I need a small UPS to sit in front of my Ready NAS NV+ and Mac Mini. I'm not looking for hours of operation, but just brown out protection and 5 mins or so of power to allow the NAS to shut itself down. Can you get anything for the mac which can monitor the UPS status and allow it to shut down too ?

APC seems to be well regarded. Any advice would be welcome

Thanks

James

Posted on: 16 January 2011 by Tog

Use APC for servers at work - but it may be overkill for your needs. Your NAS shouldn't throw too many wobblies in a power cut and I've found Mac OS to be very tolerant. Windoze PCs however don't like power cuts at all - poor dears.

Try a good surge protection fuse.

Tog

Posted on: 16 January 2011 by james n

Thanks Tog - the NAS has been fine in a powercut before but we had a brownout one evening last week. Everything stayed up alright but it must have upset the NAS. It kept working fine until i went to do my monthly incremental backup. I found the web interface ghostly slow and then when i started the backup, it corrupted a few files on the external backup drive and then failed to backup at all.

One reboot of the NAS, a reformat of the external USB drive and a new full backup of the NAS and all is fine again.

Having had one failed logic board in the Mac Mini due to power problems, i don't want to tempt fate so a UPS looks the way to go. A bit of googling has turned up this and for £60 its worth a punt.

Cheers

James

Posted on: 16 January 2011 by rednotdead

I have one of these: APC Battery & Surge

I run a HP MediaSmart server, 2 x mac Mini's and an external e-sata box from the 4 battery bacup sockets with no problems. It also has 4 surge protected sockets too.

Shop about and you can get it cheaper than the RRP.

Posted on: 16 January 2011 by Peter_RN

Hi James

I have the ReadyNAS_NVX that is protected by an RS 800 UPS. This also supplies my modem, router and 24 port smart-switch; this gives 45mins run time when fully charged. The NAS is set to shutdown when the power reduces to 60%, which allows me well over an hours use of Internet using a laptop after the power fails. Well worth it to me.
Do remember to check the UPS compatibility list on the ReadyNAS website before purchase.

Regards
Peter

Posted on: 16 January 2011 by james n

Rednotdead - thanks for that. Looks ideal apart from it lacks the USB data connection i need to tell the NAS that the UPS is on battery and it needs to shut down.

Peter - many thanks. Checked the compatability list and it'll work. APC it is.

Cheers folks

James

Posted on: 16 January 2011 by rednotdead

Interesting - mine most definitely has a USB connection - that's how it communicates with the WHS.

Whatever - you can't go wrong with APC, whichever model you go for. They are solid bits of kit, I've installed loads of units over the years.

Posted on: 16 January 2011 by james n

Ah sorry - I didn't see any mention of the USB connection in the spec.

Posted on: 17 January 2011 by nkrgovic

I agree that APC is the way to go. However, last time I've bought one I went for the BackUPS RS not CS - because of the much better handling of brown-outs. I think that's BackUPS Pro now, but do ask at the store, I'm not in the UK and our power system is different on the continent, so I'm guessing UPS models could be as well.

Posted on: 16 July 2011 by ken c

Originally Posted by nkrgovic:

i am also considering purchasing the APC Back-UPS RS LCD 550VA UPS for my ReadyNas Duo.

but noddy question; just noticed the outputs are IEC13, so did you guys remove the plugs that came with your router, NAS etc to connect to this UPS? or ?

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 16 July 2011 by Peter_RN

Hi Ken

I think my unit came with one lead, which I used to supply the NAS. I then purchased a 1mtr 4 way 13A extension lead fitted with a IEC13 plug and used that to supply modem, router and switch.

Be aware that the IEC 13 plugs seem to come in 2 versions; by this I mean they are either square or chamfered on the front edge. You need the chamfered type, as the square whilst it fits does not lock into the socket making the connection insecure. The connection will be intermittent if the cable is moved, not a lot of good as you can imagine. The lead I bought is not available now, it cost about £7.50, which is very cheap compared to the leads sold by the UPS manufacturers.

Hope streaming is going well for you.

Peter

Posted on: 16 July 2011 by ken c

thanks Peter. Streaming is going quite well. just listening to the rips made so far. i am actually surprised they sound as good as they do given that i don't have a power supply on the nDAC!

in addition, something i find curious happened recently. when i was away on business, i asked my daughter to switch off the system because of an impending thunderstorm -- just as well, it was quite bad. when i came back and connected it up again, the system sounded a LOT better than i recall!? some kind of reset?

back to ups, i assume higher rating (800VA) keeps pumping juice for longer in case of mains power failure.

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 17 July 2011 by Peter_RN

You are right about the sound Ken. I must admit I have to consciously remember to switch the power amp off from time to time, but to be honest, often It’s only off for 5-6 hrs overnight; it just stays on.

Yes, with the UPS its as you say, higher the power the longer it lasts. To give an idea my NAS has 4 discs and reports autonomy of 45mins. I have set the ReadyNAS to shutdown after 60% of battery use as my Modem, Router and Switch are also connected, the 45mins assumes only the NAS is connected of course.

I must say that it is quite reassuring having a UPS on the NAS.

Regards

Peter

Posted on: 19 July 2011 by ken c

sorry to hijack thread, but hopefully this question is of general interest anyhow.

anyone using Seagate the "2TB FreeAgent GoFlex Desktop Hard Drive - USB2.0 - STAC2000200" as backup drive on their NAS (specifically NetGear ReadyNAS Duo) care to share experiences, setup, issues etc etc. Many thanks

enjoy

ken