Recommend me an UPS!

So, I live in the land of sever t-storms and tornados... Obviously, I love to leave my rig crunching 24/7... in the event of a power outtage my rig would be full-bore crunching (~650 watts give or take)... Is there an UPS out there that can:

A) handle the power steadily until a proper shutdown
B) auto shut down when on battery power and work with Linux
C) least expensive without sacraficing A and B

Your thoughts and links are greatly appriciated for my google quest

Steve all I know is extremely high availability type equipment, so I'll give you the high end of the scale and let someone else handle the rest. If you want the most bulletproof UPS you can get from an output quality and protection standpoint, what you want is dual conversion topology. This completely electrically isolates the output from the input power via AC/DC/AC conversion. In effect, your machine is always on the UPS and line power charges the battery.

They're a little louder and more expensive than line-interactive UPSs, but if you want act of god reliability thats a good place to start.

I have quite a few Eaton Powerwares running at work. Here's a refurb for $299 at upsforless in the link below, from which I've purchased with no problems. I'd also have no problem with a refurb UPS from a reputable manufacturer like Eaton. Being in the bulk utility power industry, I can't walk into a substation or genstation without seeing some kind of equipment with the word Eaton on it. They're the real deal.

http://www.upsforless.com/pw91201500ref.aspx

Only question I don't know is what software comes with it. Netwatch or Powervision both work in Linux.

Covers A and B quite well. C kind of depends on you're looking to spend. With something like a Powerware I'd try to use it where I could protect multiple pieces of equipment with it.

Thank you for the info! I totally forgot that I could check in with the military side, and see if there are going to be any auctions/cleaning house of the IT department and see if I can get one there too. I will check out Eaton too..

I found one at the egg, and looking at the Mfr web site, I see they have a Linux command line program and supports auto shutdown upon power loss... 2 min full load, 9 min half load... Not bad, and enough time to power down.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102070

I just got a warranty replacement on a APC BM1250G 3 year warranty had another 6 months...fried the ups but not the computer AND the UPS was on a surge protector too.
The only thing connected was a 400 Wat PS for a computer that uses maybe 250W.

I think something fried when it changed to battery.....

I have 4 of these units.

All I can say is that you want at least a 1300-1500VA unit; and that Eaton looks really nice.

I have all APC units (850VA, 1300VA, & 2x1500VA) and they have served me well for many years. I'm not so keen on companies like Cyber Power or Trip Lite.

Like a power supply, this is one area I believe you don't want to skimp.

APC/Eaton it is then... I'll consult the google...

Also, do those "USB" to the computer to support software for monitoring/controlling the UPS unit? If so, do they support Linux? even if you have to manually look up the software on the manufactures website?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102133&Tpk=cyberpower 810w

I use these exclusively for my folding equipment and they work well - can be had for around $150 if you shop. They also have a linux shutdown utility available (even a .deb package download for ubuntu). I agree APC is always solid, but a little overpriced imo - plus you have to install and configure apcupsd for linux to shutdown properly, and it's not a plug and play procedure if you're not comfortable with linux.

Remember though that a graceful shutdown means the device will most likely NOT power on when AC power is restored.

As long as it powers down properly, I am happy. Besides, my FAH client is not installed as a service, so I will end up manually restarting it.

But, if it is a tornado... I will have bigger problems than a computer that wont start

Here's what I have my 4P on... it's my newest unit. Just google that and you'll find some good buys. $175 to the door from Buy.com I saw. I try to stick with more major e-tailers. Although if you're feeling brave this unit can be found for ~$150 as well.

APC Back-UPS Pro 1300

After having several power failures and issues that kept frying my equitment I bought this http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000Z80ICM/ref=oh_o04_s00_i00_details UPS . It has enough power to keep my gaming rig (in my sig) and one of my monitors running long enough to put the computer in hibernate. I know that it is Linux compatible because I ran Linux on this computer and it worked fine in that as well. For the price it is not a bad deal.

Finally got around to finding out what I use.

Cyberpower 1350AVR Its about a year old. It reports that it will last 8min. What it really does for me is get me through the switching. When our power goes out it switches twice choosing a different leg to send our electric, on the 3rd switch thats when we finally lose power. They don't last very long. In 20 years I only remember twice it being out for 4 hours or so. Without the UPS the PC's usually shut off with each switch, along with every clock in the house...

No UPS is going to last all that long at $100to $200 price point but for 8 min this has saved me a ton of wu's and bonuses.

I'll try to find a link and see what I paid. What did you end up going with Steve?
Oh I see TC linked to the better sine version of this one TC link $157 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m1132X509988Xd658c0bde2d1b4dad4a1ca970ac9d8ff

If I was getting a new one, I would go with that, $43 off right now. These things weigh a ton! My version $135 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842102070

For $22 more you can get TC's sine version its a good deal!

I won't argue with the brands being recommended here. I can commend APC for their customer support. I had two units of one of their models (no longer sold), which went bad within the warranty period. RMA support contact, resolution, and shipping of a new, replacement unit for both instances was remarkably good. They shipped out the new units even before I shipped the defective ones, using APCs packing materials for the return shipments. For both, I received a pre-paid shipping label for the broken units.

LZ_Xray said:

If you want the most bulletproof UPS you can get from an output quality and protection standpoint, what you want is dual conversion topology. This completely electrically isolates the output from the input power via AC/DC/AC conversion. In effect, your machine is always on the UPS and line power charges the battery.

Click to expand...

Slightly OT on an Audio Production topic - but still very valid to the UPS discussion:

I like the price of that Eaton! I use an APC Smart-UPS 2200RM3U (big one!) in my Recording Rig as the "line interactive" nature means I'm not at the mercy of the UPS' Inverter quality with regard to THD and such. Generally, if I take a power hit during a recording, the take is a wash - I'm just worried about keeping the DAW PC from crashing - but I do run all of my recording gear (Preamps, AD/DA's, Tube Mic PSU's, Compressors) through the APC2200 for convenience and protection of brown-outs and such.

I see you have a "Denon" Avatar - so I'm assuming you are into audio (mabe not the production/engineering side - but an Audiophile of some sort?). Would you personally use something like the Eaton and it's 3% AC Waveform THD in an Audio Setup?

I would feel much better with a true "Online" UPS in my studio, but I have a feeling the ones that will match the utility power's pure sinewave (created from the linear rotation of the genrator) will be very expensive (a serious inverter+clocking stage!). Filtering out the noise and adding isolation with a "Dual Conversion UPS" is FANTASTIC (partially the reason I want one) - but not if the net result is a higher noise floor due to 3% THD in your AC Line (not a concern for a PC user, but a primary concern in a recording studio)...

Thoughts?