Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

APC UPS backup for g5

The choice between 1200VA & 1500VA simply is in the number of minutes of runtime that it will give you on a short-term outage.

Ideally, you want a unit that includes Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVGR - or "Boost and trim") This is designed to make up brownouts (down to 70% of nominal) and overs through a voltage regulator, rather than by going onto battery. This extends the battery lifespan and preserves chare for when the power goes out entirely.

The BR1200 (Back-UPS RS 1200VA, 780 Watts),
Runtime 11.7 minutes @ 390 Watts, with AVR

Back-UPS RS 1500VA 865 Watts
Runtime 12.4 minutes @ 432.5 Watts with AVR

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=23
 
I must say, I really love APC's products.
Yet another excellent product of Rhode Island.

I think Rammy has the particulars covered..
 
ahhh, thanks...

i assume that those higher power APCs have that feature then (looked more closely at the 1200, and it does..)

all i really want to do is protect over brownouts (a few times lately i've come home to my computer being off.... seemingly for no reason

and also, when the power goes out (lots of rain here lately caused several outages), just shut it down safely...

so i don't really need much runtime at all. but i don't really know how much power i need.

i have:

g5
1 20" adc
1 17" adc
2 OWC firewire drives
1 lacie firewire drive

i suppose i could look up all those items and find the numbers, though i'm not sure i could make much of the numbers (what's what)... any reasonable guesses on whether this guy would cover me?

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1000
 
APC makes great stuff overall. They've never let me down.

However, when the time came to replace my UPS on my own G5 tower, I opted for a Belkin unit. I'd heard bad things about Belkin's UPSes in the past, but much more positive word of mouth recently, and they do offer a lot of bang for the buck with their current products.

I bought this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842101218

I'm at about 50% load between my heavily-upgraded Dual 2.0GHz PowerMac G5, 19" LCD, external drives, and networking equipment.

With the amount of equipment you're running, you may need something in the 1500VA range.
 
Silencio said:
APC makes great stuff overall. They've never let me down.

However, when the time came to replace my UPS on my own G5 tower, I opted for a Belkin unit.
Click to expand...
AAAAAHHH Belkin! Run screaming!

I bought 5 Belkins. Every. Fracking. One. Of. Them. Failed. Within. 3. Months.
Terms of their "3-year warranty"
"All returns must be shipped prepaid."
So to get warranty replacement on a $70 item, I have to pay $30 to ship it.
 
thanks for the info silencio!

just curious though... you say you have an 1100 at 50% load, and you seem to have similar amount of stuff to me (maybe a couple less external drives?), what makes you think i'd need around 1500?

thanks again all!
 
CanadaRAM said:
AAAAAHHH Belkin! Run screaming!
Click to expand...

hahah. fair enough...

either way though, i need to gauge my VA needed for brownout coverage and simple shut down during power outages. somewhere between 1000-1500... but which. hmm
 
jelloshotsrule said:
ahhh, thanks...



so i don't really need much runtime at all. but i don't really know how much power i need.
Click to expand...

If you don't need much runtime, I wouldn't worry about the power. If you connect the USB cable to the APC, you can set it to shut down in the system prefs. to shut off almost immediately. Unless you're running an air conditioner on the backup, you should get at least enough time to shut down the system first. Also, you don't need battery backup for extra monitors, only the G5 (I assuming they're spanning/mirroring). And monitors are what consume the most power (I think).
 
Le Big Mac said:
If you don't need much runtime, I wouldn't worry about the power. If you connect the USB cable to the APC, you can set it to shut down in the system prefs. to shut off almost immediately. Unless you're running an air conditioner on the backup, you should get at least enough time to shut down the system first. Also, you don't need battery backup for extra monitors, only the G5 (I assuming they're spanning/mirroring). And monitors are what consume the most power (I think).
Click to expand...

hmm. well the thing is that i've heard that some only power the equipment for a few seconds (not even long enough to shut down i'd think), and also, the monitors get their power through the g5 (adc cable and dvi cable)... i also don't want to skimp too much, but don't want to buy 1500 if i only need 1000 really. 1200 is what i'm leaning towards at the moment...
 
jelloshotsrule said:
hmm. well the thing is that i've heard that some only power the equipment for a few seconds (not even long enough to shut down i'd think), and also, the monitors get their power through the g5 (adc cable and dvi cable)... i also don't want to skimp too much, but don't want to buy 1500 if i only need 1000 really. 1200 is what i'm leaning towards at the moment...
Click to expand...
There is a selection tool on APC's site, so I plugged in a few assumed values for your G5, and as long as you don't plug in a printer, a 1500VA unit should give you up to 42 minutes runtime. The runtime of other capacities are straight math...
 
ok, awesome. sorry to be so dense and all, electrical stuff is not my thing. hah

looks like if 1500 will give me 32 minutes, then 1200 will give me 27, which should be more than enough...

on another note, if i get a unit, can i test it by simply unplugging it from the wall to see if the battery kicks in and shuts stuff down ok?
 
well i ordered the apc 1200va one. should be here when i get back from vacation next week. my computer was off when i got home from work again yesterday..let's hope it works!
 
jelloshotsrule said:
hmm. well the thing is that i've heard that some only power the equipment for a few seconds (not even long enough to shut down i'd think), and also, the monitors get their power through the g5 (adc cable and dvi cable)... i also don't want to skimp too much, but don't want to buy 1500 if i only need 1000 really. 1200 is what i'm leaning towards at the moment...
Click to expand...

I think it depends on the model. The one I have (forget the model) has 3 battery backup outlets and three that are surge only. So, you can plug a printer into the surge only outlets, and just the computer and monitor into the backup ones.

There's no reason whatsoever to plug a printer into the backup outlets--if your power goes out, so what if the pages stop printing. What you're concerned about is protecting the computer and data
 
Le Big Mac said:
I think it depends on the model. The one I have (forget the model) has 3 battery backup outlets and three that are surge only. So, you can plug a printer into the surge only outlets, and just the computer and monitor into the backup ones.

There's no reason whatsoever to plug a printer into the backup outlets--if your power goes out, so what if the pages stop printing. What you're concerned about is protecting the computer and data
Click to expand...

yeah, i hear ya. the one i ordered has 6 backup outlets and 2 surge protector. like i said, i have the computer, and 3 external drives... i use a network printer not near my computer, and realized that my dvi connected display does have a plug so i can save a little there. i think i'll be fine with 1200 for sure........ i hope. hah
 
I always found APC products to be overpriced...we always used http://www.powerware.com/USA/default.asp for our servers. They were about half the price, and we were very happy with quality of the products. Of course, you can't get them at computer stores, you have to go to electrical supply stores.
 
CanadaRAM said:
AAAAAHHH Belkin! Run screaming!

I bought 5 Belkins. Every. Fracking. One. Of. Them. Failed. Within. 3. Months.
Terms of their "3-year warranty"
"All returns must be shipped prepaid."
So to get warranty replacement on a $70 item, I have to pay $30 to ship it.
Click to expand...

How recently did this happen?

To reiterate: I had heard numerous bad things about Belkin's UPSes in the past, but was surprised to hear a lot of positive word-of-mouth about their stuff more recently: in particular from a couple of people who really know their stuff and have a lot of experience in specing and setting up UPSes. I was as surprised as anyone that I seriously considered -- and actually ended up purchasing -- a Belkin UPS. But I guess the proof is in the long-term reliability of the product, which remains to be seen (I've had mine for about three months, so I guess I'm "due").
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back