MP All Models Uninterruptible Power Supply

[WWII Historian]

Hi Gang

I'm an older user (professional video editor) using multiple external data drives and an early Power Mac Destop. On occasion my community experiences momentary power outages lasting several seconds, (enuf to cause file corruption). I'd like to provide momentary total power (just enough time), to get through the interruption, or boot everything down properly and start over again.

My Equipment: On average each data enclosure's DC output power supply is roughly +5V/3A (or) +12V/3A. Also using #2 Older Apple Display Monitors and an older Mac Pro Desktop. I'm currently looking at possibly #2 Model (SC450RM1U) power supplies, each one provides 280 Watts / 450 VA.

Either 2 Of These: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...450RMI1U_Smart_UPS_Uninterruptible_Power.html

OR One Of These: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HDODQYS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0

Any Ideas?
Thenk You!

 

[Soba]

Hi Gang

I'm an older user (professional video editor) using multiple external data drives and an early Power Mac Destop. On occasion my community experiences momentary power outages lasting several seconds, (enuf to cause file corruption). I'd like to provide momentary total power (just enough time), to get through the interruption, or boot everything down.

My Equipment: On average each data enclosure's DC output power supply is roughly +5V/3A (or) +12V/3A. Also using #2 Older Apple Display Monitors and an older Mac Pro Desktop. I'm currently looking at possibly #2 Model (SC450RM1U) power supplies, each one provides 280 Watts / 450 VA.

Either 2 Of These: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/prod...450RMI1U_Smart_UPS_Uninterruptible_Power.html

OR One Of These: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HDODQYS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0

Any Ideas?
Thenk You!

Both units that you've linked to are rackmountable. Do you need to mount these in a rack? Freestanding UPS units of the same specs will probably cost you a lot less.

You don't mention how many external drives you have, but make sure you purchase a UPS with enough outlets for all of your equipment. It's not recommended that you use power strips or splitters with UPSes; it can lead to unpredictable behavior and cause problems with power protection. (Admittedly, this is a rare thing and I don't recall having problems, personally.)

Take a look at the APC Back-UPS Pro 1500 (Model BR1500G). It has a lot of capacity for a desktop system, plugs right into your Mac via USB, and can be configured to shut down your system cleanly even if you are not there during a power event. Price should be around $200–$235 in the USA.

 

[WWII Historian]

Hi There Soba - Thanx for the comprehensive reply

I agree its not often one needs this particular arrangement of equipment. But gven the circumstances; my community's electrical grid and the older bunch of equipment I have on hand, (I never cared for RAID), I'm definitely going to need the security. I've worked on a WWII documentary for nearly 15 years and promised 60 veterans' familes I will finish this project before I pass on. The towers/equipment, archival video files and the older arragement could be quite sensitive/vulnerable while editing. I'm connected to about 6 externals (all vital). Counting at least ONE tower, 6 enclosure power supplies and two monitors, I'll need about 9 recepetacles. The BR1500G looks pretty good (thank You) with 10 outlets, however a review stated: Only 4 of the 8 ports are battery-backed up, the other 4 are surge only. Also I'm not sure the old tower and older Safari OS will handle the USB connection/arrangement? Is the USB connection absolutely neccesary?

 

[Soba]

Hi There Soba - Thanx for the comprehensive reply

I agree its not often one needs this particular arrangement of equipment. But gven the circumstances; my community's electrical grid and the older bunch of equipment I have on hand, (I never cared for RAID), I'm definitely going to need the security. I've worked on a WWII documentary for nearly 15 years and promised 60 veterans' familes I will finish this project before I pass on. The towers/equipment, archival video files and the older arragement could be quite sensitive/vulnerable while editing. I'm connected to about 6 externals (all vital). Counting at least ONE tower, 6 enclosure power supplies and two monitors, I'll need about 9 recepetacles. The BR1500G looks pretty good (thank You) with 10 outlets, however a review stated: Only 4 of the 8 ports are battery-backed up, the other 4 are surge only. Also I'm not sure the old tower and older Safari OS will handle the USB connection/arrangement? Is the USB connection absolutely neccesary?

I think your best bet with so many devices is to ignore the advice of the UPS manufacturer and use a power strip for your external drives; finding an UPS (or two smaller UPSes) to accommodate about 10 battery-backed devices without using a power strip will cost you a large amount of money.

Use a "dumb" extension cord/splitter with no surge suppression features built in. This is much less likely to interfere with the functionality of the UPS and it should work fine. (I have done this myself many times.) Using a surge suppressor with an UPS can interfere with the power protection features of the UPS and cause your equipment to just shut off.

The BR1500G might be the best fit for you. It is a "tower" UPS and sits in your floor. The two UPSes that you linked to are designed to be mounted in a rack on the wall, and such racks are usually used at businesses to also hold networking or server equipment. I'd be very surprised if you have such a rack. (Some rackmount units can also be stood upright on the floor, but you need to check if they come with the proper legs for standing them up; many don't.)

With 5 battery backed outlets on the BR1500G, you can accommodate your 6+ drives in a power strip (using just one or two outlets on the UPS), two displays, and one or two Macs. 5 outlets should be plenty for you in this case, and if you run short, you can possibly plug your second display into a surge-only outlet to free up a battery-backed outlet for more drives or for another Mac.

The USB connection is not required, but is very useful. What this does is communicate power status to your Mac. If there is a blackout and the UPS goes on battery power, then the Mac is notified over the USB connection that it is running on battery. You can configure the Mac to shut down automatically after a couple of minutes on battery power, so the controlled shutdown will safely unmount all of your drives and ensure your data is safe even if you are not at your desk to shut down the system yourself.

If you do not use the USB connection, the Mac will have no way of knowing when the UPS is running on battery. If there is a blackout and you are away from your desk, the Mac will simply sit there running until it exhausts the battery and then just turn off with the same risk to your data as if you weren't using an UPS.

macOS has had UPS communication features built in for almost 20 years (possibly longer), so this should work for you right out of the box no matter what version of macOS you are running. You can configure the automatic shutdown behaviors in System Preferences > Energy Saver, then click the UPS tab (this usually only shows when there is an UPS connected to your system), then click the Shutdown Options button.

I hope this helps! Others on the forum might have better advice, as well.

 

[WWII Historian]

Hi again Soba (more wonderful information)!

BTW, I've built many different custom rack units (have always used them) and was thinking about another one for all the other outboard gear anyway. In this case it would only be a lower price tag as a consideration for the BR1500G.

Avoiding the USB connection: "the Mac will have no way of knowing when the UPS is running on battery." Unless I'm missing something, typically the outtages around here are easily recognizable and I should know immediately as indicated by other visual signs. But I'll give the USB option some consideration. BTW I'm using Safari OS 10; all my applications are more than adequate and compatible, (I rarely go online while editing in such an antiquated OS).

Yes, I've considered avoiding the back up option for the displays, (thereby freeing up back up for the towers and the externals).

I have to say I was impressed (out the gate) with your courtesy and no 'strings attached' assistance. I'm 72, editing for 30 years and got fed up with the Apple Support Forums because there's also a Film Instructor assuming you're fresh out of college stating a long pontifical lecture ....

*Very sorry (got confused) for the duplicate member ID (I've continue to use WWII Historian), as I'm the same person.

Thanks Again My Friend ... I may have other questions ..
Mike

 

[MarkC426]

The USB should be connected, for peace of mind, otherwise your Mac will not know when to shut down. It will activate for minute power spikes/drops, which will not register on other household devices. Or if you are out of the house with Mac on it would not shut down safely.
One monitor should be connected, to allow you to safely save and close applications.

 

[Soba]

Hi again Soba (more wonderful information)!

BTW, I've built many different custom rack units (have always used them) and was thinking about another one for all the other outboard gear anyway. In this case it would only be a lower price tag as a consideration for the BR1500G.

Avoiding the USB connection: "the Mac will have no way of knowing when the UPS is running on battery." Unless I'm missing something, typically the outtages around here are easily recognizable and I should know immediately as indicated by other visual signs. But I'll give the USB option some consideration. BTW I'm using Safari OS 10; all my applications are more than adequate and compatible, (I rarely go online while editing in such an antiquated OS).

Yes, I've considered avoiding the back up option for the displays, (thereby freeing up back up for the towers and the externals).

I have to say I was impressed (out the gate) with your courtesy and no 'strings attached' assistance. I'm 72, editing for 30 years and got fed up with the Apple Support Forums because there's also a Film Instructor assuming you're fresh out of college stating a long pontifical lecture ....

*Very sorry (got confused) for the duplicate member ID (I've continue to use WWII Historian), as I'm the same person.

Thanks Again My Friend ... I may have other questions ..
Mike

Mike,

You're very welcome.

One follow-up question: Since you apparently do have an equipment rack, I want to make sure I understand what kind of equipment you need to protect with the UPS. When you say you have external drives, are these small individual hard drives, or are these larger arrays of multiple drives? If your drives have model numbers/product names, those would be helpful so I can see the specs for myself. (You mentioned in your second post that you've avoided RAID arrays, so I assume these are small drives, but I want to double check.)

I ask because I want to make sure the UPSes I'm suggesting to you have adequate power capacity.

 

[WWII Historian]

Hey Soba & Mark! Nice to see you guys again ...

Soba: No worries about back up power for additional outboard gear. Most of that stuff includes: Analog Mixer, Analog DeEsser, Open Reel Decks, etc (not online with respect to editing). See photo below of my older arrangement of externals. Don't freak out LOL These photos give you an idea of the externals involved - USING ABOUT 4-6 ENCLOSURES (sometimes not all at the same time). Currently using twin drive OWC Black Enclosures utilizing esata connections to a PCI board in the Power Macs. Each Drive capacity is 1-2 TB's.

Mark: Yes having a display on 'Back Up' is a good idea so I can see what I'm doing ... Yes I'll look into the USB option ... (thank you)

Sample Back Story

Web Page

 

[WWII Historian]

I'm also looking at a more expensive unit which apparently supplies a total of 'EIGHT Battery Back Up Outlets' but does it have the USB interface port (similar to the APC BR1500MS)?

CyberPower OR1500LCDRT2U

(OR)

APC BR1500MS

Thanks Again Guys!

 

[Soba]

Hey Soba & Mark! Nice to see you guys again ...

Soba: No worries about back up power for additional outboard gear. Most of that stuff includes: Analog Mixer, Analog DeEsser, Open Reel Decks, etc (not online with respect to editing). See photo below of my older arrangement of externals. Don't freak out LOL These photos give you an idea of the externals involved - USING ABOUT 4-6 ENCLOSURES (sometimes not all at the same time). Currently using twin drive OWC Black Enclosures utilizing esata connections to a PCI board in the Power Macs. Each Drive capacity is 1-2 TB's.

Mark: Yes having a display on 'Back Up' is a good idea so I can see what I'm doing ... Yes I'll look into the USB option ... (thank you)

Sample Back Story

Web Page

Looks like a very worthwhile project!

As an aside, the Macs in this photo are both Power Mac G5s and there does not seem to be a Mac Pro (unless it's not in the photo), but this does not impact the discussion. The UPSes should communicate fine via USB even with those old systems running old versions of Mac OS X.

Depending on your workload, a 1500VA UPS might not be adequate for all of that equipment. Power Mac G5s with CPU and graphics board running at high utilization (which I assume they would, when you are editing or exporting hi-def video) can easily consume 400+ watts—and you have two such Macs.

I suggest picking up one UPS and testing it with your setup. The UPS LCD can be set to show the power consumption of all the equipment connected to it, so you can connect a portion of your equipment, do some test editing/exporting runs to rev up power consumption, and keep an eye on the LCD to see what kind of power you're drawing. If you have enough headroom, connect the rest of your equipment and re-test, or if not, consider adding a second UPS. Overloading the UPS can cause the UPS to cut power to every connected device without warning.

I hope this has been helpful. Let us know how things go.

P.S. I hope you have backup copies of your data!

 

[WWII Historian]

Hey Soba 'You're The Man!'

You've got a GOOD eye buddy yes those towers are all G5's but I rarely use two of them simultaneously. So just to recap: Assuming I'm using ONE G5, Two 19" Older Apple Displays, and FOUR external enclosures (which hold 2 disk drives each), that's a total of SEVEN vital online devices drawing current. And BTW, nothing is HD (the files are all Standard Def). Would the CyberPower OR1500LCDRT2U be compatible with Safari OS 10? (compatible meaning any software mis-match)? The CyberPower OR1500LCDRT2U should give me actually EIGHT Battery Back Up Receptacles. Its capacity is 1500VA / 900W

Sound Like A Plan?

Thanx for all your help and compliments!

Mike

 

[MarkC426]

Software has no relevance to the UPS.
It should just show up in the energy saving panel on your Mac.
Not sure what OS your running.
What is Safari OS 10?

 

[WWII Historian]

Hi Mark - thanks for the comment on the software issue

Its Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger - Please No offense - Please don't ask about the antiquation All the $$$ software works great (all compatible to the older OS). When the machines break, that's when I'll worry about it ... LOL

Yes Soba - I have 'Back Up' enclosures (clones to every data drive) which I update frequently ....

Here'a another Back Story excerpt:
Back Story 1

Mike

 

[Soba]

Hi Mark - thanks for the comment on the software issue

Its Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger - Please No offense - Please don't ask about the antiquation All the $$$ software works great (all compatible to the older OS). When the machines break, that's when I'll worry about it ... LOL

Yes Soba - I have 'Back Up' enclosures (clones to every data drive) which I update frequently ....

Here'a another Back Story excerpt:
Back Story 1

Mike

Hi Mike,

As near as I can tell, you're on solid ground with that CyberPower UPS. As Mark said, even with Tiger (the blue Spotlight icon in the menu bar was a giveaway that this is what you're running), the system should recognize it and you can configure shutdown behavior in Energy Saver.

I checked the CyberPower website and it looks like that UPS also comes with stands, so you can easily stand it up on your floor. Just a note that that thing weighs about 50lbs, so watch your back when lifting the shipping carton.

Let us know how you make out with it.

 

[Hemingray]

I'm also looking at a more expensive unit which apparently supplies a total of 'EIGHT Battery Back Up Outlets' but does it have the USB interface port (similar to the APC BR1500MS)?

CyberPower OR1500LCDRT2U

(OR)

APC BR1500MS

Thanks Again Guys!

I can personally vouch for the APC BR1500MS. It's a great unit (I have 2 - one for my media center and one for my gaming rig). This model provides pure sine wave output when on battery. The power supplies on your G5s & hard drives probably won't care about that, but with the price range you're looking for it's probably the best value.

CyberPower is good too (I've deployed several to customers), but I'm an APC guy personally. I have several 15-20 year old hand-me-down APCs scattered throughout my house that are still faithfully running -- just throw in a new battery every few years.

 

[WWII Historian]

Hello Mr. Hemingray - Nice to see you!

Your experienced testimonial was perfect (thank you). For another $150 I thought I might as well go for all the protection I need for maximum coverage. These brief pesky outages can ruin a project (or worse).

Best Of Luck To Everyone Here!

Mike

 

[gecko579]

Thanks all for the great tips and info.

QQ: If the Mac (iMac in my case) is asleep when the power goes out, will the USB connection wake it and initiate shut down if there is impending full battery discharge? Thanks in advance!

 

[Demigod Mac]

CyberPower have been good in my experience. One issue I had with APC is they tend to emit a high-pitched coil whine sound which drives me crazy. That was several years ago though, so I'm not sure if that's still the case with their newest models. (every CyberPower UPS I've ever used has been 100% silent.)