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dolt

If that was a senior tech at a retail store it's possible he's never had to support Macs running in a high availability enviroment, if he was a senior tech at Applecare he should have passed you on to one of the guys who do enterprise support. If it was the former you should complain to the store manager about getting ****** advice (of course don't tell him an internet forum told you so) if it was the latter you probably got a tech who doesn't know **** about running Macs with UPS units
 
Maybe I will be snickered at for not buying top of the line but I got a Cyberpower 1500 that works via USB with my Mac Pro 09. http://www.amazon.com/Cyberpower-CP...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1271517954&sr=8-1

I have my MP, Nec 26in and external backup plugged into it and it barely draws 1/3 of the power most of the time.

I hope you wont find your home on fire. Those cheap ones I have seen actually spark and burn out at a friends home after 2 years of owning it. The boards are cheaply built.

Not worth going cheap on something this critical.
 
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I hope you wont find your home on fire. Those cheap ones I have seen actually spark and burn out at a friends home after 2 years of owning it. The boards are cheaply built.

Not worth going cheap on something this critical.

I'd love some evidence. If this actually occured, it would make the news at least. Any product that has proven to burn down a home would be subject to a recall. What is the difference between a "cheaply built" board and one that is expensively built? Sounds like you are doing some serious fear mongering.
 
Hello.

Another vote for the SUA1500 here.

I did my research in 2008 just after buying my MP1.1. It seems that waking up a MP1.1 from sleep will overload just about anything other than an SUA1400 or SUA1500 including most of the Back-UPS series.

So I settled upon a used SUA1500 vintage 2004. It's been flawless, though the original batteries died last month.

My advice is to stick with the SUA series. The construction and particularly the cooling is better. Sine Wave output is friendlier to the expensive Power Supplies in your Mac Pro, Monitor and anything else plugged in.

Have you ever disassembled and inspected a UPS? I have. The Cyber Power 825? 850? I looked at is a piece of junk. Over-rated, tiny 12v battery, relatively thin, badly routed wiring, no cooling fan, hardly any slots for cooling air, that thing looks to be a bigger Fire Hazard than anything else.
In comparison, the SUA1500 has very heavy construction, 24v battery pack (twice voltage=1/2 amperage) and very good fan-assisted cooling.

Even being generous and calling that CyberPower 825 a "750VA" for being supposedly half a 1500VA rating, the battery is a tiny 9AH, 1/4 the size of the SUA1500s total of 36AH.

You may think: Well, it'll just run a shorter length of time before the battery runs out. Yes, but with much higher internal temperatures cause by shoddy, undersized components and wiring combined with poor cooling, the risk of unstable power, possible damage and even fire is just silly to take.

You bought a Mac Pro. This is one of the best (and power-hungry) Desktop computers ever made. Don't get all cheap on the UPS.
Better to just plug it into the wall than into a time bomb.

Have Fun,
Keri

PS.... Looking for some evidence of shoddy construction? This one is WAY better built than that Cyber Power thing I looked at:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=159

PPS. There's all kinds of unsafe junk out there that burns down houses without making the news. Bestec Power Supplies found in eMachines and HP computers set many motherboards, keyboards and mice alight when their 5v standby power goes to 12, 16, maybe 20 or 30v... I haven't heard of any recall.... Any what about Diablotech, POWMAX and ULTRA PSUs? A lot of those went boom with sparks and flame too..... Where's the recalls?
 
PPS. There's all kinds of unsafe junk out there that burns down houses without making the news. Bestec Power Supplies found in eMachines and HP computers set many motherboards, keyboards and mice alight when their 5v standby power goes to 12, 16, maybe 20 or 30v... I haven't heard of any recall.... Any what about Diablotech, POWMAX and ULTRA PSUs? A lot of those went boom with sparks and flame too..... Where's the recalls?

Link? That's all slanderous anecdotal junk without something to back the claims.
 
I hope you wont find your home on fire. Those cheap ones I have seen actually spark and burn out at a friends home after 2 years of owning it. The boards are cheaply built.

Not worth going cheap on something this critical.

I'd love some evidence. If this actually occured, it would make the news at least. Any product that has proven to burn down a home would be subject to a recall. What is the difference between a "cheaply built" board and one that is expensively built? Sounds like you are doing some serious fear mongering.

Wow yeah I just posted what I bought and have had 0 problems with.. wasn't looking to illicit conspiracy theorists to come out of the shadows and fling nonsense about house fires (with no evidence). Thanks though.
 
My CyperPower unit has been fine. I actually own a few and have had them and a mix of APCs for years with no issues other then bad batteries.

As far as what "size", the math is pretty easy -

Apple specs list a max 12A draw on 120V for the power (or 6A on 220V), making the "high end" assumption that Apple has an efficient power supply, we'll make the powerfactor 90%. ("average" assumption is 60%)

VA = AMPS * (VOLTS/PF)
1296VA = 12A * (120V/.90)

A 1500VA rated battery will cover if you've FULLY maxed out your Mac's power usage, which means all drives, big video cards, fans are up because of heat, you're crunching numbers, etc...if you're not full and don't have a few big-wig video cards, you can get away with a 1200VA unit.

--Daniel
 
Didn't know there was another consideration (true sine versus stepped). The Apple employee/rep at Best Buy recommended their Geek Squad 1500VA, forget what I paid, but it wasn't $500, so probably a stepped sine?

Hmmm, what do I do now? Keep it for 2-3 years when the battery starts to degrade, then get a 1500 that's true sine? I know it's a risk/reward thing ... stepped sine can cause damage, but what's the risk (percentage)?

The only time I hear the UPS come on (for a second) is when the air conditioner cycles, and when the UPS does come on my Mac Pro doesn't make any noise, it just operates as normal.

Due to cost reasons, these are more common than the models the generate true sine wave outputs.

But some equipment doesn't like the stepped sine wave output, and you get a noise (power's out and the equipment is running off of the batteries) that will scare the crap out of you. :eek: And it can damage the equipment. :(

The true online units such as the APC Smart UPS won't do this (in such an event). But you also pay for it. But when you look at the cost of the equipment (workstations and server class systems, which the MP is) and the service life of a true online unit, it's worth having if at all possible. But you won't usually be able to find them locally, and certainly not WalMart, Sam's,... locations. (There will be battery changes over the years, but they're not actually all that bad, especially when compared to the cost of the unit; say ~1/6th unit MSRP or so).
 
Haha....what would you expect the BestBuy "expert" to recommend? Anyway, now that you have it, I'd keep it and get an electrician in to run another circuit for either your AC or your computer. Having the UPS kick in every time your AC compressor comes on means your living way too close to the edge on that circuit.
 
Didn't know there was another consideration (true sine versus stepped). The Apple employee/rep at Best Buy recommended their Geek Squad 1500VA, forget what I paid, but it wasn't $500, so probably a stepped sine?

Hmmm, what do I do now? Keep it for 2-3 years when the battery starts to degrade, then get a 1500 that's true sine? I know it's a risk/reward thing ... stepped sine can cause damage, but what's the risk (percentage)?

The only time I hear the UPS come on (for a second) is when the air conditioner cycles, and when the UPS does come on my Mac Pro doesn't make any noise, it just operates as normal.
It seems to be working for you, so keep it, and you can upgrade later, when it dies (batteries). And you could possibly re-task it as well.

As per the AC compressor triggering the UPS, fhall1 is right. Get a reputable electrician out there, and get it taken care of.
 
Read this thread with interest as I will be in the market for a new UPS when ever the new MPs are out (soon I hope). I have a G5 on a APC XS 1000 for the last 6+ years. Has never let me down. It has protection for a phone line but not an Ethernet cord. What do you think about the issue of protecting your network with the UPS via Ethernet and phone (in the case of DSL). I had an old Power Mac get it's logic board fired from a lighting spike thru the phone line/modem port that was not protected --so I am a little bit paranoid.
 
Read this thread with interest as I will be in the market for a new UPS when ever the new MPs are out (soon I hope). I have a G5 on a APC XS 1000 for the last 6+ years. Has never let me down. It has protection for a phone line but not an Ethernet cord. What do you think about the issue of protecting your network with the UPS via Ethernet and phone (in the case of DSL). I had an old Power Mac get it's logic board fired from a lighting spike thru the phone line/modem port that was not protected --so I am a little bit paranoid.
I've seen network lines get hit with lighning as well (took out the switch nework and every single system's NIC chip that was attached to it). :eek: All the system boards were replaced under warranty, but not the switch cabinet (no warranty remaining).

So it's a good idea to have the phone line (i.e. DSL service) and Ethernet protected as well IMO.
 
I've seen network lines get hit with lighning as well (took out the switch nework and every single system's NIC chip that was attached to it). :eek: All the system boards were replaced under warranty, but not the switch cabinet (no warranty remaining).

So it's a good idea to have the phone line (i.e. DSL service) and Ethernet protected as well IMO.

+1, I've actually had this occur to me.
 
So it's a good idea to have the phone line (i.e. DSL service) and Ethernet protected as well IMO.

I always thought about this, but how and where do I protect my hardware from such an incident?
It happened to me once and luckily only my router was hit, so the issue is definitely present.
Would be best to place some kind of surge protection directly between the phone socket and the following hardware, wouldn't it?
Any suggestions on how to do that?
 
I always thought about this, but how and where do I protect my hardware from such an incident?
It happened to me once and luckily only my router was hit, so the issue is definitely present.
Would be best to place some kind of surge protection directly between the phone socket and the following hardware, wouldn't it?
Any suggestions on how to do that?

my UPS includes surge line filtering for ethernet and phone. Many surge strips also have this now.
 
Would be best to place some kind of surge protection directly between the phone socket and the following hardware, wouldn't it?
Any suggestions on how to do that?
Yes, between the phone input (wall) and the DSL modem/router. Most are AIO (power + tel/DSL + Ethernet) surge suppressors or UPS's, but you might be able to still find some separate units.
 
...any of these models do worldwide voltage for those of us overseas?
Yes, but not necessarily all (failure to meet regulatory requirements and custom solutions built into a building are exceptions, assuming the voltage isn't out of spec).

They either have a manual or auto switching capability on the input voltage (wall receptacle). The different country units may only differ by the documentation included and the correct power cable (each country/region may get their own SKU's though, due to the documentation and/or power cord). It's cheaper to make them this way (unit is the same).
 
UPS, get one ...

DO NOT BUY a CHEAP BATTERY BACKUP ONLY DEVICE HOWEVER.

A pure battery backup device is a narrowly targeted device good generally for ON/OFF power situations.

Check back in forums and you'll probably find people saying their machine still shuts off, due to the Back UP not doing diddly for brownouts and low power situations.

Generally you'll see the battery backup device without the AVR, line conditioning (brownout/overvoltage/pure sine/stepped sine) wording and costing $80 when the same size AVR UPS costs a bit more for the same size.

---

For the Mac Pro, step up to the more expensive APS line conditioning style UPS with AVR -- this will provide the brownout protection and cover the other stuff you really are thinking of when you buy a UPS.

Stepped sine versus Pure sine at APS, get the cheaper stepped sine people haven't had a problem with it and the high end Smart UPS with Pure sine output can be twice the entry level AVR UPS.
 
UPS, get one ...

DO NOT BUY a CHEAP BATTERY BACKUP ONLY DEVICE HOWEVER.

A pure battery backup device is a narrowly targeted device good generally for ON/OFF power situations.

Check back in forums and you'll probably find people saying their machine still shuts off, due to the Back UP not doing diddly for brownouts and low power situations.

---

For the Mac Pro, step up to the more expensive APS line conditioning style UPS with AVR -- this will provide the brownout protection and cover the other stuff you really are thinking of when you buy a UPS.

Stepped sine versus Pure sine at APS, get the cheaper stepped sine people haven't had a problem with it and the high end Smart UPS can be twice the entry level AVR UPS.
Theres two different types of stepped sine wave output units, and the BackUPS is the "middle" unit (as an auto transformer) that switches coils under brown-out conditions.

The next step up is a true sine wave, and usually runs off of the batteries 100% of the time (i.e. SUA1500).

It's the absolute bottom end that you want to avoid, as you mention. But a buyer has to pay close attention to the details.
 
Theres two different types of stepped sine wave output units, and the BackUPS is the "middle" unit (as an auto transformer) that switches coils under brown-out conditions.

The next step up is a true sine wave, and usually runs off of the batteries 100% of the time (i.e. SUA1500).

It's the absolute bottom end that you want to avoid, as you mention. But a buyer has to pay close attention to the details.

I have one of the old APC SU1400NETs from when it first came out as the upgrade to the 1100, bout a decade old now for an initial sticker shock of $800 in 1999.

(Real PIA to find one local back then, but thank the fry's electronic gods for having em in stock for much less than CompUSA.)

But you can get them reconditioned with new batteries for chump change, compared to the cost of new batteries.

Replaced my batteries a year ago, and still see no need to trade the big beast in.

---

So while the high end beasts may give you fright, they might be had reconditioned for about the price of the mid range UPS.

Batteries for the 1400/1500 are about 100-150 and the reconditioned unit with new batteries is $180 with 1 year warranty and the APC/IBM SUA1500 is about $250 reconditioned (IBM shipped a facelifted version.)
 
...old APC SU1400NETs...
Good point on the reconditioned models as a means of saving costs. The latest one I have was bought that way.

The APC SUAxxxx are built like tanks. They can and do go, but it usually takes awhile (i.e. bad/leaking electrolytic caps after ~10yrs) and/or a massive hit (for some reason, I seem to always find myself in lightning prone areas).

They're repairable though, and there's 3rd party batteries available as well. :)
 
My shoddy UPS died, so I'm looking to another one.

I run my Mac Pro as a server, but the power does go out. Usually when it does, it is for no more than 10 minutes or so.

The point is I want a UPS that sleeps the Mac, while keeping my cable modem and router alive; then when the power resumes, it wakes the Mac Pro.

Basically when I take extended leave (3 months time) from my Mac Pro, I need 100% uptime as there is no way I can go and boot it up on-site. For good reason, everything will be unplugged and my power hungry GPU will be stripped out for a lesser model along with all unnecessary expansion cards removed.

Will the APC SUA1500 provide me this functionality? Will this one be enough: http://tinyurl.com/2f29vjz ?

Most likely I'll have a Drobo connected as well, but I when the Mac Pro sleeps that will probably sleep too.
 
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