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What kinds of experiences (good or bad) have you had with battery backups? Are there some other considerations or cautions you'd add to this list?
They've saved my bacon a few times, allowing orderly shutdowns, allowing data to be saved etc.
I just make sure whichever one I get is from a reputable maker. Personally, I've ALWAYS gone with APC because of the service and support they've provided over the years. ANd their prices aren't bad either.
I just make sure whichever one I get is from a reputable maker. Personally, I've ALWAYS gone with APC because of the service and support they've provided over the years. ANd their prices aren't bad either.
We had a power outage just yesterday for 3.5 hours and our APC UPS's saved the day.
1. Get the managment card
2. Buy enough batt power to survive a min of 1 hour outage. Trust that.
3. Use the testing that comes with the system to gauge your batt time
1. Get the managment card
2. Buy enough batt power to survive a min of 1 hour outage. Trust that.
3. Use the testing that comes with the system to gauge your batt time
How much? - you would need a massive battery or battery system for that.
The article had a lot of great info but there are a few problems. We use APC to protect the servers but none of them have hot-swapable batteries. I have found that no UPS has hot swapable batteries.
And Belkin...I put four of them ($120 ea) into the house and none of them held up more than three months.
One thing that needs to be looked at, is the output a true sine wave or a square wave? some systems are sensitive to the point that the square wave will cause overheating of the computer.
And Belkin...I put four of them ($120 ea) into the house and none of them held up more than three months.
One thing that needs to be looked at, is the output a true sine wave or a square wave? some systems are sensitive to the point that the square wave will cause overheating of the computer.
You can get UPS systems with hot-swappable batteries, but in my experience, you're no longer talking about single-system designed UPS'.
For instance, we've got a Powerware 9170 12kVA with fully hot-swappable batteries and control modles - the thing's fully redundant, but it's not cheap, and it's the size of a small refrigerator. Of course, it's also protecting 40-50 computers, including desktops and servers, and a phone system, through building wide protected circuits.
Also, if you're serious about protecting mission-critical stuff, you want an "online" UPS. Meaning that it sits completely inline between utility power and your systems. It uses the utility feed to charge itself, and regenerates consistent 60hz sine output for your systems.
Most smaller UPS' (the good ones) are what they call "line interactive", meaning they feed utility power straight through until the utility feed gets out of bounds of whatever parameters it's using (voltage, frequency, wave-form, etc.), at which point they switch to battery. (The cheap ones don't handle anything except an actual outage).
Before we put in the Powerware, we lost power supplies on a regular basis, just due to less-than-clean power from the utility. Since then, not one power supply has failed.
For instance, we've got a Powerware 9170 12kVA with fully hot-swappable batteries and control modles - the thing's fully redundant, but it's not cheap, and it's the size of a small refrigerator. Of course, it's also protecting 40-50 computers, including desktops and servers, and a phone system, through building wide protected circuits.
Also, if you're serious about protecting mission-critical stuff, you want an "online" UPS. Meaning that it sits completely inline between utility power and your systems. It uses the utility feed to charge itself, and regenerates consistent 60hz sine output for your systems.
Most smaller UPS' (the good ones) are what they call "line interactive", meaning they feed utility power straight through until the utility feed gets out of bounds of whatever parameters it's using (voltage, frequency, wave-form, etc.), at which point they switch to battery. (The cheap ones don't handle anything except an actual outage).
Before we put in the Powerware, we lost power supplies on a regular basis, just due to less-than-clean power from the utility. Since then, not one power supply has failed.
We have the APC Smart-UPS devices, which allow us to Hot Swap batteries.
Many of the APC units allow for hot swapping.
Many of the APC units allow for hot swapping.
The key word is "had". Both of them burned up and just stopped working. No noticeable surges and the APC and MinuteMan UPS's we had running off the same isolated outlet are just fine.
We will not be giving them any more of our business.
We will not be giving them any more of our business.
Found their products to be of lower quality parts when compared to APC, Minuteman and even some Belkin UPS products. This goes from the battery to the software, even down to the manuals.
Personally, I prefer APC, then Minuteman. In terms of hardware, they are about equal w/ their list of options and overall reliability. However, APC's battery management software is easily more intuitive.
Personally, I prefer APC, then Minuteman. In terms of hardware, they are about equal w/ their list of options and overall reliability. However, APC's battery management software is easily more intuitive.
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