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Need recommendations for a UPS

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dvdchance

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 21, 2012
238
8
Ok now that I've finally gotten my storage situation under control with my Synology NAS and USB drive backups, I'm looking to get a UPS to protect all this.

What should I be looking for in shopping for a UPS device? I'd ideally like it to protect my 2011 Mac Mini, my Synology DS411J NAS and 2 External USB drives that the NAS backs up to.

Is that being unrealistic in a moderate / low priced consumer unit?

I'm assuming they are mainly to provide power for a very short time in order for the devices to properly shut down rather then just losing power at once correct? I see that the Synology has options for a UPS to shut it down after a certain length of time, so any UPS I buy I would like it to be compatible with this feature. Does the Mini have anything similar for interfacing with a UPS? I really haven't looked.
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,557
2,610
I have separate UPS for my Mac Mini and its monitors, and for my NAS. Both are APC consumer grade units. Both have USB hookups to their respective devices, and the Mac and NAS will both shut down automatically when the UPS reaches a certain power level (configurable).

I don't know if there is a UPS out there that will connect via USB to two separate hosts, I already had the two UPS's from downsizing a different computer so it didn't cost me anything to do two of them. If I were in your position, I'd do some research to see if any of the UPS units will connect to both the Mac and the NAS simultaneously - and if so, compare the cost of a unit like that to two separate, simpler UPS units.

The benefit of separate units in my case is that the Mac's UPS powers the Mini and its two monitors, and will perform auto shutdown in around 25-30 minutes run time. The NAS unit (also powers my router, switch, & cable modem) will last almost 3 hours before the NAS shuts down. Overkill for sure, but it lets me continue work with my laptop for quite a while even if we have an extended power failure.
 
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dvdchance

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 21, 2012
238
8
FreakinEurekan said:
I have separate UPS for my Mac Mini and its monitors, and for my NAS. Both are APC consumer grade units. Both have USB hookups to their respective devices, and the Mac and NAS will both shut down automatically when the UPS reaches a certain power level (configurable).

I don't know if there is a UPS out there that will connect via USB to two separate hosts, I already had the two UPS's from downsizing a different computer so it didn't cost me anything to do two of them. If I were in your position, I'd do some research to see if any of the UPS units will connect to both the Mac and the NAS simultaneously - and if so, compare the cost of a unit like that to two separate, simpler UPS units.

The benefit of separate units in my case is that the Mac's UPS powers the Mini and its two monitors, and will perform auto shutdown in around 25-30 minutes run time. The NAS unit (also powers my router, switch, & cable modem) will last almost 3 hours before the NAS shuts down. Overkill for sure, but it lets me continue work with my laptop for quite a while even if we have an extended power failure.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply.

I must admit I didn't give thought to both the Mac and the NAS needing a usb connection to be automatically shutdown.

Where in the OSX settings does it have UPS shutdown options, or is this something that will be provided via software from the UPS vendor?

I'm thinking perhaps I could shutdown the NAS via a telnet script when the Mac triggers a shutdown, but I guess that would require being able to determine the shutdown was triggered by the UPS and not me wanting to manually shut down the Mini. Also if I shut down the NAS via script it wouldn't turn itself back on when power is restored either I'm guessing?

Maybe having 2 separate UPS's would make the most sense after all.
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,557
2,610
dvdchance said:
Where in the OSX settings does it have UPS shutdown options, or is this something that will be provided via software from the UPS vendor?
Click to expand...

System Preferences, Energy Saver, UPS button. I have mine set to shut down when the time remaining is <4 minutes or when UPS battery drops below 20%. You can also just set it on a timer, e.g. when it's been on battery for 10 minutes.
 
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dvdchance

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 21, 2012
238
8
FreakinEurekan said:
System Preferences, Energy Saver, UPS button. I have mine set to shut down when the time remaining is <4 minutes or when UPS battery drops below 20%. You can also just set it on a timer, e.g. when it's been on battery for 10 minutes.
Click to expand...

Which OSX are you running? I'm on Lion.

I don't have a UPS button when I go to Energy Saver. Or perhaps it only shows when it senses a UPS connected thru USB?
 
FreakinEurekan

FreakinEurekan

macrumors 603
Sep 8, 2011
5,557
2,610
dvdchance said:
Which OSX are you running? I'm on Lion.

I don't have a UPS button when I go to Energy Saver. Or perhaps it only shows when it senses a UPS connected thru USB?
Click to expand...

Perhaps :) My recollection is it was in the same place under Lion but I'm not sure. Lion definitely did support this same UPS on my old Mini.

Edit: On the help screen for that window I see this note: "You see the UPS button only if your computer is connected to an uninterruptible power source."
 
Last edited:
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dvdchance

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 21, 2012
238
8
FreakinEurekan said:
Perhaps :) My recollection is it was in the same place under Lion but I'm not sure. Lion definitely did support this same UPS on my old Mini.

Edit: On the help screen for that window I see this note: "You see the UPS button only if your computer is connected to an uninterruptible power source."
Click to expand...

That answers that question...thanks.

Now do you have any recommendations for brands or models?

What about capacities? I'm figuring my Mac uses 50w, the NAS perhaps 60w. Butwhat about the combination of my USB drives and router? Perhaps another 60? Do I just add them all up to get my usage?

A few I'm looking at are:

http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE550G-Ba...1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1357846289&sr=1-1

or would something like this be a better choice:

http://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-BX1000G-1000VA-Tower/dp/B0034KO59U/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top
 
M

Mojo1

macrumors 65816
Jul 26, 2011
1,244
21
APC has a calculator on its website that may be helpful in determining which UPS will meet your needs.
 
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