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Tulani

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Dec 6, 2012
1,974
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What would be the best UPS to use inline with the (new) iMac to enable adequate time to shut down incase of power failure preferably from the APC range?
 
What do you consider adequate time? 21.5" or 27" iMac?

My 1250VA APC model estimates 70 minutes' runtime - it's handling my 21.5" iMac, cable modem, AirPort Extreme, and Netgear ReadyNAS Duo.

The other 1250 model runs my Mac Mini and two 20.5" Dell monitors; it's estimating 112 minutes.
 
I have each of our iMacs on their own APC battery backup systems:

1) APC XS 1500: 27" 2012 i7 iMac + Promise Pegasus R4 (4 drive) Thunderbolt RAID + Seagate single spindle Thunderbolt 3TB HDD. Estimated runtime is 39 minutes.

2) APC XS 1000: 27" 2009 i7 iMac, with no other battery backed up devices. Estimated runtime is 31 minutes.

3) APC XS 1000: Four Time Capsules. Estimated runtime is 180 minutes.


For both iMacs, I have the battery backup connected (via supplied USB connection) to shut down the iMac if any of the following three events happen:

a) Computer running for 10 minutes on battery
b) Remaining estimated time for battery operation reaches 5 minutes
c) UPS battery is below 50%

The reason I have all 3 selected, is that I assume (but have not verified) that if for some reason the computer does not shut down (ex: a program that blocks shutdown), then I will have 3 attempts at the UPS shutting down the iMac.

If I am home and there is a power failure, then I would manually shut down all the computers. The above precaution is for when we are not home.

I do NOT put my networking gear on the battery backup. Ethernet packets are resilient to power failures or surprise removal, so I just want my network to stop... so that any work the computers are performing (ex backup) terminate.

I do keep my external media on the battery backed up side of the APC backup units. They are not set to shut down... nor do I use the "master" function where the units will stop getting power if the iMac shuts down. I just let them run their course... down to a dead battery if necessary. The biggest risk is if a RAID array is rebuilding itself. That does not occur very frequently... and besides... that is why I have multiple automatic backups of all my data.

/Jim
 
Thanks guys. I hope the shutdown software is easy to install on the iMac?
 
Thanks guys. I hope the shutdown software is easy to install on the iMac?

Software is already installed on your Mac. Do not install any software by APC.

Once you attach the USB cord from your APC Battery Backup to your Mac... then a new tab will appear in system preferences > Energy Saver. You will have "Power" and "UPS" tabs. Click on UPS and you can set it up as you wish.

/Jim
 
Software is already installed on your Mac. Do not install any software by APC.

Once you attach the USB cord from your APC Battery Backup to your Mac... then a new tab will appear in system preferences > Energy Saver. You will have "Power" and "UPS" tabs. Click on UPS and you can set it up as you wish.

/Jim

Great thanks for the tip
 
I have tried this 650 VA APC smart UPS and the iMac doesn't turn on at all. Is it too small for the Mac? I hope the next I buY will suit.....What size gives assurance? ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21364664219.886220.jpg
 
After I connect the cable from ups to iMac and set my preferences, can I remove the cable or does it need to be attached at all times ?
 
After I connect the cable from ups to iMac and set my preferences, can I remove the cable or does it need to be attached at all times ?

If you are talking about the USB cable from the UPS to the Mac... it needs to be connected all the time if you want the UPS to signal your computer to shut down.

/Jim
 
If you are talking about the USB cable from the UPS to the Mac... it needs to be connected all the time if you want the UPS to signal your computer to shut down.

/Jim

Does the UPS MAC software allow for multi unit shutdown notifications or only for the unit directly connected ?
 
Does the UPS MAC software allow for multi unit shutdown notifications or only for the unit directly connected ?
I'm not sure how OS X handles this, but the NUT software is able to broadcast shutdown command to many devices. I'm running a NAS that's getting shutdown signal from APC (NUT master) and my Mac Mini is configured as slave to shut down upon command from master as well. Works perfectly.
 
I'm not sure how OS X handles this, but the NUT software is able to broadcast shutdown command to many devices. I'm running a NAS that's getting shutdown signal from APC (NUT master) and my Mac Mini is configured as slave to shut down upon command from master as well. Works perfectly.

Yes, I have this working between two NAS units but I didn't know if MAC2 could receive a shutdown signal from MAC1 or even NAS1. So glad to see that it should work OK.

Cheers.
 
Yes, I have this working between two NAS units but I didn't know if MAC2 could receive a shutdown signal from MAC1 or even NAS1. So glad to see that it should work OK.
Yes, it does.
Check the config notes (chapter 6.3) in NUT manual:
http://www.networkupstools.org/docs/user-manual.chunked/ar01s06.html
I'd be glad to assist with sharing my configs too, if needed. Just let me know!
PS obviously, the same APC powers the NAS, Mac Mini and Ethernet Switch so the intercom is possible in the first place :)
 
Does the UPS MAC software allow for multi unit shutdown notifications or only for the unit directly connected ?
I am just using the built-in UPS handling on OS X and it's single unit.

My recommendation to people who are only worried about a single computer is that you do not install nay software unless OS doesn't recognize your UPS. This way you don't have to worry about UPS software breaking when you do OS X updates.
 
Yes, it does.
Check the config notes (chapter 6.3) in NUT manual:
http://www.networkupstools.org/docs/user-manual.chunked/ar01s06.html
I'd be glad to assist with sharing my configs too, if needed. Just let me know!
PS obviously, the same APC powers the NAS, Mac Mini and Ethernet Switch so the intercom is possible in the first place :)

Yes, I have that also between my 3 NAS units - the UPS needs to power all the items in the LAN links otherwise Zilch happens ! Fortunately I have 2 UPS units on different floors.

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I am just using the built-in UPS handling on OS X and it's single unit.

My recommendation to people who are only worried about a single computer is that you do not install nay software unless OS doesn't recognize your UPS. This way you don't have to worry about UPS software breaking when you do OS X updates.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. At the moment I only have UPSs on NASs, but I'm buying more static OSX units so UPS connections will be needed
 
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