I'm interested in your setup. What brand and model number do you recommend?
Depends on your load and how long you want the load to run until shutdown.
And for some users, the cost of replacement batteries and reliability of the units.
I'm using a CyberPower GX1325U Pure Sinewave for my Windows PC and network gear and couple APC Back-UPS BE550G units for my Channels DVR Synology NAS's and TiVo DVR's.
Batteries have been replaced 2-3 times on each. About every 3-5 years.
They're old, but reliable, and cost a lot more these days then when I purchased them. Same as my Synology NAS's which are 5 and 11 years old. Including the original NAS hard drives (should I have even mention that?)
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I'll add that it also depends on the type of power issues/outages you have where you live.
In my part of the world, with a rural power cooperative running the grid, it's more about a UPS being able to handle fluctuations, and do orderly shutdowns. Sometimes I'll have dozens of occasions in a day where the UPS will step-in without a single actual outage. Also, in my case, I want my entire network to shutdown and startup with no human intervention.
I have 6 APC UPS units, and have developed a UPS orchestration system to specifically control when shutdowns happen, and what gets woken up in what order when power is restored. Here, when the power is out for 5 minutes, I can be fairly confident it'll be out for hours -- so shutdowns are begun.
Long way around to saying, one wants to match your UPS(s) to your specific equipment and power outage history.
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Thanks for all this information.
I agree. I've found when my UPS batteries are near replacement age that I should safely shutdown my NAS's and my PC/Network gear at 3 min after going to UPS battery. Even though it could run them at full power for 10+ minutes. Everyone should evaluate their own circumstances. If you have a short power outage and it's restored, then another short power outage and it's restored, the batteries may get too low to keep things running. The purpose of a UPS, besides power conditioning (if it does that), is to allow time for the powered systems to power down gracefully.
One thing I will add is noise can matter if going the larger rack mount units. I’ve found the 2U APC Smart-UPS to be way quieter than tripplite units (except for when the load test).
It seems like most assume rack mount will be in a noisy environment whereas APC knows they might be used for AV equipment in studio settings.
For desktop type units I’ve found them all (brands) to be reasonably quiet.
I've been using this one on my media server machine(s) since May 2013.
I had to replace the batteries once so far June 2019 so it looks like I'm due for some new batteries again.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GOU8T76/
We don't have many power outages, and when we do it's usually for just a few seconds and then it's back up. Maybe once every 2 years the power goes down for 6 to 10 hours. I don't use any shutdown sequence with the rarity of long outages.
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I have 3x of the 1500VA version of that. There was the model before it that has some sort of defect that caused them to meltdown, or something that caused alot of smoke. I can't recall. Was a different design front face(still have one of them but is a model that was not defective)
Anyways, I find replacement UPS batteries to be a waste of money, most of the time. They cost nearly as much as a whole new unit. I have never had any good luck with "generic" replacement batteries for any brand UPS off of Amazon/ebay.
Often you get old stock batteries that have been sitting for a while(years), even if they claimed to be OEM batteries. Or batts that just are junk and last a fraction of the time the OEM batts did, or just fail in a short time altogether.
Buying direct from the manufacture, is the best choice to get highest chance of fresh batteries that will last as long as the ones that came with the UPS. However, that is the most costly option. How much $ they cost, will vary based on the specific model, and will cost more for the more powerful models, that use 2x batts. Also, some areas charge more to ship hazardous things like batteries.
I must have been lucky. The unit was about $180 when I purchased it originally in 2013 and the battery replacement was $75 in 2019 and it's still going. Our IT guys have been purchasing new UPS batteries for over 15 years at work and it seems to be okay, as far as I know.
I like CyberPower brand and their software. PowerPanel Business version. It installs a small web server and you access it via a web browser. It can also tie in to their Cloud service(subscription) and smartphone app for remote monitoring. Really like the Energy and Line stats info and graphs it does.
APC brand.... it has been a while, but, i have had 4 of their units fail in under 2yrs. And had 1 that caught fire and nearly burned down my parents house. I won't trust that brand ever again.
CyberPower, is also a local company to me here in MN. (Cyber Power Systems)
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