UPS's

Anyone use em? Recommend one? I know they are big in the PC world and I don't see the difference whether you have a MAC or a PC in this case.. But I am making sure before I go out and buy on..

Do I need one?

Thanks!

I personally use the APC line of UPS's. They are a bit expensive, but they are rock solid. And they have great features. For instance, if my power goes out, there is a serial connection ( they have USB versions ) that is connected to my server, which gracefully shuts it down so as to no thrash my RAID5 array which houses basically all my data. And when the power comes back up, so does my server There a lot of brands out there that are somewhat cheaper, but APC is THE standard for server rooms and hardcore geeks aronud the world. Back-UPS is another brand that is supposed to be really god. But you can't beat this : http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=298345&pfp=cat3. Really good price and will keep a monitor, a computer, and pretty much any other peripheral alive during a brownout/blackout. Plus it does the powerdown stuff. And these things last forever. I've had 5 UPS's that have never died and they have run 24/7 for like 3 years straight now.

Hope this helps a little...

Speak of the devil It's raining like mad here, and one of my breakers just tripped. Immediately my UPS started screeching at me to help it. Went to the breaker box, and sure enough one of them tripped. That little UPS that I use to backup my Tivo just saved me from not having any fresh "That 70's Show" tonite

Wonderfull things, UPS's.

Of course, now I gotta find out why the rain is making my breakers trip, but at least my Tivo is happy

A good UPS will do three things:
1) It prevents your computer from being cut off when the power goes out. This gives you (or the software) time to save everything and shutdown gracefully;
2) It functions as a surge protector to protect electronic components from high (or low) voltage fluctuations. A good ups will also have modem and/or network protection;
3) Some ups models also function as a power bar so that you can run of your computer related equipment off of one unit.

Personally, I have an APC 500VA unit for each of my computers. Each unit was about $100 $CAN (about $65 USD). Since a good surge protector costs $60 or more it was worth the extra money for a ups.

UPS models I have seen will work for any computer. However some models include software for automatic shutdowns that may be pc only. If this feature is important to you make sure the model/software supports Macs and that the UPS has a USB port, not a pc serial port, to connect to the Mac.

Badger

Does anyone know of the UPS that APC makes that is built for the Mac and comes with osx software to configure and monitor the ups? Its clear casing and looks rather stylish...

adam80 said:

Does anyone know of the UPS that APC makes that is built for the Mac and comes with osx software to configure and monitor the ups? Its clear casing and looks rather stylish...

Click to expand...

If it is the one I've seen you will pay a premium price for good looks and mediocre performance. Since most people hide the UPS under a desk I'd look for good performance first.
Badger

PS: All APC Mac software is available on their website if it is not included with the UPS. Just make sure that it is compatible with the model you want.

I saw an APC for about $120 that has OS X shutdown and plenty of outlets...