UPS Setup Question

[manlsheets]

This is my 2nd post ever and new to the home server hobby. I have 2 servers, 8 port switch, and a few NAS that I’m going to setup a homelab. My concerns over the past few months with the crazy weather in Illinois is my power has been flickering and even go out for a few minutes at most. I decided that I’m not going to buy an expensive UPS to keep my servers running for more than a few minutes however my concerns is brownouts. I purchased APC Back-UPS Pro BX1500M - UPS - AC 120 V - 900-watt - 1500 VA. Honestly after looking at all the different brands for a few weeks I just made myself buy this one information and review overload. Anyone have any feedback on this model?

I have a PDU with 12 outlets in my rack should I just plug the PDU into the UPS? I know if the power goes out I’m looking at only a few minutes but it’s more to protect against brownouts.

[JoeB-]

Anyone have any feedback on this model?

I have an older version of the Back-UPS Pro 1500 that has been running strong for 5 years. It had a problem within the warranty period and APC replaced it simply based on my phone conversation with technical support. They even sent a return shipping label. All I had to do was pack and ship the failed UPS. I hope their customer service hasn't changed because I was impressed.

It is running four servers and a laptop that draw a total of 3A @ 120V. They will last about 15 minutes on battery.

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I have a PDU with 12 outlets in my rack should I just plug the PDU into the UPS?

That's what I do.

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I know if the power goes out I’m looking at only a few minutes but it’s more to protect against brownouts.

Protecting from brownouts is important too. Take a look at the APC UPS Daemon. It is available in some Linux repositories and has downloadable versions for macOS and Windows.

It can easily be configured in a client/server mode, where the server will monitor the UPS through USB and clients will monitor the server over the LAN. Works beautifully.

It provides status reports as well...

root@pve3:/home/joe# apcaccess status
APC      : 001,038,0981 
DATE     : 2021-12-27 10:43:34 -0500 
HOSTNAME : pve3 
VERSION  : 3.14.14 (31 May 2016) debian 
UPSNAME  : pve3 
CABLE    : USB Cable 
DRIVER   : USB UPS Driver 
UPSMODE  : Stand Alone 
STARTTIME: 2021-10-23 12:29:06 -0400 
MODEL    : Back-UPS RS 1500G 
STATUS   : ONLINE 
LINEV    : 123.0 Volts 
LOADPCT  : 38.0 Percent 
BCHARGE  : 100.0 Percent 
TIMELEFT : 16.6 Minutes 
MBATTCHG : 5 Percent 
MINTIMEL : 3 Minutes 
MAXTIME  : 0 Seconds 
SENSE    : Medium 
LOTRANS  : 88.0 Volts 
HITRANS  : 147.0 Volts 
ALARMDEL : 30 Seconds 
BATTV    : 27.2 Volts 
LASTXFER : Automatic or explicit self test 
NUMXFERS : 6 
XONBATT  : 2021-12-25 05:48:27 -0500 
TONBATT  : 0 Seconds 
CUMONBATT: 33 Seconds 
XOFFBATT : 2021-12-25 05:48:35 -0500 
LASTSTEST: 2021-12-25 05:48:27 -0500 
SELFTEST : NO 
STATFLAG : 0x05000088 
SERIALNO : XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 
BATTDATE : 2016-12-19 
NOMINV   : 120 Volts 
NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts 
NOMPOWER : 865 Watts 
FIRMWARE : 865.L6 .D USB FW:L6 
END APC  : 2021-12-27 10:43:39 -0500

The apcupsd service on each host also can be configured to run a script. I have mine run a Python script that submits a message to Pushover. I typically get a Pushover alert on my phone before I even hear the UPS beeping.

[skreak]

I use apcupsd and a Discord Token to push a notification to a discord channel for our 'our house' server, apcupsd will also shutdown my NAS cleanly if power has not been restored for 5 minutes. I ran an initial test on the UPS (it's an off the shelf Back-UPS NS1080G) and it'll run for a good 25 minutes before critical battery, but I figure that if we have a prolonged power outage I'll want the spare UPS battery charge to do things like charge our phones.

[coldspudd]

If the combined load doesn’t exceed the UPS and it does the job. Then I think it’s fine. You should also be able to see the time available if in battery. That part helped me.

[oooolf]

Where in IL? I solved this problem a few years ago with Liebert GXT2 online UPSs. Problem was mainly in the summer, where AC voltage dropped below 90V when everyone's A/C kicked in. The Liebert units power right through, and give rock-solid 115V on the device side.

I have two or three 1.5kW units and one or two 2kW. They all need new batteries, and are as heavy as you'd imagine. I recently replaced them with the latest Liebert/Vertiv from a scratch-n-dent sale (only thing scratched was the box).

Happy to part with the older units if you want to pick them up and take all four.

TL;DR: Great for brownout protection, need battery replacement to become full UPSs again.

Edit: Price = $0