Do I really need a UPS?
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:37 last edited by
My APC UPS just went offline, taking the computer down with it, making a horrible screeching noise of an alarm. I unplugged everything from it, unplugged it from the wall, and power-cycled it.
Looking at the error code F02, it says it's an "on-battery output short" and the manual recommends doing what I did.
But...I've also read that this is a recurring problem with APC units, and considering that mine is more than a few years old, I'm wondering if I really need this.
There's really nothing mission-critical that I need a power supply for a few minutes so I can safely shut everything down. Everything is backed up (to at least 3 places, including the cloud).
Would a nice big power strip do the job for me? It would be a lot cheaper than replacing the UPS.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:39 last edited by
@George-K said in Do I really need a UPS?:
"on-battery output short"
Woah... wonder if that could cause a fire if you weren't here?
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:39 last edited by
I stopped using APC years ago. I use CyberPower UPSes now.
I would not go without one.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:40 last edited by
@mark said in Do I really need a UPS?:
I stopped using APC years ago. I use CyberPower UPSes now.
I would not go without one.
I can see why you would need one for your work. But me?
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:44 last edited by
A power outage during a critical system write can play havoc on your system.
Risk vs. Reward. Your call.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:48 last edited by
We lost two motherboards on two separate PC's, most likely during thunderstorms, and the tech recommended getting a UPS. We haven't had any problems since.
-
A power outage during a critical system write can play havoc on your system.
Risk vs. Reward. Your call.
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:48 last edited by@mark said in Do I really need a UPS?:
A power outage during a critical system write can play havoc on your system.
Risk vs. Reward. Your call.
Yeah, I know. The worst thing that can happen is that it crashes the hard drive and makes it unbootable, right?
I can restore it in about 3 hours. I get it that professionals can't afford that kind of downtime. I can.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:49 last edited by
Well you just talked yourself out of getting one.
I didn't do that.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:51 last edited by
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
-
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:52 last edited by@Doctor-Phibes said in Do I really need a UPS?:
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
Wouldn't a surge protector accomplish the same thing?
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:53 last edited by
If it's just a battery issue, what does the battery cost?
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:53 last edited by
@Jolly said in Do I really need a UPS?:
If it's just a battery issue, what does the battery cost?
About $80. But, I'm not 100% sure it's that. Like I said, it's an old unit (>8 years).
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:54 last edited by Axtremus
You don't necessarily need a UPS, but wouldn't be a bad idea to at least have a surge protector. Another step up is a voltage regulator and something that smooths out "noisy" power sources. Surge protection aside, I am not familiar with consumer electronics that offer those two other functions independently, but good UPS units typically have all those built in.
I have a setup where I have a laser printer hooked up to the same circuit as a desktop/server computer along with a UPS. Every time I "wake" the laser printer up, it draws enough power that it would trigger the UPS. In that case, the UPS protects my desktop/server from the transient power irregularities caused by the laser printer waking up, and avoid a needless restart for the desktop/server machine. (And yes, @mark , I use CyberPower units for the more important stuff; though I still have older/smaller APC units in service as well.)
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:56 last edited by
A small UPS is not that expensive. All you need is surge protection and just a few minutes run time.
I think it's cheap insurance.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 13:57 last edited by mark
You need power conditioning and very good ($$$) power conditioning to prevent that. Lightning is very hard to stop and very expensive. Most good UPS have better power conditioning than a typical "surge protector". A surge usually occurs when something in the power chain unexpectedly puts excessive load on the power supply.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 14:00 last edited by
I've never had a UPS and never had a problem. But we also have latop computers used in different areas of the house. Just good quality surge suppressors. If I were going to invest in something on that order I'd likely go for a whole house generator.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 14:04 last edited by
Very few companies and even fewer private persons need a UPS.
Today's servers and file systems in general cope well with sudden power losses. If one has valuable data, a backup is more than sufficient for almost all situations.
-
@Doctor-Phibes said in Do I really need a UPS?:
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
Wouldn't a surge protector accomplish the same thing?
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 14:09 last edited by Doctor Phibes@George-K said in Do I really need a UPS?:
@Doctor-Phibes said in Do I really need a UPS?:
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
Wouldn't a surge protector accomplish the same thing?
We had surge protectors on both PC's, based on that theory. I wasn't convinced they'd done what they were supposed to do. It's possible it wasn't a surge, but I figure for the sake of $100, what the heck.
However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results
(We use Cyberpower UPS's)
-
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 14:33 last edited by@Doctor-Phibes said in Do I really need a UPS?:
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
Buy a Mac, bitch.
-
wrote on 23 Apr 2020, 15:09 last edited by
@jon-nyc said in Do I really need a UPS?:
@Doctor-Phibes said in Do I really need a UPS?:
When I say 'lost motherboard', the PC was completely unusable. The HDD wasn't damaged, but it fried something on the main board.
Buy a Mac, bitch.
That's like telling somebody who was raped by a priest to join the scientologists.