UPS question

[Jonty]

I'm planning on getting an UPS shortly and I'm interested in this one:
http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=&Section_Id=483&pcount=&Product_Id=120904&Section.Section_Path=%2FRoot%2FPowerProtection%2FU ninterr%2E%2E%2EerSupply% 2F

However, can someone explain to me what the 350VA means. How does this translate into watts for instance, remembering that we have 240 volts in England.

My setup is a PII 400, 12gb and 26gb discs, cd-rw, dvd-drive, zip100, ATI all-in-wonder, soundblaster card, soft modem, Promise IDE controller and 19" monitor.

Would this model UPS run this for the stated 15 minutes or would I need a bigger UPS? Yes, I know it would be good to get the higher model but I'm a bit tight and this one is easily available now!

Thanks for any help.

[Sirch]

Hi,

I'm not an electrical engineer, but for the purpose of working out the size of UPS req'd, Watts is approx 0.7 of VA.

Your system roughy requires 250 Watts (incl monitor) - which equates to 356VA. So you need to be looking for a UPS with this VA rating, or better.

How long the UPS will hold up the compter has got very little to do with it's VA rating - that is more to do with how good the batteries are.

I'm not familiar with that UPS - I tend to go for APC. If I were you, I'd buy a Back, or Smart-UPS 650. That would give you approx 15 minutes of battery time with your system.

Regards,
Chris

[Jonty]

Thanks for your reply Sirch. I thought it would be a bit borderline this particular model.

Any other recommendations anyone?

[SpookyEddy]

I have just got 2 Belkin 1400 VA UPS's to run our 10 servers at work (UK). They run really nice, cool & quiet. This model can run upto 8 machines from 1400 VA so I would have thought 350 VA would be great for a single home machine. However it depend how much battery life you want, we get about 15 mins from 1 1400 VA with 5 machines attached.

Regards

Eddy

[sharder8]

Hey Jonty --

I've got a considerable larger power eater than you do, but I've learned there are somethings Belkin is good at, and somethings that they aren't so good at. USB PCI cards are one thing they are very poor at and their UPS's are only slightly better.

I've always thought APC made a great UPS, but I've found the CyberPower to be just as good. If you have older wiring in your house, or you know there are power fluctuations, consider getting a UPS with AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation). It'll cost you more, but it will pay off in the end if the above are present.

Harder

[Sirch]

Hi,

Just a word of caution - a 350 unit will be ok for your system - providing you don't expect more than a few minutes backup time.

Remember, its the 19" monitor thats the largest drain on your system. But one thing you need to be aware of - I would put money on a 350 unit not being able to cope with the surge of a 19" monitor being turned on from cold or powersaving mode - it will fall flat. I am thinking here if you need to power up your monitor durning a powercut in order to shutdown your system. However, if the Belkin has management support via a serial cable, or you never turn off the monitor, then you are ok.

Eddy - Just out of interest, your 1400 ups - how many servers have monitors attached (switch on) and what size are they?

Regards,
Chris

[SpookyEddy]

Oops, good point - I am only running 1 17" monitor & a 12 way omni-view switch.

[Julio]

You didn't mention if you had a printer on this UPS as well. My NEC 870, will dim the lights when it is powered up, so that might be something for you to consider.

[SpookyEddy]

Just a quick point, but never run a laser printer on a UPS unless the manufacturer of the UPS specifically says its OK. Most will expressly tell you not to. Laser printers draw major current when switched on & will damage a UPS.

Regards

Eddy

[TechJumper]

Man, UPS's have been nothing but trouble for our family.

I convinced my mom to put a bunch of them in at her office, and when the power went out - BAM! so did the UPS's, they dropped like a rock.


I'm still paying for the 2 grand she dropped on those babies....j/k


Tech

BTW- Vote for a new forum!!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/Forum17/HTML/004141.html

[Jonty]

Hey, thanks for all your input on this guys!

Spooky - 15 mins would be fine for me as I rarely leave the computer unattended.

Sharder - The Gold series that Belkin make have AVR, good job you pointed AVR out as I mistakenly thought that the model I was interested had this too. Perhaps I will look at other makes and models.

Sirch - Yes, the Belkin has power management software and is attached via the serial port. I always keep the monitor on, I never use the monitor power saver.

Julio - what do you mean your printer dims the lights?! Is it that power hungry?!