I'm looking for a UPS for my two PC's in my office. Is there an affordable one (less than $200) that will monitor both PC's and shut them both down when needed? Or will I have to just get two UPS's?
I bought an APC BackUPS XS 1500 not too long ago at CompUSA for $150. It's overkill, I've had four computers hooked up at once. My SmartUPS 700 can power two dual processor Folding machines + SM25 without any trouble. The easiest way to save money on a UPS is to spec it for your machines only and then not plug your monitor, printer, etc. into it.
The shutdown is easy, most UPS have a feature that when enabled turns the UPS off (and thus all your computers) after 5 minutes on battery . Graceful shutdown of both machines will be difficult.
-drasnor
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LeonardoWake up and smell the glaciersEagle River, AlaskaIcrontian
edited July 2005
The graceful, controlled shutdown feature of UPS's is not as important as it used to be. WinXP and 2000 are much less prone to file corruption than 98 and 95 were. But of course, if you are running some type of application with important data, that's another story. It would seem though, with a five minute warning, (UPS can be set to give an audible alarm when there's a power failure), you'd have plenty of time to shut down any running programs. It's less likely that important files would be in use when you are asleep at night, when you might not hear the alarm. I would imagine that 1500 Watt UPS would be enough to power two computers and their monitors for five minutes. If you don't have the monitors on the UPS, you won't be able to perform a 'graceful' shutdown anyway.
Both of my home computers are on their own UPS. If the power were to go off at night, I wouldn't care all that much. During the day, someone will hear the alarm and be able to turn of the machines normally if files are at stake. At night, nothing is running except Folding@Home and Dimes.
The main reason I use UPS's is for overvoltage protection and line conditioning. WinXP will survive a power shutdown just fine, but I don't feel like replacing hardware components due to voltage fluctuations.
Comments
Tex
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16842102006
Seems enough for two average PC's. After finding this beast I may just have to buy one next week after I get my paycheck
The computers are used for a little bit of everything.
System specs are:
rig1
amd64 3400+
2gb ram
3 hd's
ATI x800xl AIW
17in lcd
rig2
AXP 3200+
1gb ram
2 hd's
ATI 9800xl
17inlcd
RWB:
That may be a good option. Thanks.
Tex
It's a home office, doing basic home office stuff. Web, Office apps, web page editing, intense gaming. The usual stuff.
The shutdown is easy, most UPS have a feature that when enabled turns the UPS off (and thus all your computers) after 5 minutes on battery
-drasnor
Both of my home computers are on their own UPS. If the power were to go off at night, I wouldn't care all that much. During the day, someone will hear the alarm and be able to turn of the machines normally if files are at stake. At night, nothing is running except Folding@Home and Dimes.
The main reason I use UPS's is for overvoltage protection and line conditioning. WinXP will survive a power shutdown just fine, but I don't feel like replacing hardware components due to voltage fluctuations.
-drasnor