UPS Question

[officialdoughboy]

I'm doing an upgrade to my home network and did a lot of research and settled on FreeNAS. I got my equipment and everything was going well until I got to the UPS setup.

I settled on a Tripp Lite SMART1500RM2U, which is on the NUT compatibility list. Last night I plugged it in to my FreeNAS box using USB, and ran into the dreaded USB disconnect issue. No matter what configuration, USB port I used, it will not connect to FreeNAS. I also just upgraded my PFSense hardware (Dell R210) and figured since they both have NUT compatibility, I would just plug the UPS into PFSense and set it up as Master and FreeNAS as a slave in NUT. And the same thing happened, nothing but communication errors. Research tells me that FreeBSD and Tripp Lite are tricky to get working.

My thoughts are to get a smaller UPS and hook it only up to the PFSense box, leave the Tripp Lite connected to the rest of my equipment. Set PFSense as Master and FreeNAS as slave. Will this work or should I just look to replace the Tripp Lite wholesale?

And beyond that can someone recommend a UPS that is known to work? I'm thinking APC, but I've read older ones are better, as newer APCs use proprietary drivers.

Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

[danb35]

And beyond that can someone recommend a UPS that is known to work?

My APC (see my sig) works very well, and communicates reliably via the network inferface.

 

[officialdoughboy]

Thanks for the reply and answer.

That APC is a good starting point, not sure if I want to install a new line for the UPS, or find one with a standard 15 AMP like I have now.

 

[danb35]

I just use an adapter to get it to plug into a regular wall socket (hoping to change that once I move the whole rack out to my shop--soon, I hope). The UPS won't draw much more power than the total of the attached equipment (yes, there's some to charge the batteries initially, but not too much).

 

[officialdoughboy]

All the research I did said to never use an adapter. I was originally looking at a 20 AMP UPS and was wondering if I could use an adapter and found most said there's too much risk. Good to know that it works.

 

[danb35]

never use an adapter

I'm sure it isn't the best plan, but IMO, the risk is pretty low--certainly it's low if you're using a 20-amp unit on a 15-amp circuit. The issue is power consumption. Your UPS will draw whatever its connected devices draw, plus a very small amount for running its own electronics, plus a variable amount to charge the batteries. Thus, the worst case will be with everything running right after an extended power outage. If you can measure that current consumption at that point, and it's under 15 amps, you're fine.

The related problem is that UPSs are sized and rated primarily by peak capacity, not runtime. I have a 3 kVA unit, but don't need anywhere close to 3 kVA of power--I just want long runtime on battery. But I can't get that runtime with a 1.5 kVA unit.

 

[officialdoughboy]

This would have been great to know when I ordered the Tripp Lite. Right now I'm hitting 320 watts peak with my FreeNAS alone. I'm going to hook up a Dell r710 and the Dell r210. Plus a switch, cable modem and 2 Homeruns. So I'm really not putting that much all things considered. Everything I read said oversize the UPS, so I went for the biggest 15 AMP model I could find at a good price on the NUT list. Should have done some more research.

Thanks again, this is all great information.