UPS rack mount advice needed

[revengineer]

My Freenas server is coming along slowly. Before I buy a bunch of disks, I need a UPS to keep the system running stable. For compatibility and past good experience, I am inclined to go with one of the "lower-end" rack mount UPS from APC and am looking at this component for $480. I understand that a stand-up model is about half the price, but I do like my rack looking nice and clean. The server connected to the UPS is a Supermicro 486 chassis with X9DRI-F motherboard with dual E5-2630 processors, all powered by dual 920 W SQ power supplies. Ultimately, I will likely end up with 12 hard drives. Comments on my choice of UPS are welcome.

More importantly though: The mounting instructions I found were brief but I understand that the UPS is mounted solely using the front bracket. given the weight of the UPS, I do not find this sufficient and looked for some rails. I found these but the price is astronomical ($299 !!!). This price gouging almost makes me want to ditch APC. Does anyone have a cheaper option?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

 

[Kcaj]

At work we use cable routing bars to support heavier / longer equipment. Something like this is cheap and easy if your rack allows it

 

[jgreco]

If you won't ever be removing the UPS, the cheap solution is just to provide the support in the back by taking a pair of flanged steel 1U blanks. Put them "front sides together" so they look like an I-beam. Screw the assembly into the back of your rack in the RU underneath where you want the UPS.

The Middle Atlantic EB1's are pretty heavy and suited to this sort of abuse.

 

[SweetAndLow]

Search on Amazon and eBay, the rack mount hardware is $50

 

[danb35]

I found these but the price is astronomical ($299 !!!)

Where are you located? When I pull up that link (in .us), it's $199, not $299--but even that is ridiculous, of course.

But I suspect the rails do come with the unit you've linked. If you look carefully at the 3/4 view in the Amazon listing, you'll notice a bracket attached to the right side of the chassis toward the back. This fits in APC's rack rails. Being shown with that bracket suggests to me that the rails are included. If not, you can find them on eBay, or PM me--I have an extra set I bought when I didn't realize a used UPS I bought included them.

 

[jgreco]

Search on Amazon and eBay, the rack mount hardware is $50

That's actually a MUCH better suggestion than mine. The rack mount hardware for the APC UPS's is pretty nice.

Also, check to see if rails are included. I'm pretty sure our SMT's and SMX's came with rails, but it's been years and my memory fails me.

It might be worth noting, however, that your options for UPS communications *might* be limited. This UPS doesn't have a SmartSlot though it does have a built-in "SmartConnect" which can almost certainly only be used for APC's cloud service. That means you're effectively limited to using serial or USB if you want to be able to get communications capabilities with your APC.

The older APC SmartUPS pre-microlink were easily set up with NUT or pretty much anything else, but you will want to be cautious with the new APC's. The normal remediation is to install a network management card and use SNMP, or use an AP9620 legacy serial card and go at it that way. Unfortunately it looks like that option is not available to you, so you will want to be aware of what options you might be locking yourself into.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I think my whole rack mount apc ups setup including unit, batteries, serial cable, mounting hardware and serial card cost me ~$510 in 2017.

 

[revengineer]

I apologize for the delay in response as a result of business travel. Thank you for the advice on UPS mounting. It seems that there are multiple options for cheaper mounting hardware. I was wrong about the quoted price, it was indeed $200 rather than $299. Still this is outrageous. I am inclined to buy the power supply and see what is included in the box, something the pdf manual available online is not very clear about.

@jgreco response has me paused though because I will rely on the nut package to properly shut down my freenas server in case of a power outage. Downtime is not an issue but data corruption is. Maybe you can refer me the cheapest series APC power supply that does support a network management card. I am leery about the APC cloud service and would prefer not to use that.

Thank you.