UPS Size?

[x64]

• Chassis/PSU: Supermicro CSE-846A-R1200B w/ 1200W Redundant Power Supply
• Motherboard: Supermicro X10SRL-F
• CPU: Intel Xeon E5-1620 v3 4-Core 3.50GHz
• RAMs: 2x Samsung DDR4-2133 32GB ECC/REG CL15 (M393A4K40BB0-CPB)
  
• HDDs: 8x HGST Deskstar NAS 3.5-Inch 6TB 7200RPM 128MB Cache (0S03839) [starting with 8, but will add extra HDDs in the future]
• HBA: LSi 9211-8i

How much VA would I need? I don't need the server to keep running on battery for a long time, just the bare minimum for the server to shutdown safely.

Also, I'm looking at APC SMT____I (available in my country) vs CyperPower CP____EPFCLCD (shipping from amazon using a forwarder, costs extra $270) Is there any real advantage for getting the CyperPower over APC?

 

[Ericloewe]

How much VA would I need?

Expected power consumption / 0.9 (minimum power factor for any PSU worth using). Realistically, a proper Gold PSU will spend most of its time with a 0.99 power factor or greater, with the reactive power being lost in the noise...

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what standard behavior is when UPSes are "overloaded" when on mains power. Worst case, you'll need a UPS on the order of 1300VA.

I don't need the server to keep running on battery for a long time, just the bare minimum for the server to shutdown safely.

And that has absolutely nothing to do with the power output that the UPS can handle. It's a factor of battery size, whereas apparent/real power output is a function of the inverter electronics in the UPS.

 

[SweetAndLow]

I have a very similar server and it idles at 200watts and I use a cyberpower cp1000pflcd, I think that is the model number. No clue if that is OK or not it's just what I'm using.

 

[danb35]

The problem with UPS ratings is that the VA rating only tells you the peak power the unit can deliver, and not how long it can do it. So for a given VA rating, you could see quite a range of runtimes at a given load. I have two 1500VA units, for example; one has twice the battery capacity of the other. Some units will spec runtime vs. load--that would be worth looking up. Five minutes of runtime would probably be enough, but ten would be better.

 

[Ericloewe]

APC, for instance, have quite detailed charts for each model. Definitely aim to have at least 20% overhead or more, to deal with aging batteries.

 

[x64]

Thanks guys, but unfortunately no one really answered my questions which are:
1- Given my system above, how much VA would I need at minimum? because I have no idea for how to calculate it.
2- Is there an advantage for getting the CyperPower over APC?

 

[Ericloewe]

- Given my system above, how much VA would I need at minimum? because I have no idea for how to calculate it.

I just told you.

Expected power consumption / 0.9 (minimum power factor for any PSU worth using). Realistically, a proper Gold PSU will spend most of its time with a 0.99 power factor or greater, with the reactive power being lost in the noise...

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what standard behavior is when UPSes are "overloaded" when on mains power. Worst case, you'll need a UPS on the order of 1300VA.

 

[depasseg]

1- Given my system above, how much VA would I need at minimum? because I have no idea for how to calculate it.

1300VA as @Ericloewe said

2- Is there an advantage for getting the CyperPower over APC?

Normally the advantage is a reduced cost, but since your CP would cost a bunch more to ship, I would absolutely go with an APC.

 

[x64]

Now that I think about it, I'm not sure what standard behavior is when UPSes are "overloaded" when on mains power. Worst case, you'll need a UPS on the order of 1300VA.

Oops, sorry. I guess I overlooked this part.

Anyway, I think I will go with APC SMT1500I.
Thanks everyone!

 

[cyberjock]

1300VA would cover a fully loaded PSU set in that chassis. More than likely, something like 600VA would be plenty (I wouldn't go this small though "just in case") and I'd look at something like 750-1000VA. Do examine the runtime closely though as you really do want somethign like 10 minutes of runtime, which may translate to a UPS that is something like 1200-1300VA.

For my own situation, I went with a 1000VA UPS for my desktop which is probably about the same wattage as your server. It's better to be a little too big than too small. A UPS that immediately trips on overload when it goes on the battery is useless to you.

 

[TXAG26]

My E5 system, which pulls about 200w-250w on a APC Smart 1500 has worked out well. About 20-25% of the UPS capacity is used, based upon how hard the CPU's/HDD's are working. I always size my UPS's a bit larger (went with the 1500va over the 1000va) as the extra battery capacity allows me to extend out the time between battery replacements. I'm on my 3rd set of batteries for a APC Smart 1500 SUA1500 that I bought back in 2002 and have been able to get about 5 years per battery pack (using 12v/19AH Panasonic SLA's). As the batteries age, capacity decreases, along with runtime. This is the primary measure that APC uses to trigger the "replace battery" LED/alarm. I have a 750va Smart UPS as well that is loaded to about 85% and I have to replace batteries every 3yrs with it.

I'd say 1000va will work well for what you are proposing, but I'd step up to a 1500 if you plan on adding additional hardware/load to it in the future.