Uninterruptable Power Supply what do i need to know ?

[armalites]

erm user has stated he wants the pc to stay on all night long in standby mode so he dosnt loose his tabs

not even a battery pack could do this its only for short term use and power your systems down

you cant do that when your in bed

so he needs something else that can provide that sort of power the only 2 alternatives battery back up running 10/20 batterys or a genny with simple battery back up

I'm sorry Gaz but that is total nonsense, I have spent my entire working life in big datacentres as an engineer. There would be absolutely no issue with the correct UPS running a PC for hours. Any kind of auto switching UPS/generator setup is absolutely going to run into thousands, there would be absolutely no point in doing that for a PC it would only be worthwhile to do it for the entire property.

I work in one fixed place at the moment and we have UPS that can keep the entire site running which includes probably 3 football pitches of data halls. Sure these systems are there to give generators time to start but they would run a house for weeks. They wouldn't fit in a normal but there is not reason why small set up wouldn't work.

If the PC was put into standby mode the tabs would remain and it would use very little power.

Millions of offices around the world have small UPS to keep things running. Often just tucked under a desk behind the office server.

That said I genuinely suprised we are talking about all of this just to keep some browsing tabs open

 

[Fraserb]

If you really need a UPS then today's inverter devices are very straightforward to size and use, especially compared to lead-acid units from ~20 years ago.
Car batteries, inverters, chargers, etc. are just too complex for basic use.

APC have been the name in small/medium sized UPSs for more than four decades. If I needed one, I'd be starting here, at around £80

https://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-Back-UPS-BV1000I-MS-Uninterruptible-Universal/dp/B07QBZKG5T/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2RVE2KEVHL2ON&keywords=ups&qid=1676675927&sprefix=ups%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-6

A 1KVA unit will run a typical PC and monitors for an hour or more. That said, a UPS isn't really for running a system for an extended period of time; it is (as per the OP's requirement) to ensure that the machines can be shut down safely.
UPSs come with software (almost certainly for Windows, commonly for Macs and Linux too) that allows a PC to run for... say... 15 minutes and if the power hasn't returned then to safely shut the system down.

Those look like the ones we have on the computers at work, generally theyre only needed for a few minutes until the generator comes on. They can run for over an hour though if needed.

 

[indy4x]

@Onthespotwelding

If you are using a UPS they are designed to cleanup dirty supplies and deal with voltage spikes, over and under voltages protecting the equipment they are powering

I'm responsible for around 700 UPS across our estate, ranging from 750W to 120kW

On older sites the generators do have AVR but on startup and shutdown they can be dirty, stuff not protected by a UPS can fail during a generator test but the UPS protected stuff is fine

 

[Kayos]

Keep it simple,

1. Configure your browser to open tabs where you left off

2. Get an APC UPS, 1000w @240v would be ample

3. Use the APC software to shut the PC down if the battery is getting low on the UPS

4. Configure PC to start up when power is restored

Jobs a good one

Keep it simple? How long have you been here?

My simple suggestion was dismissed, so it's not a need for a UPS, it's someone wanting a play and a project. Nothing wrong with that but it helps to understand

 

[Pilgrim22]

Don't plug the monitor into the UPS, there is no need to keep the monitor powered.

 

[MetalMonkey]

both you and he are thinking there blips of power cuts they might not be

a blip to the power will shut the pc down i agree battery back up has a longer chance i also agree which he says is happening at night when he cant shut it down ( bed )

If it was off all night, he would see the mechanical timers out of sync as he stated, and none of that is relevant to the question he originally asked....
It's like somebody asking for recommendations for an emulsion with good stain coverage, and getting an answer that includes knocking down the wall.

My simple suggestion was dismissed, so it's not a need for a UPS, it's someone wanting a play and a project. Nothing wrong with that but it helps to understand

The suggestion is fine, but if you already have the PC, adding a £60 UPS is going to work out a lot cheaper, easier and quicker than buying a new laptop and then transferring everything across.
Especially if you don't actually need any of the functions of a laptop in the first place. Not a project, just pragmatic I would suggest.

as above 2 pcs on the same cuirct and no mcb or rcds triped and cheaked there not on the same power strip so its not that

Does the PC actually shut down completely or just restart - and if it restarts is it set to boot when power is restored in the BIOS?

One thing it is worth looking into is if there is any large equipment that might be starting up.
The PSU in the computer should cope with a certain amount of momentary voltage sag, but there are limits, and cheaper PSUs are not usually as good either.
A brown out might be enough to cause a restart without the PC actually shutting it off. If this is the case, a cheap UPS may not even react quick enough.

I've seen this before in places like Kitchens when staff come in first thing and flick on all the ovens, or you have some heavy industrial machine starting up.

You could check the event viewer to see when the system is rebooting, compare it on the two computers and see if that gives any clues as to what is happening and when.
The event ID should also show if it was a planned restart (i.e. update) or unexpected (i.e power).

 

[James1979]

If you really need a UPS then today's inverter devices are very straightforward to size and use, especially compared to lead-acid units from ~20 years ago.
Car batteries, inverters, chargers, etc. are just too complex for basic use.

APC have been the name in small/medium sized UPSs for more than four decades. If I needed one, I'd be starting here, at around £80

https://www.amazon.co.uk/APC-Back-UPS-BV1000I-MS-Uninterruptible-Universal/dp/B07QBZKG5T/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2RVE2KEVHL2ON&keywords=ups&qid=1676675927&sprefix=ups%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-6

A 1KVA unit will run a typical PC and monitors for an hour or more. That said, a UPS isn't really for running a system for an extended period of time; it is (as per the OP's requirement) to ensure that the machines can be shut down safely.
UPSs come with software (almost certainly for Windows, commonly for Macs and Linux too) that allows a PC to run for... say... 15 minutes and if the power hasn't returned then to safely shut the system down.

Exactly what I’ve got on the plasma table.

We get the odd brief cut here in winter and it’s enough to upset the controller if it turns the power off. I think off then back on quickly is worse?

Never tried to max it out as it were but it’s more than ample to shut down nicely and come back when mains is back on.

 

[Pilgrim22]

I have 4 of these used on a PC, 2 Nas drives, and a sophos utm (also the router and and a poe switch) and I never have any issues with drop-out. The whole lot stays powered for about 20 mins on a complete power outage and then do an orderly shutdown. Small blips are handled without interruption, the NAS drives send me an email say when they are on UPS and another email when power is restored.
Having the router on the system is also a bonus as, when a router resets, it starts at a lower data transfer speed and can take several days to slowly ramp back up to top speed again.

This model is no longer available but the newer models should be ok. (replacement batteries are around £20 and last 2-3 years)

 

[Stupoty]

I have 4 of these used on a PC, 2 Nas drives, and a sophos utm (also the router and and a poe switch) and I never have any issues with drop-out. The whole lot stays powered for about 20 mins on a complete power outage and then do an orderly shutdown. Small blips are handled without interruption, the NAS drives send me an email say when they are on UPS and another email when power is restored.
Having the router on the system is also a bonus as, when a router resets, it starts at a lower data transfer speed and can take several days to slowly ramp back up to top speed again.

View attachment 385674This model is no longer available but the newer models should be ok. (replacement batteries are around £20 and last 2-3 years)

APC brand seem quite reliable , I think the one I have is about 20 years old and apart from battery replacement is good as new.

If you have to shutdown any NAS , check the signaling software compatibility and how that works to tell everything to go to sleep.

Stu

 

[angellonewolf]

thanks guys all food for thought im thinking we buy an apc and see how it goes but before that cheak window setting on updates

 

[gaz1]

if you do close down your computer at night and turn on back in the morning

if you use the explorer ( internet ) history you can bring back all of your tabs that you had opened up by using ( restore previous session )

you also have history of viewed websites also in your history

 

[angellonewolf]

if you do close down your computer at night and turn on back in the morning

if you use the explorer ( internet ) history you can bring back all of your tabs that you had opened up by using ( restore previous session )

you also have history of viewed websites also in your history

i use firefox so i know a bit about explorer but it was quite tied to microsoft i believe its not so much now but ive never gone back or tryed any thing else

 

[armalites]

i use firefox so i know a bit about explorer but it was quite tied to microsoft i believe its not so much now but ive never gone back or tryed any thing else

I use Firefox and it is very rare I ever lose tabs on my laptop and it gees to sleep or get shutdown all the time and I often have 40-50 tabs open

 

[gaz1]

i use firefox/opera depending on what im doing better than microsoft

the reference i was meaning whatever people use to search there net

microsoft version was never good enough and still isnt

 

[angellonewolf]

firefox once started using it its not broken dont fix it