UPS for my NAS?

[sktn77a]

OK, as a follow up to my last thread ("locked out of my NAS due to a power outage"), I decide to look into a UPS for my NAS. Well, what a surprise - anything under $100 will last from 1 to 10 min, depending on load! What are people using UPS for with their NAS - just for momentary power outages/glitches?

 

[SynoMan]

Currently, I'm using this:

UPS APC Back-UPS BX950U-GR 480 W / 950 VA

Works like a charm, with enough power to connect a router and a modem to it.

 

[sktn77a]

Thanks. I saw that one. That one looked good until I saw it was only available in 230v and lists a run time at 480 watts (typical computer plus router plus NAS) of 1 minute 20 seconds.

 

[SynoMan]

Yes, maybe not enough to connect a computer also. I have a separate UPS for computer.

 

[Telos]

I'm using an APC rated at 850VA. It covers a modem/router/switch/display/NAS1/NAS2/PC.

Depending on whether the PC is up, I get 30-50 minutes of capacity. More recently, after 10 minutes, the UPS takes the NAS to safe mode. Exhausting the UPS batteries is not good practice, and if the power isn't restored within 5-10 minutes, it likely will be an extended disruption. Leaving UPS battery capacity is also helpful, when you discover that your phone needs charging

 

[sktn77a]

That's interesting. So the NAS alone shouldn't take up too much juice and may well last a couple of hours. I would need the cable modem, router, switch and NAS for continued external access (assuming the cable modem provide doesn't go down).

Might be worth further investigation.

 

[Telos]

So the NAS alone shouldn't take up too much juice and may well last a couple of hours

I would not consider but an hour at best... and I am not indexing photos... just basic maintenance.

 

[silverj]

In the end you need to decide just how long you really need it to last. I would suggest probably fairly short outages should be enough protection in most countries these days. After an hour or two even, you probably have other things to deal with more than your NAS if it goes offline (at least in the family setting). How long might your partially charged laptops last? Is your Internet connection protected from a local power out too? (I have fibre these days and there is a powered 'thing' in the garage. A right pain that.)
It is good if you get one that will talk to your Synology so that it will power down automatically (there are threads on here about that to be found too) if necessary.
When you do decide to buy though, have a look at the comparative prices too. I bought mine a couple of years ago and at the time there was a trivial price difference sometimes between some of the different power levels, so you might bet lucky and pay €£$20 and get a more juicy one.

 

[Robbie]

Recently moved to a 1u Eaton 5P 650iR, having worked my way through Cyberpower, APC etc.

Happy with it so far.

I have a router, 2 switches, 3 NASes, a mini PC and M1 Mac mini plus a few accessories. With this load it recons on a 20 min up-time but I have it set to gracefully shut things down after a few mins.

In a real-world test it would last way more than 20 mins as after 1 min+ I have it set to sequentially remove power to the mini PC, the Mac mini, then 2 of the NASes, then the remaining NAS before finally killing the switches, router and the 1 AP I have connected to the UPS via PoE (the other APs are on mains injectors). Of course, as over half the things that utilise the network would be offline with the power cut the demand on the network is somewhat lower too.

I like to have everything shutdown with enough UPS power remaining for a forced emergency switch-on or cope with a few sequential power restores and failures. The modem is on it's own battery backup, so I can connect a PPPoE session to that via a laptop if needs be and 4G is also down.

 

[Deleted member 673]

My first UPS was an APC "SMX-Series" (Extended Run Time) with one external battery pack. At the time, I lived in an area where hours-long power outages occurred at least once/month. For the past two years I've lived in an area where power failures are very infrequent. So I replaced the SMX with two APC "SMT-Series".

Current models of both APC series support "Smart Connect", which is a no-fee cloud-based system that provides email notifications, detailed UPS status information, etc. More-than adequate for home or semi-pro, IMHO. I have been very pleased with the APC's function and reliability (4-years with the SMX, 2-years so far with the SMT).

As others have posted, I now prefer shutting down the NAS and Macs after 10-15 minutes of outage. That leaves sufficient power to keep our Internet connection and WiFi operational for several hours, along with the ability to run LED lighting and maintain charges on our portable electronics.

I also use a Zero Surge suppressor ahead of the UPS. Highly recommended if you are in an area prone to lightning strikes or other power issues.

Ron

 

[Jan Janowski]

I’m using 5x CyberPower 1500VA units with AVR. (scattered around the house on TV’s Computers, etc).
I have a 20KW generac whole house generator… So I only need 45 seconds.

I had no idea what AVR was… Now I wouldn’t buy a UPS without it!
absolutely no trouble with switching supplies on or off generator or UPS.

This is in addition to whole house surge on power company feed.

 

[sktn77a]

What whole house surge protector did you get installed?

 

[Jan Janowski]

This one hangs on local power feed.