07-31-2011, 06:14 PM
Space,
That is _cheap_ for a pure sine wave UPS! but, I'm betting it's also an offline UPS vs an online model. I remember contacting APC about getting a 1500 VA UPS for my Mac Pro and they said due to the type of computer, that only a APC SMARTups level UPS is appropriate. A close friend was told the same thing. Apparently, the Backups Pro design wouldn't protect the computer properly. I suspect it is because of the difference between a step wave and pure sine wave UPS and, if I remember correctly, the difference between an online and offline UPS.
If I understand correctly, a pure sine wave UPS recreates as close as possible clean electricity.A nice curve, whereas a step wave, it's boxey and far less like pure juice. Pure sine wave is considered better. I'll admit, I've used UPSs with step wave output for most of my hardware over the years. I didn't switch over to a unit with pure sine wave output until I got my Mac Pro. If I remember correctly, APc SMARTups and similar models produce pure sine wave output and APC BAckups models like the ES, RS and BX series produce step wave output.
With an online UPS, your hardware is always connected to inverter output whether or not there is a power outage. It's soemthing along these lines: Juice goes into the UPS and stored into the battery. The UPS then sends the juice from the battery to your hardware. At some point, the juice is cleaned up prior to getting to your hardware. The hardware never knows whether or not there is an outage. The only time power going to it is interrupted is when there is an outage and the juice stored in the battery finally runs out. Hopefully, power is restored prior to this taking place and/or you've shut the hardware down. If I remember correctly, APC SMARTups models are online models that produce pure sine wave output.
With an offline UPS, hardware gets juice from the battery only during an outage. At the moment of an outage, there is a brief amount of time that electricity isn't being sent to the protected hardware. That is the amount of time it takes the UPS to switch from main power to battery power. Machines with AVR always clean the juice prior to sending it to the hardware whether it's working off battery power or main power. Lower-end UPSs such as the APC Backups ES series and, if I remember correctly, the RS (and BX) series are offline UPS.
I was able to get a SMARTups for a very reasonable price and since it was the recommend choice for my tower and I had the extra cash, I decided to go for it. But, did I really need to get a SMARTups for my tower? Honestly, I can't say with 100% certainty. I wonder what Apple would say on the matter. Step wave vs sine wave and online vs offline.
Robert
That is _cheap_ for a pure sine wave UPS! but, I'm betting it's also an offline UPS vs an online model. I remember contacting APC about getting a 1500 VA UPS for my Mac Pro and they said due to the type of computer, that only a APC SMARTups level UPS is appropriate. A close friend was told the same thing. Apparently, the Backups Pro design wouldn't protect the computer properly. I suspect it is because of the difference between a step wave and pure sine wave UPS and, if I remember correctly, the difference between an online and offline UPS.
If I understand correctly, a pure sine wave UPS recreates as close as possible clean electricity.A nice curve, whereas a step wave, it's boxey and far less like pure juice. Pure sine wave is considered better. I'll admit, I've used UPSs with step wave output for most of my hardware over the years. I didn't switch over to a unit with pure sine wave output until I got my Mac Pro. If I remember correctly, APc SMARTups and similar models produce pure sine wave output and APC BAckups models like the ES, RS and BX series produce step wave output.
With an online UPS, your hardware is always connected to inverter output whether or not there is a power outage. It's soemthing along these lines: Juice goes into the UPS and stored into the battery. The UPS then sends the juice from the battery to your hardware. At some point, the juice is cleaned up prior to getting to your hardware. The hardware never knows whether or not there is an outage. The only time power going to it is interrupted is when there is an outage and the juice stored in the battery finally runs out. Hopefully, power is restored prior to this taking place and/or you've shut the hardware down. If I remember correctly, APC SMARTups models are online models that produce pure sine wave output.
With an offline UPS, hardware gets juice from the battery only during an outage. At the moment of an outage, there is a brief amount of time that electricity isn't being sent to the protected hardware. That is the amount of time it takes the UPS to switch from main power to battery power. Machines with AVR always clean the juice prior to sending it to the hardware whether it's working off battery power or main power. Lower-end UPSs such as the APC Backups ES series and, if I remember correctly, the RS (and BX) series are offline UPS.
I was able to get a SMARTups for a very reasonable price and since it was the recommend choice for my tower and I had the extra cash, I decided to go for it. But, did I really need to get a SMARTups for my tower? Honestly, I can't say with 100% certainty. I wonder what Apple would say on the matter. Step wave vs sine wave and online vs offline.
Robert