Using a UPS for computer and NAS

[stevech]

windows client is circa 2011.

Previous update was in 2006.

 

[JoeJoe]

https://code.google.com/p/winnut/

http://www.gadgetvictims.com/2010/02/battery-backup-solution-for-home.html

 

[stevech]

thanks...
I had one of those small APC UPSes but now I have a much large 1500VA Cyberpower. It's in the list of "NUT" supported.

I read that people have to SSH as root into the NAS and edit user/group file for the NAS, blah blah.

And another posting says the NAS has to be given the (static) IP address of the PCs to be notified. ??? I thought the notice was a UDP packet, broadcast.

This is all too much of a kludge.

 

[flowrider]

Oh man even more to think about and play around with. I still can't even get Synology's Cloud Station to work properly! I'm in trouble.

 

[JoeJoe]

On the QNAP devices, they do require a static or a reserved DHCP address. I do not know about the other NAS devices.

There's two types of UDP messages, addressed and broadcast.

I have only used APC UPS at my home, but have used Cyberpower with their own NUT application that they supply.

 

[stevech]

On the QNAP devices, they do require a static or a reserved DHCP address. I do not know about the other NAS devices.

There's two types of UDP messages, addressed and broadcast.

Doesn't the de facto standard for LAN reports of power failure use UDP Broadcast? Makes no sense to do other than broadcast.

 

[JoeJoe]

I don't know, I have only used direct UDP addressing for UPS messages.

Having multiple NAS/PC devices on one one network, connected to multiple UPS devices, works well.

 

[stevech]

I don't know, I have only used direct UDP addressing for UPS messages.

Having multiple NAS/PC devices on one one network, connected to multiple UPS devices, works well.

I don't get how this can work since UDP is connection-less. The power fail notice sender (like the NAS to which the UPS connects) has to know what LAN addresses to send power failure alerts to if this is Unicast not broadcast. With UDP being connection-less, this isn't practical. Each PC would have to be setup with the unchanging LAN IP address of the power failure server. Let's say that's a static LAN IP for the NAS. Then each PC has to somehow tell the NAS to include "me" in the list for UDP unicast alert packets. That's crazy.

It must be that UDP isn't used and each PC client sustains a TCP connection to the power failure server (NAS).

 

[JoeJoe]

There are different types of UDP messages, both addressable and broadcast.

So a device can send a connectionless UDP message to a single IP address on a network. This is how a lot of game communication works across the internet.
When a UDP message goes over a certain size, there is no other option apart from to use addressable UDP, broadcast can not be used.

On the networks I am and have used UPS and NUT, all devices have reserved IP addresses, so they do not change.

On the QNAP UPS control page, you have to enter IP addresses of the devices to be informed, if the QNAP NAS is the master controller. I have asked them to give us the option to use DNS names instead but they haven't done this change.

They could be using TCP/IP or UDP, doesn't matter.

It all works well.

On the video games that I work on, I use both TCP and UDP. If a UDP message fails on my home network, then I have major network problems.

 

[stevech]

I know ip, tcp, udp well.

I don't know which protocol and packet format is used for the de facto NUT packets.. And if that's what synology et al emit when the ups USB connects to the NAS.

 

[flowrider]

Well I managed to get NUT configured on my pfSense box and it works well with full communication about UPS status. It was relatively easy because pfSense has a installable package. Now configuring my Mac to use NUT is a whole other issue. I've been working for 2 days trying to figure out how to compile the source code using Fink so that I can create an installer. Incredibly frustrating. Anyone want to compile a Mac binary of NUT for me?

 

[James Rutter]

Wow, I actually had to create an account just to reply to this thread.

Can anyone just answer this guys questions without being a geektard. Wow, the guy just wants to know if he can use a USB HUB to connect more than one thing to a UPS for it to detect the battery status. He doesn't needs More's Law explained in 4 languages. Good god people.

 

[sfx2000]

Can anyone just answer this guys questions without being a geektard. Wow, the guy just wants to know if he can use a USB HUB to connect more than one thing to a UPS for it to detect the battery status. He doesn't needs More's Law explained in 4 languages. Good god people.

Not an easy answer - lots of ways to do this, and the UPS vendors don't help much with their consumer grade devices...

 

[James Rutter]

Maybe so, I was trying to find this answer because I have my PC and 2 Synology servers I need to shut down. I found a page on APC's website in my search shortly after stating this is acceptable. I have to get a longer usb cord before I can try it. Just kind of maddening to get to a thread and read 2 pages and not a single reply pertaining to that even when the guy asked a second time. Gotta love computer geeks, always a more complicated way to do things.

 

[RMerlin]

Device: UPS, USB disk, printer, etc... Can talk to a single host.
Host: a computer. Can talk to multiple devices.

A hub allows multiple devices to connect to a single host. A UPS is a device, therefore you cannot use a hub to make it talk to multiple computers.

 

[sfx2000]

Can anyone just answer this guys questions without being a geektard. Wow, the guy just wants to know if he can use a USB HUB to connect more than one thing to a UPS for it to detect the battery status. He doesn't needs More's Law explained in 4 languages. Good god people.

FWIW - the UPS is a client end-point - just like a thumb drive or a keyboard - so no, in many cases this isn't possible directly...

My QNAP NAS supports the APC UPS I have, and it is a NUT server that can send power down commands to other devices on the LAN, provided they also support NUT...

 

[JoBo]

The USB hub is a good idea if it can be made to work.
A good starting point it to checked how much current a NAS actually takes? I have using my Kill-A-Watt meter.
http://www.p3international.com/products/p4400.html
My 3 Buffalo LS-421 each with two 3TB drives only draw 13 watts EACH!!!
I found 8 APC units from a company that was updating, one 1500, two 750's and five 550 watt units for $100.
I had planned on getting an APC 1500 so with new batteries from ebay for the 1500 and two 750 watt units I'm still way ahead and have 5 of them unused.
Buffalo NAS units support USB APC UPS units. The USB connected NAS broadcasts over the LAN to the down stream NAS units. I have no idea how.
The APC 1500 will support my 3 nas units, 16 port switch, DVR with 8 wired cameras, cable modem for phone and cable modem for data, and reports a total of only 84 watts being used for an estimated 69 minutes!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003Y24DEU/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[System Error Message]

Actually dont use the watts measured by a kill-o-watt as a measure of how much power you need from a UPS. Rather you use the rating on the device instead as thats your worse case scenario since you could change things like adding more drives, using different drives, changing out hardware in a PC.

For example if your PC is always midrange in terms of CPU and GPU than you're looking at around 500W for the PC to handle peak and the PSU rating of the NAS. Peak rating is important as you want your UPS to have a peak output thats higher. Your kill-o-watt measurement is for what you use to estimate how much battery you will need for how long you need.

 

[JoBo]

Actually
84 watts being used for an estimated 69 minutes!
is what the console of the APC 1500 reports.
No PC attached to the 1500, just the above items that should remain fairly constant.

JoBo