[ale] help providing stable power to pc's to ride through storms

Tue May 22 00:52:12 EDT 2012

Unless your getting a sizable flywheel system, spend the $ on a good ups
with power conditioning.  Brown outs cauae data loss! I agree wirh Bob. APC
and Triplite are worth the cost. Look for AVR, automatic voltage regulation.
I installed a 15kW natural gas generator with automatic relay. It powers
most of my house when the mains are down. $3k with self-install.
On May 22, 2012 12:11 AM, "Ron Frazier (ALE)" <
atllinuxenthinfo at techstarship.com> wrote:

> Hi Bob,
>
> Based on your recommendations as well as Mike H's and Wolf's , I'm looking
> more into the UPS options. That may be the best solution for a sub $ 300
> price tag. However, taking the APC Backups Pro 1500 as an example, the
> surge protection rating is only 354 joules. That sounds insanely low. That
> doesn't inspire my confidence at all using the thing as a surge protection
> device. APC's free standing premium surge protectors in the $ 50 range have
> ratings of 2000 - 3000 joules. Perhaps I should use a free standing surge
> protector then connect the UPS to that.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Ron
>
>
> --
>
> Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
> Please excuse my potential brevity.
>
> (To whom it may concern. My email address has changed. Replying to former
> messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
> address. Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)
>
> (PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
> call on the phone. I get about 300 emails per day from alternate energy
> mailing lists and such. I don't always see new email messages very
> quickly.)
>
> Ron Frazier
> 770-205-9422 (O) Leave a message.
> linuxdude AT techstarship.com
>
>
> Bob Toxen <transam at VerySecureLinux.com> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, May 21, 2012 at 08:36:00PM -0400, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
>> > Hi guys,
>>
>> > I need some electrical power advice. It's possible you will give me
>> > the answer and I won't be able to afford it, but I'd like to know what
>> > you think.
>>
>> > Counting my wife's machine, my computer table has 4 laptops, 1 desktop,
>> > 2 monitors, and miscellaneous hubs, speakers, phones, etc.
>> Short best recommendation: buy a 1000W or 1500W APC of TripLite UPS.
>> Leave it plugged in to the wall during storms.  Turn off the monitors
>> if the lights go out (except to shut down systems if the power stays
>> out for more than 5 minutes, in which case it will be out for a while).
>>
>> I've had an excellent 17 years of experience with APC, including a storm
>> that fried other non-APC protected equipment (an electronically
>> controlled ceiling fan).  I know a few others have a bad opinion of APC
>> and recommend TripLite.  Don't even think of buying any other brand
>> than APC or TripLite.
>>
>> The good brands are designed so that on a direct (or near) lightning hit
>> that circuits between the wall and your computers burn out, breaking the
>> path to your computers to protect the computers.  Realistically, a
>> direct hit is extremely unlikely and can fry even unconnected
>> electronics due to induced currents, arcing, and such.  (How many times
>> has your house been hit by lightning before?)
>>
>> It's more critical to also run phone and cable lines (if you get cable
>> Internet) through a UPS/Surge Protector's filters.
>>
>> If you really want to be protected against a direct lightning strike
>> (talking about a motor-generator setup), you first need to insure
>> several inches to a foot separation between any cables "outside" of the
>> UPS/Surge Protector filters, e.g., extension cords and anything being
>> protected to protect against an arc.
>>
>> Consider lighting rods installed on your roof (maybe $2000-3000 or so)
>> if you're really worried.
>>
>> My "Smart" APC 1500 (a year old) displays how many minutes it should
>> keep equipment running given current power usage.  Mine says 120 minutes
>> for 4 towers and a laptop and one monitor.
>>
>>
>> Remember that laptops use roughly 40-100W, hubs tiny amounts, blanked
>> monitors not too much, and towers (guessing) 200-500W for high-end ones.
>> Use an AC ammeter or wattmeter to measure for sure.  The running power
>> often is 25-50% of what the data plate claims as a maximum.
>>
>>
>> If you want even more protection, instead of a motor-generator, spend
>> $1000 for a Yamaha 2 KW generator (fairly quiet) or roughly $1500-2000 for
>> a Honda really quiet generator and switch the UPS plug to the generator
>> when it is storming.  I used a relay for an automatic switch but that
>> risks a lighting strike arcing across the relay's 0.1 inch contact gap.
>> I assume that the UPSs will work.
>>
>> In any case, frequent OFF SITE backups are a must.
>>
>> > Sincerely,
>> >
>> > Ron
>>
>> Bob Toxen
>> bob at verysecurelinux.com               [Please use for email to me]
>> http://www.verysecurelinux.com        [Network&Linux security consulting]
>> http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com [My book:"Real World Linux Security 2/e"]
>> Quality Linux & UNIX security and SysAdmin & software consulting since 1990.
>> Quality spam and virus filters.
>>
>> "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
>> them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond where
>> the shadows lie...and the Eye is everwatching"
>> -- The Silicon Valley Tarot Henrique Holschuh with ... Bob
>>
>>
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