[ale] OT need 600-1000W power protection for 3 minutes - cheap

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

HI all,

I know we've discussed power protection before but I have a question 
with a bit of a different twist.  The twist is I need more power for 
less money.

Now, granted, this weather pattern we're having is a bit unusual.  
However, it's reaking havok with my usage of my desktop machines.  I'm 
having to shut them down virtually every day to prevent possible damage 
to the systems due to power glitches.  I'm running both on the low side 
of the 500W - 1000W range.  This exceeds the range of any ups I own, so 
they're not on UPS's.  The power consumption has increased since I'm 
using GPU's for computations.  Cranking them back up and restoring the 
running apps takes a good bit of time.

Most of these power glitches are just quick blinks that last only a few 
seconds, but that's enough to shut the systems down and potentially 
damage them.  I had an unpredicted power failure last week which caused 
me several hours of work.  The xmarks firefox bookmark database got 
corrupted, of all things, on a windows machine and my mint machine 
didn't want to boot properly.

So, I need, say, 700 W (not VA) of power failure protection, to run for 
3 minutes, for $ 150 / pc.

I know that's a real stretch.  It may not be possible.  UPS's in that 
range seem to be $ 500 ea or so.  The idea of a motor generator 
occurred, but I'm sure a new one would be lots of $$$.  On thinking 
about that, I guess a motor generator wouldn't work without a huge 
flywheel.  You guys mentioned ferrups systems before, but I think you 
all said they're very costly.

So, are there ANY options for doing this on the cheap?  I'd even 
consider buying used equipment, but the solution would have to be 
viable.  Whatever it is, it cannot draw more than about 10A from a 120V 
outlet.  I'd be ok if the power dies after the 3 minutes, since I will 
have eliminated many of the small glitches.  If the pc interacts with 
the power system to shut down, I preferably need it to work on windows 
or linux.  If I anticipate a major storm, I'll still shut them down, but 
at least I could go to supper or go to sleep without worrying as much 
about these pop up storms.

All I want is 3 stinkin' minutes.  Or should I just give up and shut 
down whenever it thunders nearby?

Sincerely,

Ron


-- 

(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
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