UPS for use with Blue Iris system

M

moparcruiser

Getting the hang of it
Jan 2, 2021
122
62
USA
I am amazed at how solid and reliable BI has been over the last two months or so of my using it.

Several fine folks on this board are THE reason I tried it and I owe a debt of gratitude to you folks!

I am set up so the few times that BI has crashed (or maybe it was a PC restart etc) BI runs in the background.......that works way better than I expected as well.

That said --I think the one achilles heal my system DOES have is if the power goes out.

A UPS should address that...anyone have any suggestions? I dont want to spend a boatload of money but i also do not want to be replacing batteries every 6 months....so quality is important.

Other UPSs I have used have advertised that they can power down a connected PC when the battery runs down, and power up a PC once the main power comes back on, after the battery runs down .

I want to be able to go away for a week and be secure in knowing that the BI system is running come hell or high water.....LOL

A network addressable one would be interesting I suppose.....

Open to suggestions --- thanks y'all!
 
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I use multiple OLD APC 500 . I use one for the BI PC and multiple for the POE switched and network access points around the house. I like that I can easily change the batteries. The BI UPS will stay up for about 20 minutes.

My wife has some specialize equipment that needs isolation and continuous power.
Tripp Lite SU1000XLA 1000VA 800W
 
I got a hold of a couple of the one before this model UPS and added external batteries for more reserve time. Great and very robust.

Amazon.com: APC Smart-UPS 1500VA UPS Battery Backup with Pure Sine Wave Output (SMT1500): Home Audio & Theater

Amazon.com: APC Smart-UPS 1500VA UPS Battery Backup with Pure Sine Wave Output (SMT1500): Home Audio & Theater
www.amazon.com

You can still find these (sine wave) and the modified sine wave on Ebay for a good price. Just tell them to remove the batteries
before shipping if you are paying by the pound. Batteries inside last about 3 years before they start losing capacity.
These will connect to the PC and shut down the PC when the battery gets low, and the UPS automatically powers up
when power comes back on. Set the BIOS in the PC to turn on when power is applied.
We use this model UPS for our commercial customers in our It business. the new ones have a WiFi connect that will
notify us on line when power goes down, and when batteries start to fail.
 
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I am using this
But they are expensive.

I have even the expansion battery packs with these so My BI and all camera/switches/networking equipment can run I think 6 or 7 hr+ non stop.
 
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If you’re a Costco member they have a few of the smaller APC UPS units going for a very reasonable price.

Last I saw the 1500 model pure sine wave was under $145.00 and 750 (PWM) was under $69.00. Both offer USB connection and include their PowerChute software to view stats and manage shut down sequence.
 
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Thanks for the suggestions!

I love the $1500 one...LOL....but unfortunately overkill for me I think.

I did realize that the way I am setup right now, I can put the BI computer and the POE switch on the UPS.....but that two of my cameras are on powerline adaptors......so they wouldnt work if the power goes out.
 
I agree with everyone on APC products/UPS. I have had very good luck with this vendor. One thing I will say, don't ever buy Cyber Power UPS/products, they have terrible reliability. Cyber power cannot even make a passive power strip work. They also use the secure torx screws (pin in center) on some of their UPS, so they do not want you to replace batteries. They want you to buy a whole new unit, or buy the special secure torx drivers.
 
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I've used APC and CyberPower, both are not perfect, but definitely need to periodically monitor the battery health regardless

handinpalm said:
I agree with everyone on APC products/UPS. I have had very good luck with this vendor. One thing I will say, don't ever by Cyber Power UPS/products, they have terrible reliability. Cyber power cannot even make a passive power strip work. They also use the secure torx screws (pin in center) on some of their UPS, so they do not want you to replace batteries. They want you to buy a whole new unit, or buy the special secure torx drivers.
Click to expand...
 
Keep in mind with any battery backup ... if the internal battery dies, EVERYTHING attached to the battery backup rail will die as well.
With that said...I have a Cyberpower 1500 rack mount. It works without issues. Have used APC for years before the $$$ became too excessive, for phone systems at work.
I do not expect a 1500 unit of any brand to last a whole week running my Blue Iris machine as associated POE cameras.
Maybe rechargeable solar panels & batteries might serve better.
 
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I've used and installed almost every major vendor brand from APC, Cyber, Eaton, Tripp, etc. Which spans from point of use to server farms to support enterprise hardware. Every company has faltered in some way over the last 35 years. The only thing you can do is ask lots of questions and follow up on personal reviews from others for more insight.

People need to set realistic expectations about consumer vs enterprise class UPS systems as the cost(s) reflect what you're going to see. :thumb: Regardless, in 2021 there is really very little reason to purchase a PWM vs PSW UPS or a unit that incorporates PF correction. If people are price sensitive or finances are tight those are the only reasons to purchase a cheap PWM UPS.

At the end of the day it doesn't matter what brand or model of UPS you deploy so long as you set proper expectations. This is coupled with performing real world tests and validation as to how the system will perform during a grid down event. Batteries are consumables like sneakers and must be replaced on a regular interval to insure the listed run time will be seen. There are thousands of battery supplies who offer cheap batteries like lice. :facepalm:

Don't fall prey to buying and installing the same because you're just throwing good money out the door.

I have a small multi layered UPS system which is a long term money pit which I'm OK with as it serves a critical purpose within my home.
 
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SO I am looking at the APC 1500 units.....with powerchute.

3 minutes full load....enough to deal with a very short power outage but not much more.....powercute will shut down the PC to prevent data loss but nothing as far as if the UPC will power itself and the PC back on when the power is restored....
 
moparcruiser said:
SO I am looking at the APC 1500 units.....with powerchute.

3 minutes full load....enough to deal with a very short power outage but not much more.....powercute will shut down the PC to prevent data loss but nothing as far as if the UPC will power itself and the PC back on when the power is restored....
Click to expand...

You’ll need to go into the computers BIOS and define how the system will react based on a loss / restore of utility power. The three most basic is remain off, turn back on, last known state.

Once that has been defined power up the system wait for it to settle down. Then pull the plug to remove power and wait at least one minute. Insert the plug back into the outlet and confirm the system comes back up and all applications start up as expected.

The above step only tests whether your BIOS settings are correctly defined and operates as expected. Keep in mind it does not address short cycling so test out this very common edge case.

Meaning insert the power cord into a surge strip which has a toggle switch. This will allow you to quickly (rapidly) turn the power on / off / on to see how the system will behave.

You will probably see unexpected behaviour or not. In the best case the system will have enough stored power in the PSU / MOBO to buffer the short cycling and will continue to run fine. In the worst case when short cycling the system will hang and never recover. This requires a hard shut down of removing power for at least 60 seconds.

NOTE: Short cycling a old piece of hardware is extremely dangerous and can / will damage a PSU / MOBO that was teetering on dying anyways!

So use extreme caution to test and validate this important area.

Once that has been done hook up the new UPS. Configure the system with the runtime and when to power down the system. Test and validate the UPS conforms to your desired settings and everything comes up as expected. As others have noted you need to test whether or not the UPS will come back on with a fully depleted battery upon power restore.

Opposed to having to press / engage the power button on the UPS!

I have a small UPS system and test & validate every month to insure the expected run time and operations is seen.


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Well, for me now this whole conversation is moot.

I had delayed windows updates til today.....system was perfect for this entire month or more.

Windows was prompting me to restart to install the now mandatory updates.

Ok.

Closed BI.....restarted

Windows updated a while then an error saying it had an issue with a device but didn't say which.

And now the system won't boot up.

Tried to roll back updates and it would not.

Trying to restore to a previous config and so far it's not wanting to.

I am being livid right now.
 
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Yep, many of us do not allow Windows updates for that very reason....but then sometimes Windows will override our settings.

When you get it working, change your settings to only allow YOU to decide if and when you update and then cross fingers like all of us that Windows doesn't decide to override it one day.
 
My windows is home version 64 bit and that version (as far as I know) doesnt allow that...only to delay.......UUUGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!

That said, looks like my system drive is toast ---- mobo is not seeing it at bootup and it is making some fun noises during power up.......I am gonna go grab a SSDD drive locally and begin rebuilding I guess.

Couldnt have happened at a worse time.

Wish I had offloaded a copy of the config files.........
 
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