UPS for FCP MAC PRO 8 core

V

va-vid

Member
I am new to MAC and FCP. I want to put a smart Uninterruptable Power Supply on the MAC (snow leopard) so it will listen to the UPS and gracefully stop rendering if I am not around when the power goes off. I've done considerable research and talked to the Apple store people and no one seems to be able to say this one and this one work but that one won't when it says it will etc.

Does anyone have experience with this?
 
The APC uninterrupted power supplies come with software that allows you to connect your Mac to the UPS via USB. Their literature says that this will shut down your Mac automatically in the event of a power outage. I haven't bothered to set this feature up on my system, so I can't say personally whether it works or not, but I think that APC generally provides pretty good products, so it may be worth researching their stuff a little further.

Kevin
 
+1 for APC. As long as it's a model from the middle of the range, I've had some problems with the lower-end ones.
 
I have a couple of APCs, both 1500 models. One powers my Mac Pro (early 2008 with 10GB RAM, two 24" displays, and four hard drives. Works fine.

I'd caution you about the supplied software: It seems to be made for Windows and it also is at least five years old.

The nice thing is that Mac OS X (I'm running 10.5.8.) will recognize the UPS when you plug it in. An option will appear under "Energy Saver" in your System Preferences specifically for UPS. It will show you options for the APC UPS including "shut down when UPS has x % power left," "shut down when UPS has x minutes left," etc.

I hope this helps.
 
I recently purchased the APC XS1300 for my Mac Pro, three external drives and monitor. Works fine. The Mac automatically did see it, and I didn't need the APC software, apparently.

The key element is making sure you have enough power to drive the amount of wattage you are putting into the UPS. Adding up all your watts will give you the answer. (short story there). Take your MacPro from the power supply rating, your hard drives etc. Likely you will need a unit rated for 800 watts or more. If you buy too cheap a unit, you will not have enough running time to shut down properly. I ended up paying about $160 for the unit. Let's be clear, there were cheaper units from brands I've never heard of. APC has been around for a long time, decades in fact, and supplies backup to huge data centers as well as little shops. My last APC unit lasted almost 8 years, and never gave me a problem. The last thing I wanted was to have my unit fail on me because some company had a cheaper solution that didn't work when the power failed....
 
Buy an APC, and make sure it has enough wattage to support the MacPro, underwatted UPS's can cause kernel panics or atleast did back in PowerPC days.

I can even suggest a vendor for you:

buyuptime.com

The discount 10% of the offical APC website store and don't charge shipping last I bough, as these battery packs are heavy.
 
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