01-13-2013, 11:59 PM
Goodman,
If your goal is to protect your equipment from electrical surges, then you want a quality surge protector. These don't come cheap. However, if you want something that'll protect your equipment during a brownout, power flicker, power outage and/or surge, then you want a quality UPS. The type and size of UPS is dependent upon your equipment and budget.
The Macbook is a non-issue since its got a battery. It'll keep going in the event you lose juice. The rest of the items on your list aren't power intensive except for possibly the monitor and the scanner and that depends on the type of monitor (CRT vs LCD) and scanner. Possibly.
I can't give you a size recommendation because of the unknown factors. However, look for these items:
1. You'll do fine with a standby model, i.e. APC Backups. Line-interactive models like a SMARTups series are overkill for the circumstances.
2. Make sure the unit has automatic voltage regulation. This helps clean the juice being sent to the devices. Common on many standby models but rare on the cheap low-end models. It's a worthwhile feature. Make sure the unit you purchase has it.
3. If possible, purchase one with sine-wave output. Not common on the lower end models from APC. Becoming more common these days. You'll likely find it on a Cyberpower model before you'll see it on APC models in a similar price range.
4. Make sure the UPS has ample outlets including space for wall wart style AC adapters. The number of outlets in general and, of those outlets, the number of battery/surge protected outlets vs surge only outlets can be an issue. The sheer number of items you want to protect may dictate to two or more smaller UPSs vs a single large UPS. For example, connect all of the networking equipment to one UPS. Connect the display and drives to the other UPS.
It won't matter which UPS has the Macbook since the computer has a battery already. I wouldn't worry about connecting the scanner to a battery/surge outlet since in the event of an outage, short or long term, I deem it unlikely you'll be doing anything with it. You'll be shutting down your hardware or stopping the scan and starting it again at a later time.
FWIW, most of my networking hardware is protected by three a Cyberpower 685va UPSs that have AVR. One has a switch and two vonage boxes, an HP all-in-one and my wife's HP laptop connected to it. The computer and printer are on surge only outlets. The rest on surge/battery backup outlets. The UPS is overkill for the job. The other has the FIOS modem, a Mac Mini and a Drobo connected to it. I wouldn't go less than 685 va because these need to be powered for as long as reasonably possible during an outage. The third has a MoCa adapter, FIOS DVR and Playstation 3 connected to it. For these items, I wouldn't go less than 685 va because some need to be powered for as long as reasonably possible during an outage.
None of the Cyberpower UPSs have sine-wave output, just step-wave. This is because at the time of purchase, UPSs with sine-wave output was prohibitively expensive. That and I didn't have the MAc Mini and Drobo at the time of purchase. Most of the stuff was readily replaceable at reasonable cost. However, as these UPSs wear out (and/or need new batteries), they will be replaced with models that offer sine-wave output.
My Mac Pro and display are protected by an APC SMARTups 1500 va. These are my most expensive pieces of hardware and not as readily replaced as the rest of my tech. That and both Apple and APC said the Mac Pro should be protected by a UPS that offers true sine-wave output. APC SMARTups models were the sine-wave output UPSs of choice at the time. So, I dropped the bucks for one of the big boys.
Hope that helps,
Robert
If your goal is to protect your equipment from electrical surges, then you want a quality surge protector. These don't come cheap. However, if you want something that'll protect your equipment during a brownout, power flicker, power outage and/or surge, then you want a quality UPS. The type and size of UPS is dependent upon your equipment and budget.
The Macbook is a non-issue since its got a battery. It'll keep going in the event you lose juice. The rest of the items on your list aren't power intensive except for possibly the monitor and the scanner and that depends on the type of monitor (CRT vs LCD) and scanner. Possibly.
I can't give you a size recommendation because of the unknown factors. However, look for these items:
1. You'll do fine with a standby model, i.e. APC Backups. Line-interactive models like a SMARTups series are overkill for the circumstances.
2. Make sure the unit has automatic voltage regulation. This helps clean the juice being sent to the devices. Common on many standby models but rare on the cheap low-end models. It's a worthwhile feature. Make sure the unit you purchase has it.
3. If possible, purchase one with sine-wave output. Not common on the lower end models from APC. Becoming more common these days. You'll likely find it on a Cyberpower model before you'll see it on APC models in a similar price range.
4. Make sure the UPS has ample outlets including space for wall wart style AC adapters. The number of outlets in general and, of those outlets, the number of battery/surge protected outlets vs surge only outlets can be an issue. The sheer number of items you want to protect may dictate to two or more smaller UPSs vs a single large UPS. For example, connect all of the networking equipment to one UPS. Connect the display and drives to the other UPS.
It won't matter which UPS has the Macbook since the computer has a battery already. I wouldn't worry about connecting the scanner to a battery/surge outlet since in the event of an outage, short or long term, I deem it unlikely you'll be doing anything with it. You'll be shutting down your hardware or stopping the scan and starting it again at a later time.
FWIW, most of my networking hardware is protected by three a Cyberpower 685va UPSs that have AVR. One has a switch and two vonage boxes, an HP all-in-one and my wife's HP laptop connected to it. The computer and printer are on surge only outlets. The rest on surge/battery backup outlets. The UPS is overkill for the job. The other has the FIOS modem, a Mac Mini and a Drobo connected to it. I wouldn't go less than 685 va because these need to be powered for as long as reasonably possible during an outage. The third has a MoCa adapter, FIOS DVR and Playstation 3 connected to it. For these items, I wouldn't go less than 685 va because some need to be powered for as long as reasonably possible during an outage.
None of the Cyberpower UPSs have sine-wave output, just step-wave. This is because at the time of purchase, UPSs with sine-wave output was prohibitively expensive. That and I didn't have the MAc Mini and Drobo at the time of purchase. Most of the stuff was readily replaceable at reasonable cost. However, as these UPSs wear out (and/or need new batteries), they will be replaced with models that offer sine-wave output.
My Mac Pro and display are protected by an APC SMARTups 1500 va. These are my most expensive pieces of hardware and not as readily replaced as the rest of my tech. That and both Apple and APC said the Mac Pro should be protected by a UPS that offers true sine-wave output. APC SMARTups models were the sine-wave output UPSs of choice at the time. So, I dropped the bucks for one of the big boys.
Hope that helps,
Robert