UPS for ReadyNAS 6 + ReadyNAS Duo

I haven't used an APC, though there are many here who do. I've used two CyberPower CP1350AVRLCD UPS for a year or so, and have been happy with them.

If you are running ultra/pro or the older sparc V1 products, the NAS can be set to monitor the UPS state over the network (from the other NAS, or from some other device that runs the NUT package). I've done this with one UPS, which is connected to my two backup ReadyNAS. Last time I checked, this feature was not available for the V2.

If you use this configuration, you need to make sure your switch is also protected by the UPS, since you need to keep the network connection alive when the main power fails.

Thanks.

Yes, my ReadyNAS Duo is a v1 - that's the one you mean, right?

So if I've understood the setup - the UPS will be connected via usb to the ReadyNAS Pro, and then that is connected to the network.
And then the ReadyNAS Duo which is also connected to the network can be configured to monitor the UPS over the network.
Did I get that right?

That particular CyberPower UPS you mentioned is a bit more pricy than I was hoping for - currently £185 on Amazon UK. For that price I could get a really decent APC as well. But it does look powerful - 810 Watt / 1350 VA - so I presume one of those is more than enough for what I would need and probably a lot more? I really don't understand what the actual requirements are for these ReadyNAS devices.

Yes that's right.

All you need is a UPS that can take the load of the ReadyNAS devices plus your router/switch. The NAS only needs a minute or two to shutdown in the event of a power failure.

Thanks. So that's what I'm trying to work out - what is the load of my ReadyNAS 6 + ReadyNAS Duo combination? What is the load of those devices individually? Do you base this on the actual power supply rating (I think the ReadyNAS Pro is 300W?), or do you base it on some average expected load that people have actually tested for and observed? Sorry, I just have no clue about how to correctly guesstimate my power requirements. Can anyone give me any actual numbers to go on?

I'd base it off typical usage. See hte Comparison Charts

Do allow some extra for the router/switch and for usage going above typical levels. Also for optimal battery life you shouldn't load the UPS over 80%

The CyberPower units appear to be a lot cheaper in the US.

mdgm wrote:
I'd base it off typical usage. See the Comparison Charts Do allow some extra for the router/switch and for usage going above typical levels. Also for optimal battery life you shouldn't load the UPS over 80%

Yes. Also keep in mind that the drives can take a lot of the power. You can probably find what the Hitachis use if you google on the drive model, if I remember correctly they used more than average.

My units indicate the power draw on their LCD panel - if APC has a model in your budget that does that it is a handy feature. Then if you discover the load is higher than you thought you can get a second unit later on.

I went way overkill and the load on my UPS is pretty low. I have about an hour of runtime in the event of a power failure. Not bad as that should easily be longer than some brief power failures. Maybe a few times a year there might be failures longer than that where I am.

Great advice, thanks guys. Ok I've done some more research.

First, on the ReadyNAS themselves - the official comparison published by Netgear puts the (newer generation) devices at 24.2W for the Duo and either 74W or 82W for the Ultra 6 (measured with 6 x unspecified 2TB drives), so I'll assume my older generation devices are not much different. I found another thread where someone had checked the actual reported UPS power draw on their Duo v1, and clocked it at 30-35W:

http://www.readynas.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=62662

Now, about the drives - you're definitely right - the Hitachi 7K3000's I have apparently give better performance at the cost of quite a bit more power consumption - according to this report, 9.1W each at idle, and 10.1W not idle:

http://techreport.com/review/20562/hitachi-deskstar-7k3000-3tb-hard-drive/9

That's about 50% more power consumption than the 3TB WD Caviar Green drives :( maybe I should have thought about that before dishing out for these, oh well it's a bit late now.

So I assume we can add this all up to get a reasonable guess-timate? My Duo has normal 2TB WD Caviar Greens (WD20EARS) so I'll assume I have the expected power consumption on that - let's say not worse than 35W the guy above found. For my Pro with 6 of these Hitachi drives, let's say it's 6 x 10W = 60W, plus whatever overhead for the device itself. Assume the worst case from above, 82W, minus the nominal usage of WD Caviar Green 2TBs which could be at least 6W each, so that gives us 6 x 6W = 36W. So subtract the 36W and we can say our ReadyNAS Pro on it's own might get up to 46W. Then add our Hitachi drives 60W, and that gives us 106W. I think I'm being pessimistic here. Also, checked on the GS108T switch, looks like less than 8W max. Then let's say I've got a 90W (worst case) laptop charger also.

So add it all up, for worst expected normal consumption:

ReadyNAS Duo + 2x2TB WD Caviar Green drives : 35W
ReadyNAS Pro + 6x3TB Hitachi drives : 106W
GS108T Switch : 8W
Laptop : 90W

So far we are up to 239W expected consumption.

Consider worst case absolute maximum requirement:

ReadyNAS Duo : 60W
ReadyNAS Pro : 300W
Switch : still 8W
Laptop : still 90W

That gets us up to 458W. I assume we can't possibly exceed that, right?

So I guess this means we need something capable of providing 5-10 mins backup at least for up to about 250W, and handling perhaps a max spike up to 450W? Or do I not really care about the maximum consumption?

Am I thinking in the right way about all of this? Do I need to be considering VA instead of just Watts? Since UPS seem to be rated in VA...

If your router dishes out the IP addresses you'll want that on the UPS as well.

Oooh, really? Ok that's a problem - my router is in a different room (and I run a very long cable to connect them). So I guess that means if the router goes down the two devices on the switch will lose their connection? Sorry, probably a dumb question..