How long can I run my RAID on UPS power?

[Boomzilla]

I have a Synology 2-disc RAID drive connected to my audio system via hard-wire Ethernet. I recently got a CyberPower 450VA ("True Sine wave") UPS.

Approximately how long will the RAID run on b[/font]attery power before the UPS is depleted?

[marcl]

Aug 18, 2024 10:29:13 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

I have a Synology 2-disc RAID drive connected to my audio system via hard-wire Ethernet. I recently got a CyberPower 450VA ("True Sine wave") UPS.

Approximately how long will the RAID run on battery power before the UPS is depleted?

Not sure how your UPS works with displaying stats ... but with mine, when the power goes out it displays how many minutes it will power all that is connected to it.  I have my PC, Synology NAS and one monitor.  So maybe if just the Synology is connected, if you pull AC from the UPS it will tell you?

I have the 1500 and it says it will run all that stuff for 30-45min.

[AudioHTIT]

marcl’s method is your best estimate, but knowing what your NAS draws would be required to figure it out otherwise. My UPS’ will give you that number, even when running on power.

[millst]

I wouldn't be too aggressive with an automatic shutdown time on the NAS. While that duration may be accurate now, the battery will degrade and you'll get less runtime. I'd guess around 20-40% depending on how badly the battery has been beat up.

For me, I just go with a 5 min shutdown time. We don't lose power often. If we do and it hasn't come back within a few minutes, it's probably going to be a while. If the grid isn't as stable by you, then it makes sense to push things more.

[novisnick]

Boomzilla of all people to ask this question I’m surprised. The man that has made his living advocating best practice methodology has once again took me by surprise. Best practice is to shut it down and wait for the grid to come back up. UPS are designed to get you out of trouble by not loosing your work and not to see how long you can push that envelope. LOL Take a little advice from everyone here but beware of finding that point of no return. 🫠

OK, I had my fun. Find the pow consumption of everything plugged into the UPS, power available when new. Take 25% off the top for battery degradation and do the math.  Hope you find your answer .

[Boomzilla]

What prompted the purchase of this UPS? I was in Denver recently and wife called me on the cell saying that our house had a power failure. No big, said I - either the power will come back promptly or I'll call a neighbor to come over and start the generator (our generator is a portable, gasoline powered one). As it turned out, power came back promptly.

Minutes later, I got an email from "Godzilla" (the name of my RAID drive) - it said "Godzilla has unexpectedly shut down causing the possibility of data loss. Quit being a cheapskate and buy our UPS!"

Well, OK, not exactly that, but you get the drift... I don't need the RAID to run during a power failure but for the time it takes me to manually (safely) shut it down. I think that CyberPower offers a free power-failure-autoshutdown program that I'll get. So long as the UPS lasts long enough to shut down the drives, I'm good.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm 99% confident that what I've got is fine. But if it isn't, I have other backups in different places.

[KeithL]

MOST "larger" UPS offer the ability to signal your other equipment to shut down automatically.
(And I would assume that most modern ones do this via USB... although many older ones used RS-232... )

My main advice here is to plan carefully...
You don't want to find out AFTER you buy something that it can't talk to something else you want to use it with.
(There really is not a good standard for "things telling other things to shut down".)

Note that:

1.
The other device, for example the computer or the Roon, must also support this.
Some may or may not support this option. (It can also be done in different ways.)
The important thing is that everything has to be "compatible"...
For example, if your Roon box runs their O/S, then your UPS has to have a software module that runs on the O/S...

2.
Think of this option like using Triggers...
If you want multiple devices to shut down automatically then they ALL have to receive and handle the shutdown message.
So either the UPS has to be able to tell ALL of them to shut down...
Or some may relay the message to others...

3.
The capacity you need will obviously depend on what you connect to the UPS that's handling the shutdown.
So, for example, the Roon box, and the computer, really want to be able to handle remote shutdown...
But a monitor won't usually mind if you just pull the plug...

4.
Obviously things like notification options and types of hardware connections vary widely between models and brands...
And some UPS manufacturers probably offer "software upgrades" to support shutting down more devices or fancier notifications.

5.
As for time...
A UPS can USUALLY run what it has to for at least five or six minutes...
And you should obviously get double or triple what you need to account for things like battery wear...
MOST UPS can be configured to "order a shutdown when a certain number of minutes of run-time remain" ...
(Basically they order a shutdown, NOT when the power goes off, but when the batteries are nearing empty.)
This avoids unnecessary shutdowns for momentary outages while ensuring that the system shuts down "when the batteries are getting close to empty"...

[LuisV]

Aug 18, 2024 10:29:13 GMT -5 Boomzilla said:

I have a Synology 2-disc RAID drive connected to my audio system via hard-wire Ethernet. I recently got a CyberPower 450VA ("True Sine wave") UPS.

Approximately how long will the RAID run on battery power before the UPS is depleted?

Hey Boom... you didn't indicate which model NAS you have, so take a look here:

www.synology.com/en-global/compatibility?search_by=category&category=upses

Which 450va do you have as I didn't find a "pure sinewave" model; only similated:

www.cyberpowersystems.com/capacity-va/450-va/

That being said, a 450va UPS may not last that long; however, the main purpose of the UPS is to allow the connected device to avoid a "hard" shutdown when power is lost.  If connected via USB, the UPS will tell the connected device to shut down gracefully when the UPS senses that it's power is being depleted.  

[Boomzilla]

The only device plugged into the UPS is the Synology RAID. Using CyberPower's monitoring app, it reports that the Synology is drawing a constant 18-19 watts, and that (at that load), I'll get 72 minutes of battery run time. More than enough for my purposes! The CyberPower app also monitors battery health, reducing run time estimates as the battery ages, and will warn me that battery replacement is advisable when run time drops below what I set the alarm at. And, of course, once I've figured out how to do it, I'll set the app to power down the RAID when needed.

[AudioHTIT]

You couldn’t have included that in the OP?