Question 1

How long does the battery last from the time the power goes out.?

Accepted Answer

It all depends on what you are using at the time. I tend to start shutting down all equipment as soon as I can when power go out for more than a few minutes. My security DVR will stay running for about six hours on it own UPS with one monitor on. Add the max power all your equipment draws add 10% and you will get a ruff idea on run time. Battery age etc. make run times different.

Question 2

Can this UPS automatically shut down a pc AND a NAS server when power goes out?

Accepted Answer

I don't know.  It does appear to have the proper interface on the back panel although I have never used that feature.  It typically requires PowerChutes installed on the target device to receive the shutdown command from the UPS.

Question 3

Can you lay it down flat or does it have to be standing upright?

Accepted Answer

I don't see any reason why you can't. There are no vents on the sides that I can see so cooling wouldn't be an issue. I do have mine in the vertical position only because it fits my location better.

Question 4

What is your best guess of how long the battery lasts before it needs to be replaced?

Accepted Answer

I believe APC states to replace at 2 years.  We've seen them run 3+ years before they fail, but the capacity does dwindle over time, so a 2-year old unit may only run 60% of the original runtime, all other things being the same.  Lots of factors to consider, but that is what we have observed over years of deploying these in production environments.

Question 5

Would this power two dual socket workstations (two Opteron 6200s in each pc)?

Accepted Answer

Technically yes, your run time will probably not be great and it really depends on the total draw on the unit including CPU/Video/Monitor etc.  it will all need to be under 900 Watts total.  I would expect this will give you +/- 5 minutes run time with 2 machines, 2 monitors and that is all plugged in.

Question 6

Output type isn't specified (or I missed it under "Output").  Square wave?  Stepped sine approximation?  Sine wave?

Accepted Answer

APC says Stepped approximation to a sinewave. All I know is this baby has saved me have a dozen times since i bought it. My power is not optimal, it flickers on and off a lot and i've endured a couple of  hours long outages and it gives me lots of time to save files and shut down. I definitely recommend it.

Question 7

Could one of these  protect three gaming pc's?

Accepted Answer

If you know how many watts each PC is using, add those numbers up and as long as it's under 900, you'd be OK. Be sure to include the power draw of each monitor as well, because the monitor should be attached to the UPS. I have two machines attached and they're OK.

Question 8

i have a 1000w psu pc is this goin to work with my pc?

Accepted Answer

yes. The runtime on the battery will depend on the load your computer is putting on the UPS.
i.e. not very long at all if you are gaming while on battery backup power.

Question 9

Are the battery backup outlets also surge protected?

Accepted Answer

Yes.  The unit has 10 outlets.  5 are surge protected AND battery backup; the other 5 are surge protected only.

Question 10

Would this power two dual cpu servers? Opteron 6200's... so around 100W per cpu with 3 cpus total

Accepted Answer

I admit I am no expert on computing power needs, or backup units in general. But I will say that before purchasing this unit I put a fair amount of time into research, and also consulted with someone who DOES know more about this kind of thing than I do. I do believe that it could handle your needs. I have had zero issues with mine and it's under a fairly heavy load, albeit only for a single tower.

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