FreeNAS to shutdown windows PC when UPS has low battery.

[ces160]

Hi all,

 

I have a home FreeNAS machine and I was looking at getting a UPS to protect it if the power goes out. 

I found this one on sale 

 

http://www.apc.com/shop/au/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-1400VA-230V-AVR-Australian-Sockets/P-BX1400U-AZ

 

It seems good for the money but it only has one USB port for the shutdown signal when the battery gets low. 

I will connect this to the FreeNAS machine.

I found a guide online here

 

https://www.google.com.au/amp/s/www.cyberciti.biz/faq/how-to-install-apc-ups-on-freenas-server/amp/

 

As I want to have my main windows PC connected to the UPS as well, is it possible to have FreeNAS send a network signal to my windows PC and have that shutdown gracefully as well?

 

-Thanks!

 

[MarvinKurzweil]

First of all i think that 1400Va is too much for your needs. What are the specs of the two machines?

 

If the UPS has only one usb ports for monitoring the battery, i don't see how you could connect both of them.

 

At any rate, i have a setup very similar to yours, so here's my advice. My freenas machine and my vmware machine are connected to an APC Back UPS PRO 900, using a cable included in the box, which connects the data port on the ups and goes to the freenas box with usb (it's like a serial connection) This way i can monitor the ups battery throug freenas. Then i hooked up my main workstation / gaming box to another (smaller) ups, 700VA always from APC.

 

So, the ups PRO 900 would be actually enough if your main windows pc it's not that powerful, and if it is, or maybe it will be with a future upgrade, having two separate UPS i think is the way to go, because this way you can monitor both.

 

I coul be wrong, but this is the setup i went for.

 

Hope to be helpful