Picking a Battery Backup - aka - UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

Video:

My Recommendations:

The Purpose of a UPS:

The whole point of a UPS is to turn off your sensitive devices when the power goes out.  It provides just enough power for you to save your work and shutdown.  

They are not meant to turn your Desktop PC into a Laptop.

On the models I've listed.  You must connect your PC via a USB cable (each backup only supports one device) to the UPS.  The software installed on your PC:  https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/software/power-panel-personal/ 

Communicates with the UPS.  And will trigger a system call on your PC to shutdown

Choosing a UPS:

Ask yourself the following:

1. How powerful is my PC?
2. 1. How much of PC's capacity do I use? 
      (Your PC uses more power depending on what you're doing)
3. How many devices am I going to run on this UPS?

At any given time your PC is using 100-200 watts of power.  If you are doing something like CAD or gaming.  Your PC is using more power.  

Average max power usage of a PC by type:

Setting up the UPS:

You just plug it in and then press and hold the power button.

The Software:

​CyberPower​ offers the following types of software:

• Personal / Home Office: "Power Panel Personal"
• • https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/software/power-panel-personal/
  • Made to manage a single PC/UPS.
  • It's free.
    
• Fleet / Business: "Power Panel Business"
• • https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/software/power-panel-business/
  • Made to manage fleets of Network Connected UPSs.
  • Requires license purchase.
• Fleet / Business / Enterprise:  "Power Panel Cloud"
• • https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/software/power-panel-cloud/
  • Manage any UPS from a secure Cloud Portal:
  • • Android/iOS App
    • ​Web App:  https://powerpanel.cyberpower.com/login
  • UPSs that don't have builtin network capabilities use locally installed "Power Panel Personal or Business" to connect to the cloud.

Setup of PowerPanel Personal:

1. Download and install.
2. Connect your UPS via USB to the "USB-B" port:
   
3. Open the software:
   
4. Click on Settings​ then Runtime​:
   
   

If you have multiple devices connected to battery backup.  Increase the default time.

At the point you have 10min of battery life left.  This will trigger your PC to shutdown (which can take a few minutes).

5. [OPTIONAL] Connect your device to PowerPanel Cloud:
   
   

Click the link under "Activate to Get Free Trial".

Or go here and buy a license:  https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/products/software/power-panel-cloud

The cost is $12/year per device.  (there's bulk discounts)

Note: Cloud monitoring can be preformed on the device if you have a network managed UPS like this one:

Networkable UPS and don't forget the Network Card​

6. [OPTIONAL] Setup email notifications:
   
   

To use this, you will need an email that supports regular authentication, or setup "App Passwords" for your email account.

Gmail & Outlook would require you to use an "App Password".

Other email services, like the one that get from your ISP, may allow you to use basic authentication.