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We have render servers that don't need to be on battery backup but we'd like to protect from power surges and being under-powered. I came across this power conditioner which will block surges and turn off power if it's being under-powered. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16842101432

My only reservation is that it says it's for "AV" usage. I just want to make sure it's adequate to use with these servers that reach 2.67 Amps and 120.5 Volts at load.

Copy Run Start
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1 Answers1

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Broadly speaking, all power conditioners do the same thing (run electricity through a buffering filter bank so what comes out is pretty and clean) - they're basically one stage of a UPS.
The APC (or any other quality brand) "Audio-Visual" power conditioners will work fine as a surge suppressor / line noise filter for computers.

That said, for only about twice the price of that power conditioner you can get a good UPS rated for nearly the same load, which will block surges, boost the line power if it's being underpowered, and give you a few minutes to power down your equipment if you lose power.

Given the choice I'd pay for the UPS: The first time you have a long render job that finishes on battery instead of having to start over when the power comes back on you'll be glad you did.

voretaq7
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  • Thanks, that's the answer as I was looking for. As for the second part of your answer, I don't think it's feasible. There are about 50 nodes in the render farm and it would take a huge battery to power those things to finish even one render job. We also have limited space on the server rack. Just enough for 6 of these 1U conditioners. – Copy Run Start Mar 22 '13 at 18:39
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    @CopyRunStart If your power loads are that high you may want to consider a datacenter grade (free-standing) UPS or power conditioner instead - 6 power conditioners (or UPS banks) can suck a good amount of power on their own, and generate heat. You'll get better efficiency if you can consolidate. If you can't consolidate you can certainly make do though. – voretaq7 Mar 22 '13 at 21:38