CyberPower Office Rack Mount OR1500 Professional 1U Uninterruptible Power Supply

Any system administrator of a company with its own IT infrastructure knows how expensive one space in a server rack can be. Even if a rack or cabinet is located in an organization's office, as the business grows, it fills up too quickly with routers, servers, NAS, PBXs, etc. At the same time, few people want to make their business dependent on the quality and stability of the voltage in the electrical outlet. Therefore, you often have to solve the problem - how to install an uninterruptible power supply of sufficient power so that it takes up as little space as possible? If the space allows you to install a floor-standing UPS, then we recommend reading our review of CyberPower PR1500ELCD UPS. But if you're limited to a server cabinet, choosing the right UPS won't be easy.

This problem manifests itself even more strongly in cases when you rent a server rack in a data center, or simply put a dedicated server there, and want to strengthen the power protection of your own UPS. Dismissing the question of the cost of renting one 1U space in the rack, you will face another problem - there is not enough space in data centers for a long time not only for floor-standing systems, but even for 2U equipment.

CyberPower introduces Office Rack Mount, the solution for those looking for a modern server-side uninterruptible power supply for 19 " rack. Its main advantages are load support up to 1500VA, lower power consumption, 1U format and low cost. This UPS is designed for small businesses: its low noise level allows it to be installed in the office, and the 1U height literally opens the way for all those who want to additionally protect their servers installed in data centers. Interestingly, neither APC nor PowerCom has a similar solution of such power, so let's see how it is attractive.

CyberPower Office Rack Mount OR1500

The first thing worth paying attention to is, of course, the supported load, up to 1500VA, a kind of record in the 1U class of uninterruptible power supplies. The manufacturer claims a maximum load power of up to 900 W, although given that professional equipment has high-quality power supplies with active power factor compensation, you can count on a power of more than 1 kW. The second is the low power of the UPS. This model belongs to the Green Label series, which we discussed in detail in CyberPower Review 1500. CyberPower For rack systems, this is especially true, since even in data centers there is a shortage of electrical power. As befits this class of UPS, the CyberPower OR1500ELCDRM1U model allows you to hot-swap batteries, without powering off the load, and for added convenience, an LCD screen is installed on the front side of the case, which displays diagnostic information about the power supply.

See below for detailed device specifications:

• Type: linear interactive uninterruptible power supply

  • Load: 1500VA
  • Approximate load power: 900 W
  • 3-stage AVR
  • Switching time is about 4 ms.
• Input characteristics
  • Input voltage: 165-270V
  • Input frequency range: 47-63Hz
• Output characteristics
  • Battery voltage type: approximated sine wave
  • Frequency on battery power: 50/60 Hz +/- 1%
• Overload protection:
  • Resettable fuse
  • Internal current limiting on battery power
  • Cold start capability
  • Built-in fans
• Battery
  • Four 6V/8Ah maintenance-free lead acid batteries
  • Charging time is about 8 hours
  • Battery cold swappable
• Diagnostics
  • LCD
  • Power LED
  • Audible alarms: battery operation, low battery, overload
• Connectors:
  • 1 RS-232 signal port
  • 1 USB port
  • 1 x RJ11/RJ45 universal pass-through for network/telephone wall protection
  • 4 IEC 320 C13 UPS
  • 2 protected non-redundant IEC 320 C13 sockets
• Physical parameters:
  • Black body color
  • Dimensions: 485x433x44 mm
  • Weight: 21 Kg
  • Operating temperature: 0 - 40 degrees Celsius
  • Working relative humidity: 0 - 95%
• Compatible with operating systems: Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP/Vista, MacOS
• Compatible with Windows 2003 Server/Linux Server Operating Systems
• Optional SNMP/HTTP card installation

In terms of characteristics, this model is almost identical to the already mentioned Value 1500E-GP series, but we still hope that the AVR transformer is better tuned here. But the number of power outlets was a pleasant surprise - two protected non-redundant outlets were added to the four protected redundant outlets, standard for rack-mounted UPSs with a capacity of 1000-1500 VA. The equipment connected to them will not burn out if the electrical surge occurs, but will not function if the power is turned off. It is quite possible to connect to them equipment that is not critical to shutdown, for example, an internal network router.

CyberPower Office Rack Mount Uninterruptible Power Supplies come in large, faceless cardboard boxes. Includes instructions, software CD and rack mount brackets.

Design, exterior, interior

Professional equipment, as a rule, does not differ in some design delights. The CyberPower Office Rack Mount is made from thick steel sheets in black for absolute rigidity. This UPS is rack-mounted using two screw-mountable brackets in the front of the chassis. As a result, it turns out that the entire load of the 21-kg structure falls on the front of the case, which means that it must be strong enough, more durable than that of servers, whose load, as a rule, is evenly distributed over the skids. I think the manufacturer could well add one more item to the list of features of its UPS if it called it “bulletproof.” But, this is not so important anymore.

Looking at the back of the UPS cabinet, we can see that all that small space allocated by the 1U format is used with maximum efficiency. Six power outlets, 4 of which remain energized in the event of a network outage, a slot for an SNMP/HTTP remote administration card, one 40mm fan, RS-323 and USB interface ports, an RJ11/RJ45 loop-through socket, a resettable fuse, and actually the power outlet of the UPS itself. Even straining my imagination, I can't think of something else to add here ...

The front panel attracts attention with a large LCD screen, which displays the main power supply parameters. To the right of this screen are two buttons - a switch and an LCD screen selector button. By clicking on the latter, you scroll on the screen such parameters as the estimated battery life of the connected equipment, input voltage, UPS load percentage, etc. Well, so that you do not accidentally press the switch at the same time, it is closed with a transparent plastic door. With such information content, any administrator, without looking at the instructions, will be able to understand whether the uninterruptible power supply is working in overload mode, how much its battery is charged, what to expect from it in the event of a power outage, and all this is right in the rack, without the need to connect to it from laptop via remote control.

The massive right side of the grille conceals access to the battery compartment. Let's try to remove the batteries to imagine how easy it will be to do it in the field.

Open and remove the front grille panel, behind which we find the next cover, but this time a metal one, holding on to two self-tapping screws. We unscrew them, remove the cap - and a plastic tray with batteries appears in front of us. The tray is screwed on with one more self-tapping screw, but even unscrewing it, it doesn't get any easier: the tray simply cannot be removed. I cannot say how easy it will be to remove the battery from the UPS installed in the rack, but even after several procedures of removing the batteries, we still could not figure out the secret algorithm of actions that the manufacturer implied for us. Well, in the end, after disconnecting the terminals, the batteries are in our hands.

CyberPower Office Rack Mount 1500VA UPS contains 4 B.B. batteries. Battery HR9-6 with a capacity of 8 Ah each. You can easily find these batteries on the market if you need them.

Let's continue studying the uninterruptible power supply device and open its case.

Pay attention to the huge autotransformer Chuan Shun Electric TL2-0000012-00, which occupies, perhaps, a third of the internal space of the UPS. Its three pairs of windings are arranged in a row to fit into a low 1U package.

The assembly and the quality of installation of electronic elements are not satisfactory. The only thing that is confusing is the cooling, which is assigned to one 40mm fan. For such a device, this is clearly not enough, but we can check whether this is true or not only during testing, which we will now proceed to.

For testing, we used a stand from Microdeep, which we use to study the capabilities of ATX power supplies. With the help of this stand, we can set with sufficient accuracy the load that our UPS will supply.

Naturally, we need a power supply. The cheap one won't cope with our load, so we will use Topower TOP600SG with active power factor compensation. It will be the link between the uninterruptible power supply and the load stand. We connect the power supply to the UPS through the Sven Special extension cable, into which the VoltCraft Energy Monitor 3000 is connected. It will give us the opportunity to see what kind of load is already created by the power supply together with the test bench.

The uninterruptible power supply will be connected to the Variable Laboratory Autotransformer (VLA) through the same monitor, which will allow measuring its efficiency.

The LATR we use has a maximum output voltage limit of 250 V. But with an increased input voltage, we can raise the output voltage to 270V in order to understand how the AVR voltage regulation system works in an uninterruptible power supply. Let's start with it.

Honestly, AVR surprised us. The upper threshold for switching to backup power is too high, as a result, the UPS does not react in any way, even if the input voltage reaches 269 Volts, a threshold that some power supplies of the equipment may not withstand. As early as 270 Volts, the CyberPower Office Rack Mount 1500 VA switches to battery operation. It is clear that an increase in voltage to the level of 260-269 V (not higher) is a rather rare phenomenon, especially in data centers, and the likelihood that network problems will fall exactly in this voltage gap is extremely small, but still concerns remain. p>

Own energy consumption

One of the main advantages of CyberPower Office Rack Mount 1500 VA is the low power consumption. Let's check it out right now.

own energy consumption (grey - VA, blue - Wt)

In the charging mode, the uninterruptible power supply consumes 20.5 W, and in the nominal operating mode, when the batteries are charged, only 4.6 W (14.4 VA). This is a record figure among the uninterruptible power supplies that we have come across. Thus, for a year of operation without power interruptions, the UPS CyberPower Office Rack Mount 1500 VA will wind up the meter by 40.3 kW * h . At a cost of 2.37 rubles for 1 kW * h, the operation of one such UPS will cost you 95.5 rubles per year . Excellent performance.

Load and overload

It's time to test the load capacity of this UPS.

• At 1300VA , the uninterruptible power supply generated an overload error even on utility power, and did not even switch to standby mode.
• Having reduced the load to 1200 VA , we found that the UPS no longer gave an overload error, but when the mains power was turned off, it still refused to pull the load from its own batteries.
• Continuing to lower the load to 980VA , we found the threshold at which the UPS turns on the batteries during a power outage.

We will operate on batteries at a load of 475 W (678 VA), which corresponds to one or two servers and several network devices with external power supplies, which usually have a large phase shift.

At almost half load, the CyberPower Office Rack Mount 1500 VA UPS holds power for 4 minutes 12 seconds . This is quite enough to wait out a short-term power failure, and then programmatically turn off the server power, without losing data. Our fears about heating were justified - in such a short time, the autotransformer got very hot, and perhaps if the UPS also had front fans, it would be possible to increase the battery life and reduce the influence of the UPS on the temperature of neighboring servers.

We have already talked about the convenient software PowerPanel Personal Edition supplied with the UPS CyberPower Value. If you haven't read, please follow the link and we will round off.

The main advantage of the CyberPower Office Rack Mount 1500 VA is its ability to provide you with the maximum density of installation of equipment protected from power outages. Judge for yourself - in the 1U format, the manufacturer accommodated power schemes for loads up to 1500 VA (according to tests - up to 1200 VA), 6 electrical outlets in a 4 + 2 configuration, and even a port for an SNMP/HTTP module. Plus - the low cost of purchase and maintenance, due to almost imperceptible power consumption, which is very significant when installing several such UPSs.

As for the shortcomings, they include the inconvenience of replacing batteries in the field and too high a voltage threshold for switching to battery power. If you do not care that the sysadmin will hit your fingers when replacing batteries and if you do not believe that the voltage in the outlet will jump to a cut of 260-269 V and will hold in this interval long enough to damage the ultra-reliable power supplies of professional equipment, then CyberPower Office Rack Mount 1500 VA will be an excellent choice for those who need to save money on the purchase, installation and operation of a UPS.

Mikhail Degtyarev (aka LIKE OFF)
08/24/2008