Best UPS

APC's Smart-UPS Powers To A Big Win

Of all the uninterruptible power supplies (UPSes) we've tested, American Power Conversion's Smart-UPS 700/PowerChute Plus leads the charge. The Smart-UPS 700 not only cuts the leading edge of power protection, its Power-Chute Plus software also delivers full management and control of powered environments. Although many of the UPSes we've tested had many new and innovative features, APC had the best combination of them.
Plug-in serial communications with Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) support and hot-swappable batteries are some of the APC Smart-UPS' physical features. The combination of these features and the degree of detail and completeness of the power-monitoring software and snap-in executable SNMP module for NetWare NMS 2.0 give APC an advantage.
PowerChute Plus, APC's power monitoring software, allows network managers to analyze and control the power situation and protect devices. And they can do this from any DOS workstation on the network. PowerChute Plus allows you to set virtually all UPS behavioral settings as well as alarms--an asset that lets administrators concentrate on other activities with peace of mind, knowing that their equipment is safe in the event of unfavorable conditions.
When it comes to UPSes, the ultimate goal of any administrator is to be able to install it, tune it to react in a certain fashion to any given condition and forget about it until something happens. APC's PowerChute Plus realizes this goal, since it runs silently on a NetWare 3 or NetWare 4 server until a power failure or surge occurs. It then leaps into action and ensures that any server protected by the UPS will be gracefully shut down within the timeframe established by the network administrator.

Smart-UPS 700, $549; PowerChute Plus, $99; American Power Conversion,
132 Fairgrounds Rd., West Kingston, RI 02892. (800) 800-4APC; fax (401) 789-3710.

Runners Up
PowerRite Pro, Deltec Corp., 2727 Kurtz St., San Diego, CA 92110. (800) 854-2658; fax (619) 291-2973.

Merlin Gerin Topaz/SV6, Merlin Gerin (Topaz SV6), 1660 Scenic Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
(800) 344-0570; fax (714) 434-7652.