.... a Cyberpower brand UPS for my server. It has buttons that I can push to tell me the voltage, health of the battery, etc. These are available on Amazon and other places.
In looking for an alternative for APC for an SMB client with our enterprise group, we decided to try out CyberPower, and the results were positive enough that became their data-center standard when they did a hardware refresh. Better instrumentation on the front, and from a cost perspective we can get them with 2-day shipping on Amazon Prime and no sales tax, making their net cost lower than our cost via distribution.
The other question for the technical experts is how many surges can an APC 600 or other UPS handle before it goes bad? I wonder if this is why Jimmie's unit failed as we have power fluctuations and we have had several lightening storms this summer.
In theory, their durability should follow the same pattern as elastic versus plastic deformation; if you don't cook the power regulating circuit, they should last indefinitely. In practice, The batteries almost always go first. Better units have replaceable batteries, which means you don't have to buy the whole assembly again (or unrack it).
One thing to watch for is heat build-up or cell failure - I've had to pull apart racks/enclosures more than once where a cell failed and literally twisted metal.
