1) As everyone else said, every brand seems to have their own home-grown version. And most UPSes use the Serial Port by default. 2) RS232 is your serial port (this was also mentioned). 3) You have to remember, the seller's main mission is to "sell" their product. So naturally, they are going to play theirs up to be the greatest! Just check the specs, and compare the ratings (power out, surge current rating, etc). The packages can look pretty, but the numbers don't lie. I get decent time out of my UPS. In the past, I drained my 650VA and got close to 30min on 2 dualies (no Monitor). It really depends on what you are running. 4) When I buy a UPS, I stick to APC. I've used their boxes for a long time, and haven't had one fail me yet. I've worked in various data centers as well, and I always seem to find a bunch of APCs sitting in there as well! It's a great product (though expensive at times), and does an awesome job. I've currently got an APC 300VA, 650VA, and 1100VA. UPS boxes are mandatory in my book. Its sucks having to buy em, but you'll thank em the first time they save your arse! Heck, I just bought my 1100VA a week ago. On Saturday, I rebuilt my rack to incorporate the UPS. The next day I lost power for 3 minutes. Funny how it works I guess! Joseph Hobbs Compaq Web Services / GEAE Team Tier 2/3 Support | Team Lead Backup hobbsj@somecrazyfool.com Joseph.Hobbs@ae.ge.com -----Original Message----- From: Praise [mailto:praisetazio@tiscalinet.it] Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2002 5:18 AM To: suse-linux-e@suse.com Subject: [SLE] I am going to buy my first UPS Hi all, I have no experience with UPS, so here my questions are. 1) What kind of software should I use with the UPS? I want the PC to log when a power failure happen, and to turn off when the failure lasts too much. That software must work with serial port, as I do not have USB ports. 2) What is RS-232 connector? Is it common serial port? 3) How much sellers lie? I mean, I have seen some low cost UPS and sometimes they can resist longer than high cost UPS. I know that half load of a low cost one is much less than half load of a high cost one, but I do not find that information very trustful. So, guys and girls, how much does your UPS last? 4) What UPS do you have, and how is your life with it? Praise -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq and the archives at http://lists.suse.com