Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPC) Software

No software, that is the good (PowerChute caused panics and trouble) and bad.

But you do I feel need a UPS in the 1300-1500VA range, whether APC or CyperPower or another brand. But you don't need to shell out for a SMART APC.

I have both and they work fine through outages. I even have an extra battery pack for the APC RS-1500 to provide an extra full hour.

On in Windows do both models have software, but it should be fine w/o. Just don't pull the plug from the wall outlet, that isn't the way to test.

And UPS has some threads on Mac Pro forum, and going back to 2003 when the G5s came out.

Profinite wrote:
Mac OS does have built-in software under Energy Saver preference pane for UPC's. But, does it allow control of saving unsaved documents prior to a shutdown?

If you mean automated saving of open documents, no. I've not heard of any such option; that would likely require getting into each application's inner works, to figure out what's in virtual memory for anything being worked on.

If you mean, will your Mac continue to run long enough for you to save things, yes, if you're nearby and there's enough juice in the batteries. You may see your lights, TV, etc., go out, but your Mac will send a message that power has failed, but otherwise just keep running. If your apps have autosave options, then any autosaved files will be on disk and not lost.

Since I do not yet own a UPC, I cannot tell what "options" are available under System Preference > Energy Saver > UPC > Options.

See: Using a U.P.S. System with a Mac.

Profinite wrote:
I truly appreciate the information you shared with me.

In case of power outage, here is my primary concern even with a UPS +*when I am NOT near my Mac*+.
Suppose that I have an open unsaved document and a power outage occurs.
As the UPS attempts to shut down the Mac, the application in which the document is open will present a dialog box asking if the document should be saved before the application quits. If no user interaction is provided, the application will remain open and this results in the Mac aborting the shutdown.

If this scenario takes place, the Mac will remain "on" and the UPC will run out of its battery juice.

Correct.

Does the shutdown in the Energy Saver preference pane mean a forced shutdown?

No. In that scenario, you will have an abnormal shut down when the battery power runs out, and lose any unsaved changes.

But surely you don't normally leave documents open and unsaved, in an app without an autosave feature in effect, and go too far away, do you?

Profinite wrote:
. . .
[1] The 2006 Mac Pro is rated at 250VA.

Really? That sounds awfully low to me. The Apple site says the current model takes a max of 12 Amps. I believe that means 120 volts * 12 amps = 1,440 VA. That's a max, of course, with everything running full blast, and yours may well be somewhat less. See: http://www.apple.com/macpro/specs.html

And that's for the Pro only; you need to add the power used by your display, and anything else you want to keep running.

[2] In your experience, too, do you believe that line-interactive is sufficient and double-conversion would be an overkill?

That's way over my head. 🙂 All I've ever had are the inexpensive ones. I suspect the less expensive ones will be fine, but I'm no expert.

The Mac Pro 1,1 has 865W while some (3GHz) have larger PSU, they all suffer from abnormal high inrush current on startup and wake from sleep requires SMART UPS 1000VA or RS/XS1300-1500VA.

Going by charts alone and APC configure guide isn't accurate.

As for what happens to open documents... some programs have auto save and shadow copies.

Saving the contents of RAM to disk is very helpful and nice but not all Macs in OS X have ability to use hibernation, they really should.

And if you have large enough UPS, like 1500VA or above, longer run time, your system can weather more than 10 minutes (and allow 5-10 minutes left, and never go below 10% left on battery).

Some people have used car batteries to attach to APC RS1500, I paid $130 for an APC hour-long battery pack and have 70 minutes runtime. I use it for storm outages to power lights etc too. Good investment in the end.

Great site for info, some use a ZeroSurge conditioner in front of their APC.
http://www.zerosurge.com/truthaboutmovs.cfm?PType=Res

Protecting DSL from surges
http://www.dslreports.com/faq/10431

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulse-width_modulation

Some people use a smaller 2nd UPS even for other equipment, worth looking into.

I can't load those links... so, I can tell you that I bought three CyberPower units from Amazon. 2 x 1350VA and one 1000VA and very happy.

Previously I was "APC only" esp. after a loud Belkin model that also failed early on. My APC RS/XS1500s are still working after over 5 yrs on each.

Chose CP for Energy Green Star and other features, and because feedback reviews on Amazon about newer APC models not getting 5 *'s and humming.

I think you are going to do fine. Good investments.