APC BackUPS CS500 UPS to Synology

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I have been using a APC Backup Battery ES 500 to protect my Synology during any power outrage (and yes, they do happen in Singapore too)…. it worked quite well a few times when my housing block had some power issues (yes, it is a new estate even…)… but the key issue is that I happened to be around at home when those outrages happened. So when they happened, I could manage to log on to my Synology (thank god for iPad and its battery and also because I use the UPS to protect my Cisco switch which allow the network to continue to run) and with the UPS ES500, it bought me enough time to shut them all down gracefully. Whether an abrupt shutdown will destroy the Synology is something I don’t wish to test. Now as I said, this is good (and cheap enough) if you happened to be at home or have someone at home competent enough to shut down the Synology.

Sometimes you are really not at home and when that happens, how can you shut down the Synology (and besides, you dun know about the power problem, do you)….

And that’s when another type of UPS such as APC BackUPS CS500 UPS comes into the picture. Like the cheaper ES500, during a power outage, the UPS will supply power to the Synology Product for a limited time. The main difference is that it will ALSO work with the Synology to automatically shut down the Synology gracefully without human intervention. This is because there is a 2nd link between the UPS and the Synology (and of course, the software in Synology) to communicate such a scenario in the shut down.

I bought the APC BackUPS CS500 even though it is NOT officially in the Synology approved list. It worked nevertheless 🙂

Unboxing first ! 🙂

APC BackUPS CS500

APC BackUPS CS500

APC BackUPS CS500

APC BackUPS CS500

APC BackUPS CS500

The accessories.. In my pack, I do not see a power cord for the UPS ! Yes, there is no power cord between the APC BackUPS CS500 and the wall power outlet.. they expect you to use the one that came with your Synology (or PC or Mac etc..).. WEIRD ! They did gave me TWO cords for use between the APC BackUPS CS500 and the gadgets you are protecting. These are the ones in GREY in the photos:
APC BackUPS CS500
APC BackUPS CS500

And the baby itself:
APC BackUPS CS500

APC BackUPS CS500

APC BackUPS CS500

The manual:
APC BackUPS CS500
APC BackUPS CS500

Before anything, you need to connect the battery inside the UPS. The instructions are clear.. the connection not so easy to do though (maybe it is my fat fingers and my bad eye sight :p)

APC BackUPS CS500
APC BackUPS CS500
APC BackUPS CS500

Connect this connector:
APC BackUPS CS500
APC BackUPS CS500

I mentioned earlier that there is a critical “2nd link” between the UPS and the Synology for the automatic graceful shut down. That’s this cable. Interesting cable. USB on one side (for Synology) and a RJ45 on the other side (for the APC BackUPS CS500)…

APC BackUPS CS500 UPS with Synology DS1511+

Okie Time to set it all up. Here’s the messy photo of how it all works 🙂
(ps: This is messy because i am setting up. Once it is set up, I use cable ties to tie it all up nicely, okie.. :p)


A = Power cord between your UPS and the wall outlet (i.e. where the electricity comes in)
B = Grey cord between your UPS and the gadget you are protecting, in this case, the Synology
C = The cable between your UPS and the Synology for the automatic shut down functionality

And on the Synology side, with the B and C indicated
APC BackUPS CS500 UPS with Synology DS1511+

And switching it on 🙂
APC BackUPS CS500 UPS

And the APC BackUPS CS500 UPS sitting with my Synology DS1511+ and Synology DX510 collection. You can also see the original APC ES 500 on the second shelf, right hand side. It is still being used to protect my PC and my CISCO switch…. those don’t need automatic graceful shut down 🙂
APC BackUPS CS500 UPS with Synology DS1511+

APC BackUPS CS500 UPS with Synology DS1511+

When I boot up my Synology and looked at the DSM (the front end software running the Synology), I was extremely disappointed that the UPS was NOT recognized and hence I thought I must have made a mistake. Surfing the web immediately, I found many saying that it worked for them and so I was quite surprised… anyway, I did the thing most will do. I unplug the RJ45-USB cable between the Synology and the UPS and then re-plug them in again.. and this time it works… so if it did not work for you the first time, try to un-plug and plug the cable again.

This is how it looked if it is working. The UPS support is enabled:
APC BackUPS CS500 UPS with Synology DS1511+

When it was first plugged in, it was about 92% battery status but after an hour, it is up to 100% so you know for sure the battery is charging and can be relied on (I hope :p)

APC BackUPS CS500 UPS with Synology DS1511+

And so it can last about 36.5 minutes before it is also completely flat.. good 🙂

Highly recommended 🙂

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8 Comments

  1. Hi there!

    Very well done and instructive post. I will soon do the same set-up for my Synology DS1512+ and its DX513 extension. I was surprised that you did not connect your DX510 extension to the UPS. Is it because you do not have one unique Volume defined in your Synology? Because I do, so I will connect this extension unit to the UPS too.

    Thanks,
    Claude

    • You are very right !!! 🙂

      In fact, after writing this article, i realized that i did not link my DX510 to the UPS and then realized that i should,.,. so I did that but did not blog about it. It went to one of the power socket in the UPS…

      Thanks for the comment. Appreciate your question 🙂

  2. Hi, many thanks too for that useful post! Yet another question: you own two NAS. did you manage to connect BOTH on the APC?

    Of course, your setup works for one device to backup, but when battery is low, it would be nice if both NAS know that battery is low …

    Perhaps an USB hub auto-powered would work, but unsure.

    Thanks!

    • yes.. when i had the DS1511+ and the DX510, I had both connected to the UPS.

      The UPS has several sockets at the back (you can check out the photos above) and the UPS has several cables supplied.. enough sockets and enough cables for 2 NAS 🙂

  3. Hi, just got the answer from Synology support, and the idea they gave me is excellent:

    0. Connect all power plugs to APC (yes, pretty obvious)
    1. Connect main Syno to USB plug of APC (RJ50 to USB cable)
    2. Configure main Syno as an SNMP server (thus sending an SNMP string when there will be a power outage).
    3. Configure secondary (or secondaries) Syno as (an) SNMP client(s), thus receiving SNMP strings form main Syno.
    4. Don’t forget to plug switch on UPS too. It is so obvious that I forgot that point 😉

    This way, it is possible to connect several Syno to only one APC, having all Syno knowing that there is a power outage.

    Before doing that, I have to find a battery for this APC (12V,7AH) and most important, an RJ50 with an USB plug, probably homemade (easy to find an USB cable on a recycle point, but hard to find an RJ-50 – yes, I don’t wanna purchase cables off eBay, since I’m not sure about their pinout).

    Hope this helps for anybody having this configuration!

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