Monitoring Software

Not only will a UPS protect hardware but it will also implement voltage regulation to make sure your power feed is as stable as possible in your current environment. The Ultra 2000VA comes with a nice, easy to understand software package. All you need to do is hook the data probe from the UPS to any available USB port. Once you have installed the UPSMON package the software gives you a dashboard style display detailing input and output system frequencies and voltages, battery strength and UPS load levels in real time.

There is much more to the software than just the dashboard shown above. We will take a look at the different configuration options made available using UPSMON plus 2.743. If we look at the dashboard image above there are 8 option buttons across the top. Let’s take a look at the options each of the buttons offer going from left to right. The first takes you to the system configuration screen. It’s here that we tell the UPS the amount of time that will pass before the UPS carries out the desired instructions.

The second button will start the built in self-test feature of the UPS. After clicking this button the UPS quickly goes through a self test procedure and after completion we are greeted with a confirmation that the test was successful.

Next we have the com port button. Here the UPS can auto scan the port you are using; you can assign a specific com port to use, or you can opt to use a USB port for the communication between our UPSMON software and the UPS.

Now that we have configured our choice of data monitoring port we will move on to the schedule portion of UPSMON. The software allows you to configure schedules based on monthly, weekly, or daily operating routines and requirements.

We have the option to run various tasks without having to be present to monitor what’s going on. We can define a time for our UPS to run through a self test routine, a startup or shutdown routine. The last thing to look at is how long the UPS will power our test system after pulling the plug to simulate a power failure.

The next feature to look at is the Record Viewer. As you would guess this tool records the actions that the UPS experiences over a timeline. You can go back and look at this data to see how the device worked during power interruptions.

In the image above left we can see the timeline and some subtle changes to our voltages. In the image above right you can see how the record viewer reacted to us pulling the power.

As we continue through the options the next thing is the Event Viewer. This section keeps a running numeric record of things that happen to affect the UPS. This tool is extremely useful since you can see the day, date and exact time of each startup/shutdown or power interruption experienced by the UPS.

The last two features we will look at are how to configure your UPS pager feature to call your pager if a failure happens when you are away from your workplace. The other is how to configure email triggers when any power related issues occur.

Any system that has a modem installed can be configured to call your pager. If you have more than one pager you could setup certain serious errors to call a specific pager and issues of interest that did not require immediate attention could call your other pager number.

The last thing we have is the option to have email sent to keep on top of things. When any power interruptions are experienced the UPSMON software will quickly send an email to the necessary recipients. We can configure different messages for each level of importance and send them to multiple email addresses also if required.