Brendan Miller (brmiller@netgate.net)
Thu, 29 Apr 1999 23:49:44 -0700
On Thu, Apr 29, 1999 at 10:55:54PM -0600, Michal Jaegermann wrote:
> Ron Farrer wrote:
> >
> > I don't want to start a flame war here, but which product is better
> > (excluding the NDA bit with APC); one from APC or one from Best Power?
>
> Best Power had always a good attitude and was helpful to Linux users
> with information and support. There were number of skirmishes with APC
> which was creating all kind of obstacles. Make your own conclusions.
I second this sentiment. I purchased two Best UPSs a year plus ago when
i needed the same protection that everyone else needs. I chose Best
based on the current wisdom that they were Linux-friendly and APC, et. al.
were not. They provide source to their monitoring daemon, which, while
not as sophisticated as the Windows software, gets the job done. It also
is a good start for understanding how the UPS communicates with the host.
But you don't even need to reverse engineer the source code--I called
BestPower the next day and asked for the technical specifications manual.
They shipped 50 photocopied pages FedEx *next-day* and I was on my way
to coding bliss.
P.S. I still haven't finished my UPS monitoring program (I was going to
do a big X interface and everything to "compete" with their Windows
software), but that's not the point. Best supported me in my quest to
use open source software and open spec hardware by providing me the
details I needed and being their to ask questions of--I don't think I
could ask for more from a hardware company.
Also, I have asked them recently if they plan any GUI utilities for
configuring/monitoring UPS status under Linux. They haven't the resources
to commit to that now, but they did say that they are interested in what
the Linux/UNIX community wants. They were definitely going to consider
it. Get this--I emailed my simple request to the basic support address,
and got a reply from THREE different people--all technically knowledgeable.
Now that's service. I'm convinced, Best is BEST!!
Brendan
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b3 on Fri Apr 30 1999 - 00:00:14 PDT