to be clear:
the UPS was not working and wasn't hooked up properly anyway. A
UPS needs to tell the computers it's powering that the power has failed so they
can safely shut down before power goes off.
I found that UPS at a goodwill for $7 and Robb supplied the battery.
At the time it was better than having no UPS at all because it
protected us from brief brownouts. If you can find us a better one,
Omni will pay for it.
OK i didn't know that. It's possible that the beeping was because too much
power was being routed through the UPS; there were three things plugged into it
and i didn't know what they were.
The battery is on the main table (or perhaps with the UPS) and the UPS is near
the server rack, in case anyone wants to try it again.
i'll keep an eye out for a better one with USB
-jake