Ups

[DeadAddict]

UPS

Every computer should have one UPS (Uninterruptible power supply) connected to it to protect it from power surges using a ups will allow you to continue to use your computer for a short time and to save what ever you were working on at the time there are three basic types of Ups’s

Standby (fairly cheap)
The standby ups uses the Ac alternating current to charge the battery inside the unit when you lose power the ups kicks in and you still have power to your computer

Line interactive (Somewhat expensive)
It is basically the same as the standby unit but it has one added feature it has a AVR (Automatic voltage regulator) this automatically boots the voltage coming into you equipment in the event of a brownout (a power drop).

Online(most expensive)
The battery is always being charged and is always providing power to your computer so there is no transfer time when the power fails.

When you go out and buy a ups make sure it meets the UL Underwriter labs 1778 performance specs this is insures that the ups unit meets or exceeds the industry standard for surge protection and safety

These following things you should think about when picking out a ups

Volt amperes/Run time
The higher this number is the longer the battery will have juice in it. The actual battery time will be different for each system you buy one for Due to what things are drawing power from the battery Example Monitor, computer, external hardrive Etc

Software and USB connections
Some ups come with software that will interact with your computer through the USB cable the software allows you to chance settings on the ups Example it will automatically save any documents and shut down the system

Joule rating
This is the most widely used surge protection spec and probably the most misunderstood
Joules are how much energy the ups unit can absorb with out being damaged from a surge Example it is just like the circuit breakers or fuses in your house too much current is drawn though it and it breaks the connection. So the higher the Joule number the less likely you will have to replace your ups unit and ups with higher joule ratings are better at stopping a power spike from hitting your computer The internal ups has a component installed called the MOV this MOV prevents a power surge from jumping from the ups unit to your computer

Number and type of outlets
Check to see if the ups unit has enough outlets for your equipment all of the outlets have power surge protection but only a few provide power to your equipment. And also make a note of the size of the plugs that are going to be plugged in to the unit Example router power packs some speaker power plugs some of these are bigger than the regular plugs.

Diagnostic Indicators
These can be either Led’s or alarms these will tell you if the unit is properly grounded ,if it is running on AC or DC power and the most important if it is working properly the manual that comes with the unit will explain what colors mean what.

Examples

On Line (green)
The UPS is supplying power to the Battery Back-up
outlets.

Replace Battery (red)
This indicator lights up whenever the
automatic diagnostic test has determined
the battery is near the end of it useful life.

On Battery (yellow)
Utility power is outside acceptable
limits. The battery is powering
only the Battery Backup outlets. The expected
run-time for a typical personal computer (PC) is
19 minutes total.

Momentary Tone
A two second tone is sounded two
seconds after Normal power loss has
occurred. The UPS will continue to run without
an audible alarm until a low battery condition
is reached.

Overload (red)
Power demand has exceeded the UPS’s Capacity

Sustained Tone
this overload alarm is sounded until one or more
devices are disconnected from the
Battery Backup outltets and is reset by switching
the UPS Off and then On again.

Warranty and equipment insurance
Most ups’s come with a two or three year warranty and a insurance policy that pays you the replacement value of your equipment if the ups should fail to protect your equipment.

Thanks for reading this

[MrLinus]

And people should remember some hints:

1. Test your UPS regularly. I've dealt with one that had been around for aobut 10 years. Guess how long the battery lasted? It didn't. Damn thing died in 10 seconds.

2. Leave Emergency Procedures Manuals with appropriate staff. Nothing's worse than arriving on scene to resolve a power outage issue and you can't figure out how the hell the damned UPS works (this happened to me and since I was the closest and first one in, I got to deal with the UPS -- but since it was a cryptic Compaq one... )

[bpiedlow]

Good article overall, I just had a couple comments regarding problems we've come across:

Software and USB connections

Not all have USB connections, the one we just bought a couple months ago has a serial-port connection cable. So this is something people may want to be aware of which type of connection it has compared to what they want...

Number and type of outlets

As an extention to this line of comments, people also need to be very carefull of what 'type' of outlets it has when mail-ording a unit. We ordered one at the beginning of the summer, and due to the person not looking up what exact type of unit they were ordering. We ended up with one that all the plugins were Eurpeon outlets instead of American style...
(Boy did he have mud on his face that day)

RRP

[White_Eskimo]

hey guys i had a belkin ups for a while to power my 600 watt computer and it worked great and i could keep m¥ computer up and running for another 75 minutes after the power went out. However, my mom took it away from me a month and a half ago and told me that it had a manufacture defect. Anyways, i went back to my local computer store and i asked them about it. They were still selling them and hadnt herd of any manufacture defect. Anyways, i was just wondering, did anyone here get the same message my mom got? i guess she sent it in to belkin to get it checked. lol one day i get home from school and she took it to her office and i never saw it since. Anyways, ups are great things to have around especially if you live in an area with faulty power lines or PG&E is to lame to service there stuff

[nihil]

As a general rule, I do not recommend UPS for a domestic installation, unless you have a very poor power supply. I usually get by with surge protection, but that is the most likely problem over here. Brownouts are unusual.

In a commercial environment I consider UPS to be very important, you need enough time to be able to shut down in an orderly fashion. When you are looking at this you should consider "business continuation", and may like to invest in a standby generator as part of your package?

I would suggest two points of caution based on personal experience :

1. Beware "Site Services" and the bean counters. Before you know it they will have hooked up the telephone exchange, fire alarms, burglar alarms and the rest................the thirty minutes autonomy you thought you were buying suddenly becomes more like 30 seconds Best slide it in as part of an overall disaster recovery plan, and get them to pay their way?

2. Make sure that the location is well ventilated. If you have NiCad batteries and there is a problem, they give off a gas that causes cadmium poisoning................very nasty (White Eskimo........could that be the potential problem with your kit? a short circuit possibility?)

Lead acid accumulators are fine..............make sure that you have a hydrogen detector.............hydrogen plus oxygen plus spark = BANG!

MsM. is quite right about testing. I would go for the maintenance/service agreement from the supplier, they generally represent pretty good value for money.


Just my £0.02 worth

Cheers

[sysmin770]

Don't forget that cheap UPS's do not provide any line-conditioning. Down here in FL the power sucks outlets are constantly not providing enough electricity to the equipment. This causes strain on power supplies.

[IrIsHASSasIN]

UPS!......And leave The Driving To US!

[lick4th]

Thanks man, found out some stuff that i didn't know!