Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

You’ve all probably heard of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS), but what about power monitoring software?

Power monitoring and shutdown software, a recent technological advancement in the UPS marketplace, was developed out of the demand for more sophisticated features from UPS power protection devices. Power monitoring software allows data center mangers and personnel to view information about power conditions in the form of statistical data and a graphical display. The software helps ensure that managers can control every aspect of the critical resources for businesses – such as file servers and multi-user computers.

Minuteman UPS/Para Systems (News - Alert), a leader in power protection technologies, makes sure that all of its UPSs (except Pro 2000) incorporate a communications port either for shutdown or monitoring, or both. Specifically, Minuteman’s SentryTM bi-directional intelligent communications software is compatible with the Pro, XRT, CP and PowerMind series of UPSs all offers managers comprehensive information about power conditions in the form of statistics and visuals.

“The graphical display shows current conditions including available battery voltage, UPS load, charge status, UPS temperature, and battery age,” Minuteman explains. “A running line graph is also featured that displays input voltage and UPS load for the past 10 minutes of monitoring. Warning messages are broadcast to all users in cases of power outages, low battery warning during a blackout, momentary disruption, log-in failure, and power restored.”

With SentryTM software, managers can be guaranteed security and reliability with their networks as they can perform unattended shutdowns in the event that there is an extended power outage. Both software products also include a comprehensive testing facility and battery replacement warning.

In other power protection news, for those individuals and businesses that recognize the advantage of having an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), but who do not know which type of UPS device to buy, Minuteman has a valuable tool for you. Aimed at end-users, resellers and distributors, SizeMyUPS.com, a feature on Minuteman’s homepage, allows customers to determine what UPS product best suits their requirements.

The power protection company asks visitors to visit SizeMyUPS and fill in their system load in Watts, VA or Amps. The configurator then provides a wide variety of UPS solutions ranging from low-end to high-end that the user should select for that system, while also providing a listing of what runtimes (or battery backup times) they can expect. 

“We also provide a database of the most common equipment used in telephone systems, security systems, computers, networks and audio/video systems,” Bill Allen, marketing director for Minuteman, told TMCnet. “This makes it easy for users to determine the power requirements for a single device, while also allowing for an entire system configuration, as SizeMyUPS adds all of the equipment together and provides a total solution answer.”