Power Protection FEATURED ARTICLE

It’s pretty much a given in the tech industry that everyone will suffer a power outage of some kind or another at some point. With cyber-criminals lurking and storms or other events looming, the odds are you’ll be in the dark eventually.

But what most don’t realize is the tremendous cost that outages bring with them. Think for a moment how much you’d lose if the computer you work on suddenly went … out. Now multiply that by all the units in your company. Add in how long it will take to get back online, and what potential customers are doing (and thinking) while you scramble, and you have a recipe for failure.

That’s why Samantha Wade, Marketing Coordinator at Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) provider MinutemanUPS, recently posted a blog outlining the options available for those in the market. Her advice is well worth a second look, and the time to look is now, before things get dark – both figuratively and literally.

“These three different technologies accomplish the same result – complete power protection,” she wrote. “Which technology to use is usually driven by budget and type of equipment to be protected.”

Standby – Battery or Utility Power: “A stand-by UPS is the most basic, lowest priced type of battery backup protection available,” Wade wrote. “During any type of power fluctuation, a standby UPS switches to battery mode to provide clean power to attached devices. Standby UPSs do provide total protection from any type of power problem and are a good choice where there are budget constraints.”

Line Interactive – Battery, AVR, Utility Power: “Line interactive UPSs also provide complete protection, but manage incoming power differently than a stand-by UPS,” she said. “The most common power problems are small variations in incoming AC voltage, such as brownouts or sags, as well as over-voltages, such as surges and spikes. This type of UPS employs an automatic voltage regulator that corrects these anomalies without accessing battery power, thus putting less strain on the battery and extending its life.”

Online – Double Conversion: “A true online UPS completely re-generates the incoming AC power to provide the best type of power protection available,” wade observes. “This is accomplished by an internal inverter converting incoming power from AC to DC, and at the output, the DC signal is then converted back to AC. Through this double conversion process, the UPS creates an ‘electrical firewall’ to fully isolate attached equipment from any type of power problem.”

In short, there are options available. But it’s up to the user to select one, and do so before needed. Once the power goes out, the problems begin.