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Don’t Let a Power Outage Ruin Your Work Day

Severe weather, heavy equipment loads cycling on and off, wiring faults, fires, accidents, power shortages and even electromagnetic interference are all sources of power problems that businesses face every day such as:

  • Power Surges
  • Brown outs
  • Line noise
  • Over voltage swells
  • Blackouts lasting from seconds to days

These power problems will cause costly damage to critical IT equipment. Computers and network equipment without a backup power supply will experience unexpected shutdowns which lead to data corruption, malfunctions and crashes. This downtime spins into lost productivity and sometimes data loss. In worse case scenarios, internal boards in the computers are destroyed and equipment replacement is necessary.

The best defense is to proactively install a UPS (universal power supply) that will block surges, filter line noise, provide battery backup and regulate voltage. Having your computer, monitor and critical network equipment plugged into the battery backup side of the UPS provides you with enough time to save your work and shut down the equipment properly. UPS units have different outlets. Some offer surge and backup battery protection, while others offer only surge protection. Make sure you plug your critical items into the surge plus battery outlets.

UPS products vary in size and some are basic while others have interactive controls. Its important to establish how much power load the UPS will require so that you can purchase the correct sized unit. Having an underpowered UPS may stop surges, but it won’t help in a brown out or an outage if the battery doesn’t have enough power to support the draw from the equipment plugged into it. Never also plug in a laser printer to a UPS. Due to the large amount of power consumed by these devices, UPS manufacturers do not recommend protecting laser printers with a UPS – they will drain the battery making the UPS unit ineffectual.

Have you ever grabbed your flashlight when the power goes out only to find that it’s dead? Another important consideration is that like any battery, the one in your UPS will eventually wear out. UPS units beep to warn you that the battery is insufficient or failing. However, its best to test the units periodically to make sure that when you need them, they will be ready and in working order.

Need to power protect your network? Call the experts at AclarityIT for a free assessment.

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