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by: Frank Mesmer
Word Count: 578
Date: Thu, 14 May 2009 Time: 12:56 AM
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Electricity from the outlet is dirty! Ideally, the electricity will come out of the wall at a precise voltage and a precise frequency. Technically it is feasible to have dirt free power out of an outlet, but financially, most consumers (homes and businesses) just dont want to pay that price, so power companies will not provide it. They do not have to; vacuum cleaners, fans, air conditioners, TVs, printers and light bulbs work just fine with that polluted electricity.

Recognize that computers, differently, are a good deal more picky about their electricity requirements. Some of the spikes or brownouts are just a tad too much. When that happens, the computer starts misbehaving: 1. it goes to sleep, 2. it shuts off instantly, 3. it corrupts a file or two, 4. it goes into hibernate, 5. it burns out an electronic component. The penalty may be noticeable right away or arrive on the scene at a later time; the consequences are never enjoyable. At home or at work, a computer should always be on a UPS. Laptops have their own UPS and are excluded from this requirement; they have a battery built in.

A UPS is a battery pack that continually monitors the electricity from the outlet. When the electricity from the outlet exceeds preset thresholds, such as not enough power or too much power, the UPS kicks in and takes over. Now, a surge protector is not the same mechanism as a UPS. A surge protector only protects from too high of a power from the outlet, such as surges or spikes. A UPS protects from too little power and too much power. This is imperative for a computer. A computer needs relatively dirt free power to perform suitably. The return on investment, ROI, for a UPS is good. Just consider the hassle and consequences of corrupted files and you will appreciate that every computer must have a UPS and every server an even bigger one.

Since all computers have a different power consumption, it is difficult to articulate which UPS is the right one for your computer or server. Typically you will find 300 to 700 Volt Ampere UPSs in the store. They have 300VA or something like that written on the box. It doesnt matter which one you buy. The 700 VA UPS will last at least twice as long as the 300 VA UPS if the power fails. This could mean that your computer may keep running for twenty minutes rather than ten minutes. Just recognize that these UPSs you buy at the store are the cheap stuff; they are so-called standby-UPSs.

When the power from the outlet becomes too dirty, a little switch will switch over to battery power. Some computer power supplies or motherboards cant even handle the 5 milliseconds of no power when the switch activates. For people with such finicky computers it is better to go to the website of the UPS manufacturer and look for a so-called continuous UPS. These UPSs are more pricey, but the computer is continually feeding from the battery and the outlet is continually recharging the battery.

All server rooms and any high availability hardware should always run off a continuous UPS. Oh, don't ever plug a laser printer into a UPS. The fuser, a component that fuses the toner onto the paper, needs so much power at once that it overburdens a UPS. Always plug a laser printer directly into the outlet of the wall.

About the Author

Frank Mesmer is the Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Sullmer & Associates. Hillsboro and Beaverton, Oregon corporations have relied on Sullmer & Associates to provide exceptional computer and networking IT assistance and consulting services for the last 10 years. For more information go to Sullmer & Associates. This article sponsored by NetBiz.

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