The Importance of Having Power Protection For Computers

Computers are fragile. When an unexpected power failure occurs your computer shuts down improperly, causing the hard drive, an essential spinning component where data is stored, to become damaged. Your system may no longer be able to detect your hard drive, or your hard drive may not be able to spin properly. If that happens, anything from a temporary outage to data loss or even internal hardware issues can occur. The recovery process for lost data is often impossible to achieve, which leads to time, energy, and money wasted.

Having a low or high power supply can cause problems as well. High voltage can lead to overheating, which is never good for mechanical equipment. Low voltage can prevent your computer from preforming at its optimal levels.

Clean power is another big issue facing computers. If you are in an older building or are located in specific area, sometimes the power coming from your wall outlet may not be considered “clean”. Clean power has the right voltage and frequency. Unclean power causes your computer to work harder, producing inefficiencies and the deterioration of its components.

The Solution

Using high quality uninterruptible power supply (UPS) equipment can help protect your hardware against damage from unexpected power failures or unclean power. UPS devices provide power backup to your system, ensuring that there is no interruption between your computer system and the main power supply. This won’t keep your computer up and running forever, but it provides enough time to save your work and properly shut down your computer.

These devices also clean the power before it reaches your computer. Some are able to connect to your computer and send a signal to shut down properly when you are experiencing a power outage.

There are several types of UPS systems:

• Standby UPS – the simplest and least expensive design, the battery and inverter wait “on standby” until needed.
• Standby-Ferro UPS – also in standby mode until needed, but an improvement on the design of the standby. The big difference is that the standby UPS’s transfer switch selects between power sources has been replaced by a Ferro resonant transformer, which acts as a buffer in the event that the primary power is cut off.
• Line Interactive UPS – a completely different design than the standby, this design replaces the separate battery charger, inverter, and source selection switch with a combination inverter/converter. When line power is working, the inverter/converter charges the battery; when the power fails, the system operates in reverse.
• Double Conversion – an online UPS, has no transfer time in the event of a power failure.
• Delta Conversion UPS – the newest design, created to eliminate the drawbacks of the Double Conversion by providing a more energy efficient design.

UPS equipment is an essential protection for any computer system, and should be of high priority.