Bay of Isles Computers
63B Dempster Street
Esperance WA 6450
Ph: 08 9071 5542
Fax: 08 9071 5549
boic@boic.net.au
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Power Protection for your PC
What causes Power Fluctuations? Power fluctuations are especially nasty power interferences that occur in homes every day. If uncontested, they can damage or destroy everything from PCs to CD players to VCRs Sags Also known as brownouts, sags are short-term decreases in voltage levels. This is the most common power problem, accounting for 87% of all disturbances according to an American power company study. Flickering lights are a common sign of a sag. Sags are usually caused by the start up power demands of many electrical devices such as motors and compressors. A sag can "starve" a computer of the power it needs to function, resulting in frozen keyboards, unexpected system crashes, and lost or corrupted data. Sags also reduce the efficiency and life span of electrical equipment and motors. Surges Surges are short term increases in voltage, typically lasting at least 1/120th of a second. Without surge protection, sensitive electronic components and computer systems can be damaged or destroyed by high voltage surges. Surges result when high powered electrical motors, such as air conditioners and household appliances are switched off, causing extra voltage to dissipate through the power line. Computers and similar sensitive electronic devices are designed to receive power within a certain voltage range. Anything outside of expected average and peak voltage will stress delicate components and cause premature failure. Spikes Also referred to as impulses, spikes are instantaneous, dramatic increases in voltage. A spike can enter electronic equipment through power, cable, or phone lines, and can damage or completely destroy components. Spikes are typically caused by a nearby lightning strike. Spikes can also occure when utility power comes back online after having been knocked out, or as the result of a car accident. Catastrophic damage to hardware occurs. Data will be lost. Here's what can happen if your computer experiences a spike:
Power Problems Can Start Almost Anywhere
Surge Protection Your electronics endure thousands of sags and surges. Predicting when a killer spike will occur is impossible, so early installation of protection is your best bet. It's important to have a two tier defense against surges because they can originate outside or inside your home. Surge Arrestors A surge arrestor is the initial step for whole house protection because it safeguards all hard wired equipment (light switches, heating and air-conditioning systems, ceiling fans,etc) which usually can't be protected by plug- in surge devices. You should hire a licensed electrician who will connect the arrestors to your service panel. Some local utilities also install surge arrestors near electricity meters. Surge Suppressors Surge suppressors are the second stage of interior defense. Most suppressors resemble power strips with outlets, and protect equipment that's particularly sensitive to moderate surges such as computers, TVs, phones, and audio/video systems. Suppressors work by absorbing some of the electrical surge and diverting the rest to ground. That's why all plug-in surge suppressors have three prong plugs and receptacles. If you cut off the suppressor ground pin to make it fit a two prong wall receptacle, you will block its effectiveness. Tag Team An arrestor and suppressors should be used in tandem to block excess voltage from damaging your expensive electronics or destroying your important data. Most arrestors can cut a surge to 600 volts. The suppressor then takes over, reducing it to a more manageable voltage. Why is Power Protection Necessary? Desktop computers, network file servers, telephone systems and other critical business equipment play a vital role in the day to day operations of most businesses and the reliable functioning of those systems depend on a clean uninterrupted supply of power. In many cases, an uninterruptible power supply can be justified with simple arithmetic. Several hours of professional work can be lost due to a momentary brownout. This can crash a computer before the work can be saved to disk. Consequently, an organization can suffer expensive setbacks in terms of time and disruption. But, with an uninterruptible power supply in place, a brownout can pass unnoticed. Spending as little as a hundred dollars on power protection can buy complete protection and peace of mind. The need for power protection goes beyond the single-user desktops. The increasing use of local area networks makes offices even more susceptible to power problems, because most files on these networks are centralized on one high-speed file server. A brownout affecting a file server could disrupt fifty or sixty users. Since such systems often do not have an operating staff, power protection must also be automated. Phone systems are increasingly computer based, making them equally vulnerable to power problems, and if computer downtime is painful, downtime on the phone system can be disastrous. With the upsurge in telemarketing, many businesses now conduct literally all their business over the phone. Brownouts are momentary slumps in the AC power supply to a level under 100 volts. They are normally caused by the use of heavy machinery in the vicinity -- as motors and compressors are turned on they cause a momentary drain on the grid. Within an office setting, air conditioners and laser printers are often culprits. Brownouts can affect a computer without being visible to the naked eye (in terms of its affects on the room lights). And even if they do not crash the computer, brownouts can cause stresses that can shorten the life of components. It's common for line monitors to detect as many as four potentially disruptive events a day. Power surges, meanwhile, often follow brownouts as the power rebounds back to normal. High-voltage conditions, as opposed to momentary surges, are especially prevalent overseas, and must be guarded against. Complete outages are most common in suburban areas where lines are hung on poles that are exposed to lightning. This is especially true along the coast where the power grid is often exposed to severe storms. Which Devices Require Battery Backup and Which Don't?
What about Power Consumption?
What is a UPS? An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is a device that sits between an A/C outlet (i.e. a wall outlet or power strip) and an electronic device (such as a computer, server, or phone equipment) to prevent power disturbances (outages, sags, surges, spikes, noise, etc.) from affecting the performance and life of the electronic device and vital data. There are three main kinds of UPS. Off-Line or Standby UPS This is a cost effective choice where network communication is not generally necessary. Better standby UPSs switch to battery fast enough to prevent glitches and ride out short power outages. They prevent most spikes, but don't maintain perfect power during minor sags and surges. The key to off-line UPS quality is the range of power the UPS will accept before switching to battery backup. The wider the range, the less drain on the battery and the more backup time available when the power shuts off. Line Interactive UPS Line interactive UPS provides both power conditioning and battery backup. This technology is particularly effective where outages are rare, but power fluctuations are common. Line interactive UPS supports a wide range of input voltage fluctuations before switching to battery backup. This technology is also more energy efficient than other technologies. On-Line UPS On-line UPS technology provides the highest levels of protection for networks. Because power runs through an on-line UPS continually, output is a perfect sinewave. This UPS protects the critical load from virtually all power disturbances, including subtle harmonics and waveform distortion. Networks with generator backup must have on-line UPS because only on-line technology can protect from frequency variations common at generator startup. Network communication is often necessary to effectively manage network power protection. How Can a UPS Help Me? A UPS contains batteries that provide backup power to your system in the event of a power outage to give you the time to safely save all open files and gracefully shutdown the system or even continue to work until normal power has been restored. Additionally, most UPSs regulate the power that comes from the original supply (i.e. the wall outlet). These functions offer several advantages
How Long can Equipment Keep Running on a UPS? There is no standard answer. There are UPS solutions available to support almost any application anywhere from five minutes to two days, the solution just depends on your application. Typically, you should plan on enough run time to allow you to save any open files and safely shutdown the system. How do I Know When My Battery Power is Low? A. Usually, the UPS device starts "beeping" when the battery is low. Higher-end UPS devices now come with a software package that will alert you when the battery reaches such status. Glossary of Power Terms
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