The 7 Key Things About Battery Backups
Hi friends, if you, or your company, depend on your electronics to do business and to make money, then this may be one of the most important articles you read today.
The effects of power-related downtime are much more than just an inconvenience - it can be devastating to a company's revenues and business practices.
In one split second a power surge or blackout due to weather, construction, or power company problems can mess up a lot of precious hours of work, corrupt data, destroy equipment, and usually prevent sales from occurring.
For most businesses, downtime of their servers or their employee's desktop computers is simply not an option.
The way businesses avoid this problem is by installing Battery Backups (formal name: Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS). That seems pretty simple. When the power goes out, the computers continue to run because they are then running off the battery backup.
The 2 Big Chronic Problems
The problem is that there are two problems that invariably happen, either or both of which gives people a false sense of security. They think they are protected, but they aren't.
The 2 chronic problems with Battery Backups are:
1. People usually buy the wrong Battery Backup's. They either buy one too small, which doesn't give the protection they need, or else they buy too big and waste money on it.
2. People generally don't check to be sure that their Battery Backups are actually working. Like any batteries, the Backup batteries fail but you don't discover it until it's too late.
There are 7 Key Things to know and learn about battery backups that will keep you and your business running without all the hassle and worry.
The most important of the 7 Key Things is...
1. Capacity. Selecting the right size of Battery Backup is crucial. If a battery backup doesn't have the energy required to power the equipment you connect, the unit will perform poorly. It will generate additional heat, runtime during power failures will be drastically reduced, and battery life will decrease. Oh, and be sure you're buying a Battery Backup and not just a surge protector, which won't give you any run time after power goes out.
To ensure that you don't overwork the battery backup you select, be sure to choose a model that can adequately meet your needs. Identifying the appropriate wattage is the first step. Most entry-level battery backups provide 200 to 450 watts and run between $40 and $100. Pay particular attention to wattage and volt-ampere ratings, as they not only impact how well a battery backup will operate, but they prove critical in knowing how much time you'll receive to shut down systems cleanly when power outages occur. You'll want to match up the wattage and volt-amp ratings to those of the equipment you are hooking into the Battery Backup. If you need help with this, just call us.
Unless you're running only a single simple PC and monitor, elect for a more powerful device. APC and Tripp Lite are the two leading manufacturers of battery backups, and each provide selection tools on their Web sites designed to help match your equipment's power needs with an appropriate corresponding product. The next important Key Thing is...
2. Automatic voltage regulation: The single biggest issue with personal computers, servers, and ever-expanding widescreen displays is voltage regulation. While power companies may deliver electricity without interruption, the quality of the electricity is almost always inconsistent. Over time, even minor fluctuations (notably brownouts and intermittent spikes) take a toll on sensitive computer equipment.
When buying a Battery Backup, seek a model that offers automatic voltage regulation. In other words, purchase a unit that conditions utility-provided electricity before delivering it to the equipment you connect. This is a particularly critical consideration in environments where electrical lags, surges, and spikes occur frequently, such as industrial settings, factories, dentists offices (where high-powered medical equipment generates impressive spikes and sags several times a day), and similar locations.
3. Hot swappable batteries: Batteries in a Battery Backup will usually last 1 to 2 years. It can be a real hassle to have to power down servers and other equipment when the batteries finally fail, often requiring expensive after-hours work. So to avoid the late nights, buy a battery backup that allows for replacing their batteries without having to disconnect or power down the equipment that is attached to it.
4. Network and software protection: Overall network and software protection is critical. All the battery backup and surge protection in the world won't help you if you connect RJ-45 cables directly from telecom equipment to PCs, routers, switches, firewalls, and servers. Lightning strikes can travel down that infrastructure and leave devastation behind.
So be sure that the battery backup device you purchase offers RJ-11 and RJ-45 protection. By placing the battery backup with its automatic voltage regulation and protection between telecommunications equipment and your organization's network and computers, you can most effectively prevent storm-related damage.
On the software side of things, you want to have a device that will shut down open software cleanly and without corruption.
5. Automatic Diagnostics: You will be best off with a device that allows you to easily test the battery backup and to know the battery's remaining runtime capacity. The better devices have a software program that will enable you to monitor the backup device(s) from your desktop, and thus prevent you from having to crawl around on the floor to test and monitor the devices manually.
6. Battery Backup outlets: You need to be careful to notice whether all of the outlets on the Battery Backup actually provide battery backup. In many lower-priced models, only half of the outlets are hooked up to the battery. The other outlets are merely convenience outlets, although they do provide surge protection at least. We've had a couple of clients who purchased the first low-end Battery Backup they found, only to discover too late that not all of the outlets provided Battery Backup.
7. Warranty: As Benjamin Franklin said, "Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish." Battery Backups can be like razor blades - they give you the razor so that you'll buy their blades. Replacing batteries can be expensive. Low-end Battery Backups usually come with a 90-day warranty. You will be better off, value-wise, with a business-class device from a reputable manufacturer that comes with a 2 or 3 year warranty, not just for parts but also for labor and batteries. So, if you pay 30 or 40% more, but get 2 or 3 years instead of 90 days use out of the device, you come out better both operationally as well as financially.
Special One-Time Offer:
I hope this information has been of help to you. If you have any questions on your current Battery Backup environment, just call us and we'll be happy to give you our best advice. If you have 10 or more computers, are located in the Houston city limits, and would like a Battery Backup Assessment of your existing Battery Backups, their capacity, and their remaining runtime, just call or email and we'll schedule an appointment. We are happy to offer you half off our normal rate if we receive your call within the next week.
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Here's another tip: we've been in business over 24 years helping customers work faster, smarter, and at less cost. In general, helping solve your office technology problems. We will assess your needs and give you our best ideas and advice.
For immediate help with any of your rental, repair, toner cartridge, or I.T. service support or any other office-technology-support issues, there are 3 ways to reach us. Here's how:
1. Call us today at 713-467-9390, or toll free 800-428-2532.
2. Fax us at 713-467-1348. Just write your name and number and say "Help!"
3. Email us at mailto:atiwa@atiwa.com .
Need other help or more information? We're your office-technology-management experts.
Dedicated to helping you with your office technology,
Wayne Springer, President, and your office-technology support team at Atiwa Computing, Inc.
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