Sunday, November 15, 2009

Attaching Battery Backup Systems To Your Computer

By Sara Floyd

It was a busy day for Margaret. She worked at home and had just spent all day working on a project for her new (and loaded) client, when all of a sudden her power cut out just as she was about to finish up! She figured that she would be okay because she had saved the file as she worked, and she did -- but it had been hours since her last saving, causing her to lose half a day's worth of work in only a matter of seconds. There didn't seem to be any clouds brewing in the sky, so she couldn't figure out what had happened to make her power go out There are many things that could have caused the power to cut out, and without battery backup systems attached to your computer you are at risk of losing all of your work one day too.

For most people, a power outage is not a huge deal. A video game can be played again. A phone conversation can continue later, or even be carried over to your cell phone. The refrigerator without power is only a big deal if the outage continues for more than a day or so. But your data is the most significant loss you could face if you lose power suddenly. Data is instantly wiped from existence if it's not saved. Adding the security of battery backup systems to your computer or network is paramount in the workplace. In Margaret's case, that workplace was her home -- and she had no idea that the electricity would go off all of a sudden!

Electrical surges can happen at any time, and instantly overburden one or many circuits in your home. The United States uses an oscillating current that generally is carried at around 120 volts. However, the power lines going down the road actually have a much higher voltage than that. A quick accident at the grid could cause the power to either go up or down, either of which can over or under-burden your electronics. Other types of surges are much smaller and do no immediate harm; over time these repeated tiny surges can end up breaking your computer down after repeatedly losing power.

A surge protector is, as expected, a great way to avoid having your electronics directly harmed by power surges. However, they still will not protect your actual data. Because when the power goes out, or a breaker trips, and your PC shuts down -- guess where your work goes. It is gone. Poof. Just like that. Battery backup systems prevent all of this because while the surge protector provides a buffer against electrical damage, the battery backup allows your equipment to operate under a power-loss event such as a lightning strike, power line snapping, or electrical surge.

The amount of time that they stay on is enough to allow you to save what you are doing, and some can last for hours. Some systems have longer battery time than others. A personal computer uses a lot of energy, however, so be sure to install the included software that came with the system. The software can let you know how much battery power is left in the event of an electrical cut, and some versions even save your work for you periodically.

Though she had to work late to make up for what was lost, Margaret knew what she had to do as soon as possible: get battery backup systems to ensure that her work and data was safe and sound. - 22787

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment

Followers

Blog Archive

Contributors