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ARE YOU READY FOR A STORM?
Sudden loss of power and power surges are two of the primary causes of damage to computers and other bank equipment. An inexpensive power strip might protect your bank’s equipment from power surges, but it offers no protection against drops in line voltage, brownouts, blackouts, spikes, surges, and other power supply issues. In order to protect your computer equipment against power supply interruptions, you’ll need a battery backup also known as an uninterruptible power supply (or UPS).
UPS units are sort of like a power strip that contains a large battery inside, providing a buffer against power supply interruptions. This buffer can range from a few minutes to an hour or more depending on the size of the unit. MBS hardware technicians can determine the size and number of battery backups your bank requires.
How does a UPS work?
You’ve plugged in your laptop and you’re busy working away when all of a sudden, a storm knocks out your power and the only light is the light illuminating from you laptop screen. Although you’re sitting in the dark, your work on the laptop is uninterrupted because your laptop switched over to the built-in battery power seamlessly when the flow of electricity vanished. You now have plenty of time to save your work and shut down your laptop.
Unlike laptops, desktop computers don’t have built-in batteries. If you had been working on a desktop during that power outage, your system would come to a screeching halt. Not only would you lose your work, but the process imposes unnecessary stress on your machine. Hardware failures can be directly attributed to the stress hardware components experience during the shutdown and startup process (especially if power surges or blackouts are involved).
The solution
A UPS is designed to instantly switch to its internal power supply (or simply feed electricity primarily from that supply instead of the wall power outlet) to make sure that devices plugged in never lose power, even for a second. It’ll give you enough time to save your work or finish some crucial task, then power down safely and wait for the primary source of electricity to come back.
And, if the power situation is resolved (lights back on, stable power) while the UPS unit still has enough battery life remaining, you can actually continuing working without interruption. Many UPS units come with software that can detect when the unit switches to battery power, and shut down automatically (and properly) in your absence.
In addition to the primary computers and auxiliary computers, are there other electronic devices that you want to protect from power outages and keep on-line? Cable modems, routers, Wi-Fi nodes, printers, and monitors should also be protected from a power loss.
How big of a UPS does our bank need?
At the least, your bank will need enough juice in your UPS unit to give your employees adequate time to properly shut down the computer equipment. That’s the absolute minimum. If your UPS unit doesn’t have enough juice to give you time to successfully save your work and shut down, you’re risking damage to your equipment and data loss.
Your MBS hardware technician will meet with you, discuss your power needs, and recommend the size and number of UPS units your bank will need to keep you running through a storm or a power outage. Choose the battery backup and data protection built to ensure business critical equipment and applications are never at risk.