Uninterruptible Power Supply: Invaluable Device Protecting Computers

Define UPS and its Function

UPS is a device that provides electric power supply to the attached computers or other electronic gadgets during a loss of utility power or when there are outages, sags and surges. Mostly it is used to provide backup power to computers, as for successful operation of the computers it is important to back computer by a UPS. By the sudden loss of utility power computers might end up loosing some important data or damage some component of computers and in order to prevent this, it is vital to protect computers with UPS. Sudden shut down of computers due to power breakup not only can cause data loss but it can also cause damage to the computer component such as processor and motherboard. UPS should not be used as a generator and it should only be used for saving the data and for properly shutting down the computers.

Benefits of UPS

To have the facility of uninterruptible power supply, one need to has an energy storing backup battery, an AC-DC charger and an AC-DC inverter. Today most of the UPS comes with UPS software that works in conjunction with computers to automate data backup and system shutdown procedures in case or power failure when no is there to manually shut down the computer. Another benefits achieved by UPS is that it stops power abnormalities such as power sags, voltage spikes, and surges from reaching the computers and damaging data or other hardware component. It is a fact that 45.3% of data loss occur mostly due to power disturbance.

Types of UPS

Usually there are four types of UPS catering to different power disturbance problems and it is up to the individual choice and requirement that one select a right UPS. The four major types of UPS are:

• Standby or Offline UPS– This type of UPS is mostly found useful for small power spikes and prevent computer from outages. In a standby UPS, a switch is activated and then power is supplied from the battery rather than from the standard line voltage in case of power failure.

• Online UPS- Online UPS is known for providing a much greater level of protection due to its superior power-conditioning capabilities. It offers complete isolation and protection from electrical disturbances by providing conditioned electrical power along with added outage protection. This UPS is the best choice while used for mission-critical applications. There is no delay in backup power in the event of failure of utility power.

• Line Interactive UPS– Line Interactive UPS is online all the time and acts as a battery charger under normal conditions, but switch to battery backup upon power failure.

• Ferroresonant UPS- This UPS uses a ferroresonant transformer as a power buffer for supplying power while the UPS switches to standby power. The energy buffer of the ferroresonant protects equipment which can be affected during the transfer time from the primary to secondary power source.