You Need a UPS: Battery Backup for Your Tech
A new addition to the family
TLDR:
An Uninterruptible Power Supplies, aka a UPS, is important for your business
It provide battery backup for your tech when the power goes out
It can provide power to your computer for several hours
It can do a whole lot more than just battery backup
It includes insurance against tech damage
It typically costs between $80 and $300
You need it, so just buy one
For more context:
I was at a party recently chatting with fellow IT managers that I used to work with. They were talking about doing backups and one of the guys said: “Backups, now we’re really going to put everybody to sleep,” followed by nervous laughter. Then I said: “wait until we start talking about UPSes…”
UPSes, short for Uninterruptible Power Supplies, is undoubtedly the dullest, driest, and most nerdy topic to talk about at a party, yet it’s a critical part of managing computers. This is also especially true for small businesses, where UPSes rank about as high in importance as as the caulking in the bathroom.
That is… until the power goes out.
For small business, a power outage usually means that everything comes to a halt. If you work from home, that means it’s time to take the dog out for a walk and chat up the neighbor that you haven’t talked to since… the last outage. Maybe he knows why the power went out.
Taking a different approach to power outages
This is not what happens at large companies and organizations. When the power goes out, critical business and security systems switch to UPS power. If the power is to be out for an extended period, they may even switch to gas-powered generators as the UPSes really are a temporary backup and cannot support all those systems too long. But the point is, work doesn’t stop.
If you run a small business, even a small one-person part-time operation, a power outage may not be that big of a problem. You certainly won’t need generators to keep the whole house powered. But what if you could continue working when the power went out? The dog may not be too happy about it, but you wouldn’t lose an entire afternoon of work.
One of the most popular UPSes available, the venerable APC BE650
This is what a UPS does. It’s essentially a large battery that sists between your computer and the wall. When the power goes out, it takes over and continues to power your computer. If you had not saved your work for a while, now you would be able to, without going into cursing fits.
How long does it last?
If you have a standard desktop computer and monitor, a typical UPS will power that computer and the monitor for about an hour and a half. Often, that is more than a typical unexpected power outage in a suburban neighborhood. Even if you do have to shut down before the power is restored, you will have plenty of time to do that and time to find out how long the outage might last.
If you are using a laptop, the situation is much better. Not only will you have 4-5 hours of time to continue working, but you then also have the battery in the laptop that can provide another 2-3 hours. That is practically an 8-hour workday.
How long the UPS lasts is also dependent on what type of UPS it is – that is, how large the batteries are – the bigger they are, the more expensive the UPS. There are many UPS specs that I won’t go into here. If you want an excellent intro into UPSes, here is an informative video.
For the non-techy folks (who don’t sit around at parties talking about this stuff), it helps to think about it in relation to price. You can roughly break it down as follows:
A typical quality $150 UPS will provide about 1.5 of backup power to a desktop computer
A $500 UPS will provide twice that much, so about 3 hours.
It’s not an exact ratio because as UPSes become more expensive, manufacturers typically add features, which also add to the cost.
It should also be noted that, just like in your iPhone, the batteries will age and eventually they will no longer provide the same amount of power. Fortunately, changing out the batteries is not too difficult other than that they are a bit heavier than a cell phone battery.
Naturally, replacing the batteries on a $150 UPS will be less expensive and easier than on a $500 unit. You can find many videos online on how to do this for popular models, but it’s the same process for less common models. The manufacturer will typically stock extra batteries, but you can buy them from other online vendors as well. Replacing batteries is a common task that is just part of the deal.
Is that it?
For the most part, yes, it’s just a large battery pack that provides backup power when the power goes out. That said, a quality UPS also performs other functions. Here are a few that are standard across most models/brands:
They provide surge protection
Ever notice how your lights dim when you turn on the vacuum or the AC switches on? That is a power fluctuation where the amount of power dips a bit. Typically, the power will also surge back because power has momentum like a wave of water.
That surge is not something computer equipment can tolerate too well. This actually affects all electronics, but anything with computer chips is particularly vulnerable. Therefore, it should always have surge protection circuitry (kind of like a buffer) in the power strip that you plug it into (if you’re plugging a $2000 computer into the wall, you’re doing it wrong).
Of course, if you’re working during a thunderstorm, hurricane, or earthquake, this all takes on a different urgency. I’m sure your customers will understand that they can’t order a widget from your while you are hunkering down during a natural disaster. You should take the hint and turn off all your equipment during those events because that $150 UPS won’t help much, there.
They even out the flow of power
Another classic model from APC, the RS500
As part of the surge protection circuitry, the UPS also continuously monitors the power that comes from the wall. It then smooths out any fluctuations and delivers an even flow of power to your equipment. This is very useful for very sensitive smaller electronics that can easily be impacted by power irregularities.
This is also important for other equipment you might have considered protecting with a UPS like your router or your Network Attached Storage (NAS). Since these are more specialized electronics, they are designed other functions very well, but that does not include quality buffering between the unit and the wall. Manufacturers assume you are plugging this equipment into quality surge protected strips or UPSes.
From a practical standpoint, this will keep your monitor from dimming and the fans in your desktop computer from spinning down too. Even if you don’t worry that your RAM has just lost 20% of its performance and that this may never return, it would be nice if that didn’t happen at all. A UPS can help with that.
They typically include insurance
Most people don’t consider this at all, but almost all UPS manufacturers include tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of connected equipment insurance. That’s right, if you have a $40K Apple Mac Pro with a $6000 Pro Display connected to that UPS and a lightening storm fries them, you will likely get brand new ones. Pretty sweet.
How can UPS manufacturers afford this, you might ask. Well, because most people don’t know about this bonus. Even if they do, they don’t believe that their equipment will be replaced. As someone who has processed UPS claims, I know that the manufacturers do back those insurance policies and will replace the equipment. All it takes is a little paperwork.
By the way, this isn’t just for computers. Anything that was protected by that UPS will also be covered by the warranty. So that includes your little desk fan, your phone charger, your computer speakers, and that overpriced trendy desk lamp too.
This is also true of networking equipment. If you use a UPS to protect your $800 router, that’s covered. That $1000 managed switch? Covered as well. Your $6000 NAS? Yes that too. IT won’t cover the data on the NAS, but that’s why you do regular backups, right? No, then you need to go back and read my article on backups!
They can automatically shut your equipment down
Short of a fire or explosion, there is nothing worse than a sudden shut down of your equipment. This is even worse when power is repeatedly shut down and restored, like when you play with the power switch – just don’t do that.
No, I’m not talking about how irritating this is for you. I’m talking about how damaging this is to your equipment. You could damage a hard drive this way. Anything else with spinning parts from fans to power supplies can be damaged as well. Anything with sensitive chips is also at risk.
Would it be preferable if the equipment was shut down properly, like how you do it when you in a good mood and in no hurry at all? Well, a UPS can do this for you. Because it has battery power, it can do this for you even when you flip the power switch in the room, or when a circuit breaker trips at the junction box.
Most quality UPSes will allow you to connect a USB cable (if it’s old-school, a Serial cable) to your computer. This allows it to shut down the computer properly and calmly for you. They will include software that allows you to tell the UPS ahead of time under what circumstances they should shut down your computer.
They have built-in alarms
Even the most basic UPS will emit a beeping sound when a power event occurs. More expensive units will have the ability to notify users over the network, via Wi-Fi or via email too. This is very handy when you’re not near the equipment as it can inform you if you should rush back.
As a sidenote, this is also a nice feature to have when your business is broken into as thieves will typically cut the power to turn off cameras and alarms. Knowing that a power outage occurred and what equipment is impacted could be an important clue to tell you that maybe you need to send the cops first.
They can be managed remotely
Higher-end UPSes have slots for inserting network adapters such as this one
This is mostly for more expensive units or with an add-on like the one in this photo, but some units can be managed with laptop or even a cell phone. This is very handy if you just stepped onto a plane out of the country and you remember that you forgot to turn off your computer.
One way this could be used is to turn on a system that only does a specific function. For example, you have a computer that has an important pitch presentation, but you turned it off before you went on vacation. Now you’re on the beach chatting with a potential new client, and you’d like to retrieve it. This is possible with a remote-controlled UPS.
Of course, this also allows you to receive alerts on your laptop or cell about any power events. If your someone else turns on your computer in your home office while you are out, you have a good reason to believe that an unauthorized person is on that computer. More importantly, you can shut it down from wherever you are.
They can monitor power data over time
Most UPSes will monitor power events and send alerts. The modern software that comes with the most recent models can also track power events over time. This is useful if you have a power event that is increasing in frequency, possibly alerting you to a more serious technical failure in the near future.
As with the many security events mentioned above, monitoring power events allows you to track unusual patterns as well. For example, you could see what the largest power hogs are over an entire year and possibly modify that equipment’s use to save energy.
So yes, UPSes are actually quite useful.
But what about the cost?
Yes, at $150 just for a basic model, a UPS is an expense. However, I would consider this an insurance policy. Actually, I’ve spoken to people that include this expense along with their insurance costs, right along with security cameras and fire insurance.
If you also consider all the convenience features that UPSes offer, then it’s a very nice piece of equipment to have, just as much as that overpriced trendy desk lamp. It buys you peace-of-mind and offers important business-specific functionality.
I would also shop around a bit or speak to a service rep who knows UPSes. There are many types, options, and price points and not all UPSes are perfect for every situation. At the low end, they are fairly standard, and I would at least start there. Once you have one and it has saved your bacon a few times, you may want to add a fancier unit later.
It should also be mentioned that UPSes are often discarded when batteries wear out or a light bulb goes out – both owner-repairable. I’ve been using two big rack-mounted unit that were being discarded at the university I used to work at. They were free and all they have ever needed was new batteries. Apparently, they were going with a different brand, so they were tossing them (your tax dollars at work!).
Small businesses and home users typically will toss them as soon as the batteries wear out. I picked up another brand-name expensive unit that had been dropped off at the local recycling center. It has all the fallutin’ features I’ve mentioned in this article, and I use it in my office for my main computer. Again, it just needed a new $12 battery.
If you also consider how much coverage that UPSes actually include for all connected equipment, this is a bargain. I’m not an insurance expert, but it is possible that for your business, adding UPSes can actually lower your fire or other insurance premium. Again, I’m not an insurance specialist, so please speak to your agent for a definitive answer.
I also know that I can write-off the expenses of my on-premises security equipment on my taxes. It may also be possible to write-off the expense of the UPS. Some manufacturers offer subscriptions for some of their more advanced features, and it’s possible that this is deductible. I’m not a tax expert, so please speak to an expert.
Conclusion
This has been a long enough article. If I haven’t made the case for you to purchase a UPS, then why on earth did you read the whole article. Surely, I would have lost you before the “Is that it?” section.
In all seriousness, go down to your local Best Buy or Staples store and purchase a decent UPS. Don’t know what type to get? Here are 5 good choices that won’t take up too much space and will have most of the features discussed above:
There are many other brands available as well, but I have had good experiences with these three manufacturers.
