Monday, May 19, 2008  

[Baby, when the lights go out...]

I bought a UPS in the December of 2006. I can't remember exactly, but I believe there were some blackouts around that time and I wanted to protect my computer. For those who don't know, a UPS is basically a big battery for computer equipment to draw power from during a blackout. Home UPS usually provide about 10-15 minutes of power (don't believe marketing when they say that there's enough juice to sustain your computer for 30 minutes...not for home UPS anyway) while those used by IT companies could probably keep the servers going for several hours.

My UPS has never been called into any real action. Me turning off the power on purpose to test the UPS doesn't count. That was actually one of the reasons that made me ponder whether or not to get one in the first place, because let's be honest, the power supply in Singapore is very reliable.

About an hour ago, my UPS was called into action.


The power in my house tripped. I'm not sure what caused it. No one flipped on any switches when it happened. My parents were asleep, my sister was reading and I was taking a piss. The circuit breakers didn't offer any clues neither. The main breaker "jumped", but all the others were fine.

My computer was on at the time and the UPS allowed a graceful shutdown of my rig before I went and turned the power back on. I'm glad I shelled out the $77 in 2006.

I think that everyone should get a UPS to protect their computer. It costs about $60+ (prices have dropped since 2006) which is a small sum compared to what you paid for your computer. It gives you time to shutdown your computer properly during a blackout, offers surge protection and supplies "clean" power to your computer. I'm not 100% sure what "clean" power is (I have some idea, but don't want to get into it) but it sure sounds a lot better than dirty power.

^^^ by Locksley @ 12:18 AM. 0 comments.
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