What Is a UPS?

Power spikes, sags, and outages can not only cause you to lose unsaved work and precious data, they can also damage your valuable hardware and network infrastructure. So how do you protect your computers from power-related disasters? Enter the UPS.

A UPS, or "uninterruptible power supply,"

is any device that keeps your computer powered up and operational in the event of a power interruption. Simply put, a UPS is a battery that provides power to your computer or other critical hardware when its primary power source is unavailable. When your computer's power source is lost, the UPS provides power for a short time (usually 10 or 15 minutes) so you can save your work and properly shut down your systems.

If you operate your business on a network or have several peripherals connected to your computer, a UPS system can be used to protect multiple devices, including monitors, modems, and routers. Most UPSes will also shield these network systems from damage that may occur from voltage surges and sags.

UPSes come in two basic types: standby or continuous. A standby UPS, as the name implies, doesn't switch on until power is interrupted. When it detects a loss of power, it switches on immediately (within 5 milliseconds). Most commercial UPSes are of the standby variety.

A continuous UPS, on the other hand, is always on and acts as a battery that powers your computer. A continuous UPS charges itself on AC power from a wall socket, and in turn runs your computer or other hardware system. This acts as a buffer so that no matter what happens to your AC power — be it surge, lag, or outage — your critical machinery receives a clean, reliable flow of juice.

Uninterruptible power supplies range in price from less than $100 for a simple UPS for personal or light business use up to several thousand dollars for UPS systems designed to protect mission-critical infrastructure systems. Some UPSes even include software that automatically saves your open files and shuts down your computer if its power source is compromised.

So before you buy another piece of costly computer hardware, consider investing a little money in a UPS. It can save you the headache of losing valuable data, and, in the event of a power incident, it just might save you some serious money by protecting your infrastructure investment.