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Frequently Asked Questions About
UPS
(Uninterruptible Power System) |
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Why do I need a UPS? |
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What is a "Smart" UPS? |
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How do I determine what size UPS to
get? |
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Should I put a UPS at each workstation? |
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Is there any equipment I should not connect to my UPS? |
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Why do I need UPS Monitoring Software |
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How does my UPS conflict with other devices? |
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Why
do I need a UPS (uninterruptible power supply)? |
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If you need optimum performance and longevity from your electronic equipment
and if you need a reliable short-term backup power source in the event of a
blackout, then you need a UPS to protect your equipment.
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What
is a "Smart" UPS? |
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The real meaning of “smart” UPS is one, which has a built-in microprocessor
and an RS-232 interface port. In addition to automatic shutdown capability,
a "Smart" UPS is able to monitor more operating parameters, such as: Input &
Output Voltage and frequency, Load Level, Battery level, and more.
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How
do I determine what size UPS to get? |
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UPSs are sized by their volt-amp (VA) load. To calculate the VA load of your
system check the UL label for the operating voltage and amperage drawn. Add
the amperages of each component to be powered by the UPS and multiply the
number by the voltage (120V for US applications). This number is your VA
load and the minimum size required. It is good idea to size your UPS at
least 30% larger than the minimum VA load to leave room for future needs.
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Should
I put a UPS at each workstation? |
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Yes, it is a good idea because this is where the most recent work is being
done, and this data is most vulnerable to loss or corruption in the event of
power outage.
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Is
there any equipment I should not connect to my UPS? |
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In general, you shouldn't connect a laser printer to your UPS because a
laser printer draws a tremendous amount of power and will likely overload
your UPS and cause the UPS fuse to blow.
A UPS with considerably more capacity than needed would have to be used to
offset this situation.
Most of the office equipment, such as computers, monitors, fax machines, and
networking equipment, should work fine with most UPS's. Do bear in mind that
larger size monitors consume much more power than smaller monitors and will
likely reduce battery runtime significantly. Also you should not connect a
surge suppressor at the output of UPS, in case the surge suppressor creates
a short circuit and damages your UPS.
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Why do
I need UPS Monitoring Software? |
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During a power interruption, a decision must be made when and if to
gracefully shutdown the computer system. On a computer system that always
has someone within earshot and eyeshot, this is usually done manually – when
the UPS kicks on during a power failure, the administrator decides whether
to ride it out on battery power or to save files and close programs.
However, on an unattended computer system, nobody is around to make that
decision. In that case, during a power failure, the UPS will kick on and run
the computer system, but only until its battery is depleted. Therefore, it
is important to have automatic shutdown software that will safely shut down
the computer system after a pre-configured time period of when the computer
receives a low battery signal from the UPS. UPS monitoring and automatic
shutdown software also can broadcast power fail messages to network
workstations, keep an historical log of abnormal power conditions, and alert
the system to page the administrator.
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How does
my UPS conflict with other devices? |
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If your mouse uses COM1 and your UPS uses COM2, the default hardware
interrupt (IRQ) settings for COM1 and COM2 are IRQ4 and IRQ3 respectively.
If your modem on COM3 is also using IRQ3 there will be a conflict with the
UPS on COM2. Since serial devices can not share a communication port or its
hardware interrupt, the interrupt for the modem must be altered. Check with
the modem manual to find out how to change the IRQ setting. Suggested IRQ
includes 5 and 10. If these two IRQs are not free in your system, you can
use IRQ7 since LPT1 is capable of sharing it.
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