Issue No. 83June 2019
What is a UPS and Why is it Important for Your Business?
An Uninterruptible Power Supply or Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus/device that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails.
A UPS is typically used to protect hardware such as computers, servers, data centers, telecommunication equipment or other electrical equipment where an unexpected power disruption could cause injuries, fatalities, serious business disruption or data loss.
For most of our clients, a UPS allows for a graceful shutdown of servers should they have a power outage.
- What equipment is your business trying to protect?
Different units are made for different applications, so knowing what type of equipment is being plugged into the UPS is the first step towards sizing the UPS properly and selecting the most appropriate topology.
- What is the total power load the UPS is going to protect?
It is important to know the maximum total power draw of all of the equipment your company plans to connect to the UPS.
- What are the input and output voltage requirements? Include the plug types and number of outlets
Knowing both the voltage available in the server room and the voltage of the equipment being plugged into the UPS allows us to determine whether the customer would need a standard UPS, split phase UPS, or even a UPS with a step-down transformer. In addition to the input and output voltage, we need to know which plug type or if the UPS will be hardwired.
- How much runtime is needed?
Knowing how much runtime your company is looking to achieve is very important to the UPS sizing process. If your company is looking for more than enough runtime for a graceful shutdown, they are going to need an extended-run model. This information also helps in knowing how many battery packs will be needed in the event they do pick an extended-run model. The more runtime typically equals more cost.
- Where will the UPS be installed?
Does your company need a rack-mount UPS, or do they prefer a stand-alone tower? If you have a server rack onsite, most likely you will want rack-mountable.
What do you need to do (if you are running either of these)? Start planning.
Source: APC
To learn more about UPS functionality or other technology tools for your business, please feel free
to reach out to our IT engineering team at:
Phone: 858-952-5400 x0
Email: support@kazmarek.com
