UPS is short for Uninteruptable Power Supply and is used to protect electrical equipment against a variety of power supply issues such as total power loss and dips and swells in voltage by providing a clean, stable flow of power. Things such as over-voltage and brownouts (which can happen several times a day) cause unnecessary wear and tear on electrical equipment, including computers.  However, UPS’s are primarily used as a power back up for a short period of time in a blackout or total power loss. Some UPS’s have software which can instruct a computer to save any open files and shut down safely without any human intervention. This can prevent data loss as well as damage to electrical equipment in the event of complete power outage.

Each UPS provides a different level of protection, so ensure you pick a UPS which can adequately meet your day-to-day and disaster needs. There are three types of UPS:

Off-line UPS system

An offline UPS is simplest power supply system. The power is supplied by the mains until total power outage or other set voltage level at which time the UPS would support the computer systems or electronic equipment with its battery.

Line interactive UPS system

Much the same as an off-line UPS system, a line interactive UPS provides power via the mains but with the assistance of a microprocessor which increases or decreases the voltage supplied based on the flow of power in order to continue providing stable, clean power without the use of its batteries which are used for total power loss.

True on-line double conversion UPS system

Suitable for all settings where a high availability of a clean power supply is required, a true on-line double conversion UPS system provides an independent stream of power which does not flow directly from the mains unlike off-line and line interactive UPS systems.

A few points to consider when purchasing a UPS are:

Scalability of the UPS system

Be sure to consider the rate of growth of your business or office set up and if there are situations where the demand for power may be increased in the foreseeable future.

Parallel redundant UPS systems

A parallel redundant UPS system or UPS redundancy is when two or more UPS systems are running together (sharing the load) in case of the failure of a UPS. This is an important consideration for those with critical systems.