fbpx
Tom’s Tech Tips

Tom’s Tuesday Tech Tip: How’s UPS Working for You?

I keep telling Vickie that UPS means more than the hunky guy that delivers packages to the Institute. Sure UPS stands for United Parcel Service and that’s what springs to most people’s minds when they hear it. But to a techie, UPS is more than just another way to get cool stuff delivered to your home or office. It’s what protects your computer and other equipment from electrical power surges and it protects your data from accidental loss.

To me, UPS means uninterrupted power supply. The original purpose of a UPS was to keep (battery) power flowing to the computer when electrical power failed. Most UPS devices are battery backups designed to keep a CLNC® consultant’s computer and monitor running for a short time after the power goes out. The UPS seamlessly (but usually noisily) switches over to the battery and your workflow continues as if nothing happened. You can’t expect a UPS to run forever (unless you buy a really, really big one) but it’ll run long enough to allow you to save your legal nurse consulting work product and shut down your computer until your electricity is restored.

Besides a UPS, a techie’s next best friend is his surge protector. Surge protectors are an entirely different animal than the UPS. The sole purpose of a surge protector is to protect your important electronic equipment (like your 79″ flat screen TV and Wii console) from surges or spikes in the electrical supplies caused by lightning, power station issues or when that 8-ton AC unit in your backyard switches off and juice starts flowing back into the rest of the house.

Electrical power isn’t always the constant current you think that it is. Your electrical devices are designed to work on a steady stream of electricity and a power surge or spike can literally blow your device up, much like putting too much water into a balloon.

The UPS on our home stereo system displays the incoming voltage and it runs anywhere from 118-123 volts at any given time. Surge protectors act kind of like a tidal basin or sponge to soak up any excess power and keep only the “allowed” level of power flowing through to your computer. A power spike or surge can be dangerous, so a surge protector is necessary and cheap insurance to keep from overloading your valuable equipment.

But, do you really want to have two different klunky-looking pieces of electronica on or under your desk? I don’t either, so the best way to get around this is to buy a combination surge-protector and UPS. Lots of companies make these combination devices. The best in my opinion are made by APC and my favorite is the APC Back-UPS ES 8 Outlet 550VA 120V unit. This unit has four battery-backed-up plugs and four surge-protected plugs. You simply plug your computer and monitor into the battery-backed-up plugs, then plug any other peripherals (scanner, printer, etc.) you want to protect into the surge-protected plugs. That way when your power fails, your computer will keep running (but not the other power-sucking devices you don’t really need). APC also has its own “PowerChute®” software that will not only allow you to check the status of your battery, but will also gently shut down your computer, saving your work if power fails while your computer is unattended.

I have one of the higher end versions of these on my flat-screen TV, Blue-Ray DVD player and cable box, not to run them but just to keep them from being destroyed by one of our famous Houston thunderstorms (which we’ve been greatly lacking this summer). If you plan on running more than just a PC and monitor, you may want to consider a bigger unit, but for most Certified Legal Nurse Consultants the standard amperage unit above should be more than enough.

So, when I say “keep on techin,'” I really mean it! Get yourself a great UPS and you won’t have to worry about anything other than paying your electric bill.

Keep on techin’,

Tom

One thought on “Tom’s Tuesday Tech Tip: How’s UPS Working for You?

  1. Slowly but surely I am getting my computer system into the modern age. I have had my surge protector from day one, but I did not get the battery backup until early last year. Living in a rural area, this is a report saver indeed. Our electricity flickers often and after losing unsaved portions of a few work products, I invested in battery backup power.

    About six weeks ago, I went from dial-up to high speed. How did I ever manage without high speed? It could not have been timelier. An attorney that I was working for wound up at my house to meet a deadline because the email part of his satellite network went down. The attorney was already frustrated and if I was still on dialup, I don’t think that would have made the best impression.

    Next is Wi-Fi. Thanks, Tom.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*The opinions and statements made by Vickie Milazzo, the founder of Medical-Legal Consulting Institute, Inc. are based on her experiences and expertise, should not be applied beyond the specific context provided, and do not guaranty or project actual results. Vickie Milazzo is no longer involved in the operations or management of the business, but is involved as an independent education consultant.

Copyright © 1999-2024 LegalNurse.com.
All rights reserved.
CLNC® and NACLNC® are registered trademarks of
LegalNurse.com.