UPS Technical Information
Overview
"An uninterruptible power supply or uninterruptible power source (UPS) is an electrical apparatus that provides emergency power to a load when the input power source or mains power fails. A UPS differs from an auxiliary or emergency power system or standby generator in that it will provide near-instantaneous protection from input power interruptions, by supplying energy stored in batteries, supercapacitors, or flywheels. The on-battery run-time of most uninterruptible power sources is relatively short (only a few minutes) but sufficient to start a standby power source or properly shut down the protected equipment. It is a type of continual power system.
A UPS is typically used to protect hardware such as computers, data centers, telecommunication equipment or other electrical equipment where an unexpected power disruption could cause injuries, fatalities, serious business disruption or data loss. UPS units range in size from units designed to protect a single computer without a video monitor (around 200 volt-ampere rating) to large units powering entire data centers or buildings."
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply
These products can be purchased through most sales outlets that sell computers, or electronics.
OpenEye recommends the use of UPS devices.
There are a couple of things that you will need to keep in mind when purchasing a UPS:
- You will need to identify the power consumption of the devices you are going to connect to the UPS.
- Consider how long you want the devices to stay active when the power is out. Keep in mind that a UPS will help for very short periods of time to allow you to shut down the equipment gracefully.
- Adding additional devices to a UPS after it has been deployed will greatly change the way it was intended to perform.
- Some UPS can also communicate with Microsoft Windows to power down the device gracefully before it runs out of power.
- Some UPS can notify IT dept personnel that they have been activated, having issues with power source, battery condition, etc.
- Swapping an aging battery is important too, otherwise, you may not get the required time needed.
- It is recommended to add 20% to your estimated needs.
- Monitors often use more power than expected. You will want to leave them turned off if plugged into the UPS but add them to the UPS power budget when designing a fail-over system.
- UPS will not fix an electrical circuit that has exceeded its max capacity; it will provide a temporary fix until the battery fails from abuse.
UPS Manufacturers
Some UPS Manufacturers provide web pages to assist you in choosing the right UPS for your needs, here are a few:
Apex Server Power Requirements
Review the power requirements for each model can be found on the OpenEye Recorder Line Card.