Uninterruptable Power Supplies (UPS)

Often called a Battery Backup, a UPS is another important component in your veterinary computer network. This device is both a battery and a piece of electronics which makes it smart.

We all experience power outages. Some of these outages are long and others are short. The short ones can be so short that they appear as simple light flickers. Computers do not like being shut down abruptly which is exactly what happens when you lose power. The computer itself can get damaged and the software applications open on screen could lose data.

The UPS device can be a simple, inexpensive power strip that includes a battery to help protect workstations and other low demand devices. Servers and server rooms need more battery power and better electronics to help both protect and monitor power quality. Some UPS devices communicate with servers to instruct the servers to shutdown if the batteries run out of power before the building power is restored. This class of UPS will also monitor power quality and report time based fluctuations.

Though it is not critical to install a UPS for every computer device in your practice, it is well worth it to have good power backup and line conditioning (another blog topic next week) on specific devices. In order importance, the devices that need UPS protection include servers, routers and firewalls, switches, and critical role workstations. For servers you might spend $1000 on a good UPS. Conversely, the other devices need only a simple $150 UPS.

The UPS is critical – for the money spent, it helps protect from momentary disruptions and the damage power fluctuations can have on computers.




Kevin Scholz
CEO
DVMConnexx, Inc.