UPS Information

What is a UPS?

An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) will protect equipment from a blackout, brownout, power fluctuations and other problems associated with the integrity of your power supply. They are also known as battery back-up, back-up power or (incorrectly) as unstoppable power supplies.

Types of UPS Units

Off-line or Standby U.P.S.

The inverter is in standby mode, when the voltage drops or rises to pre-determined limits the unit will run on battery power until the power is restored to an acceptable voltage.

Off-line UPS Units protect against the three most common problems - Power Failure, Power Sags and Power Surges. They are commonly used for a single computer.

There is however a brief lag time (less than 4 milliseconds) while the internal battery comes on-line. This downtime should not cause a computer to shut down. On-line units are recommended for servers or computers running critical applications.

Note: Off-line units are not suitable for frequent power fluctuations.

Line-interactive U.P.S.

The addition of a buck boost circuit reduces the need to use an internal battery with every power fluctuation.

These units monitor the incoming voltage at all times, activating the buck boost circuit when the voltage falls below pre-determined limits. The battery is activated when even lower voltages are recorded.

Line-interactive U.P.S. units protect against power failure, power sags, power surges, brown-out and line noise.

On-line U.P.S

On-line UPS protect against all types of power problems by running constantly which offers the most protection. The connected equipment is constantly being supplied by an inverter which receives its power from rectifying the mains to DC.

The inverter continuously creates 100% new, clean and regulated AC power in all situations. The only exception is extended blackouts when the batteries eventually drain.

Power Boards with Surge Protection.
These are not a UPS and only offer very limited protection from surges in the power supply and phone lines and unsaved files are lost forever on a computer.