On 12-Jul-05, at 8:57 PM, Sovereignty wrote:
What precautions should we consider to avoid potential problems with our Macs? Anyone?
I concur with Johann that a good quality UPS is a GREAT asset to have, and also that I like APC devices. They offer not only the ability to keep your computers all running when the power has completely gone out in your home but also the "smoothing out" of power spikes and "brown outs".
The unit I have been using for a number of years now does not have any kind of secondary connection to the computer. It simply plugs into an AC power outlet in the wall and then you plug in your computer or power bars to outlets in the back of the UPS. Using this kind of configuration, you get all the protection you want except that, if the power goes out while you are not at home, and the power stays off for a relatively long time, your UPS batteries will eventually run out of charge and your computers will Shut Down. My understanding of the purpose of a secondary, perhaps USB or serial, connection between the UPS and the computer or computers is to provide for an "automated" and "orderly" Shut Down of the computer or computers, presumeably after a set amount of time has gone by and the AC power has not been restored.
This sounds like a nice feature but my experience has been that 9 out of 10 power failures are either "brown outs" or are very short term total losses of power, where AC power is restored long before the UPS has run down its batteries. In these kinds of situations, your UPS will keep your computers running and your data safe for the short amount of time it takes for the regular AC power to be restored. So I don't feel that I have missed anything by not having this secondary connection between the UPS and the computers.
Be sure to ONLY connect to the UPS the devices which really require protection. For example, if you have a laser printer which you tend to leave on most of the time, do NOT hook it up to the UPS as it will add a significant drain to the batteries in the event of a power failure, resulting in the UPS functioning for a much shorter period of time.
Good luck!! Jim Foster President Macintosh Users East [MaUsE] http://www.mause.ca -- Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Mac Canada info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/mac-can.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/mac-canada%40mail.maclaunch.com/>
