Thursday, January 22, 1998

Get a surge suppressor, battery backup and protect your electronic property

By Scott McPherson / Knight-Ridder Newspapers

Now that it's time for making New Year's resolutions, resolve to protect all your sensitive electronic equipment -- including computers, printers, modems, and even televisions and fax machines -- from dangerous spikes and surges.

It doesn't matter where you live, or how good your electric utility is, sooner or later the electricity is going to act up. And when it does, you'll be glad you invested in some additional "insurance" in the form of surge suppressors and battery backups.

We all have deductibles to pay on our insurance policies in the event of electronics losses. For a fraction of that deductible, you can ensure another layer of protection for your favorite electronics gear.

Surge suppressors are the most popular way to protect electronic equipment. They come in different ratings, according to the severity of the electrical spike it blocks. These suppressors look like power strips, but don't be casual about the purchase. Read the package carefully, to make sure the device isn't simply a six-dollar power strip masquerading as a surge suppressor.

Suppressors should cost upwards of $15 and should ideally come with a guarantee that if any equipment is damaged, the suppressor manufacturer will pay to repair or replace your equipment.

Several manufacturers, including American Power Conversion, have redesigned their suppressors to accommodate "bricks," or those transformers whose form factor forces you to normally block valuable outlets on the suppressor. Plug your printer, fax machine, television, stereo components and VCR into surge suppressors.

Two important options for a surge suppressor include telephone and network cable protection. Remember that electricity can travel across telephone lines if lightning hits a phone pole, or if a careless repairman crosses the wrong lines. Also, network cable has to be protected if any network lines run outside of a building. American Power Conversion and Tripp Lite manufacture surge suppressors perform this function, as well as separate plug-in devices that protect network lines.

That lightning rule also applies to cable TV lines. Lightning can destroy a television with an unprotected CATV connection, even if the TV has a suppressor. Again, consider APC, Tripp and others manufacture suppressors with coaxial cable television connectors. And if you have a VCR, make sure the suppressor goes into the mix before the VCR's cable input. If you have a TV card installed in your PC, you must also use a suppressor with coaxial protection.

Expect to pay upwards of $20 for suppressors with modem or CATV protection. Shop carefully, and you'll find suppressors with both options.

Uninterruptible Power Supplies, commonly referred to as UPSes or battery backups, actually contain a battery that will supply AC power to an electronic device in the event of a power brownout or blackout. These devices supply enough electricity to manage an orderly shutdown of your operating system before the UPS loses its stored power.

UPSes come rated by volt amps, with VA ratings anywhere from 200VA to 2000VA. I recommend anywhere from 400VA to 450VA for most home and business systems. With a computer, monitor and external modem plugged into the system, you should get anywhere from five to 10 minutes' worth of power for most Pentium- or PowerMac-based systems.

File servers and mission-critical computers should have larger UPSes attached to them. A 2000VA backup should keep servers powered through spikes and short blackouts. A 600VA or higher UPS is recommended for power users and workstations. Server software and a serial cable are available for most network operating systems, as well as Windows 95 and WinNT, that allow you to manage an automatic, orderly shutdown of your system in the event the blackout lingers.

Caution: Do NOT plug a printer into a UPS. You'll drain all its power very quickly. Plug the printer into a suppressor.

I wrote and submitted both a column and a consulting proposal during a very bad tropical storm, simply because I had a UPS attached to my computer and was able to keep working, even though the power was out. The point is that when time is money, a UPS can be the best investment you can make.