Hardware

3 Questions to Ask When Choosing a UPS Battery Backup

Consider these features before the lights go out.

Carlos Soto is an award-winning reviewer and journalist with 20 years of experience covering technology and business within various sectors and industries.

Power management is one of the most important investments for colleges and universities. Most commonly, a power outage is a sudden occurrence that provides little to no warning or time for users to safely save and shut down devices. The same goes for voltage fluctuations, which can damage any system and even erase data.

These seemingly random yet common occurrences are why organizations invest in uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, and one of the main reasons why finding the best one for the job is so important. With so many features available on UPS systems, it’s a daunting task to choose the best unit for your faculty, staff or students. Finding a good UPS gets easier when you look for some of the most important key features.

1. Are The Alarms Loud Enough?

One important device feature to look for is alarms. Ideally, you’d want a device that offers audible alarms backed by LED indicators to help signal issues or power outages. The system service should be able to restore operations to locked equipment via a soft reboot of applications and operating systems, along with a hard power reboot of connected equipment.

2. Is The UPS Too Heavy To Be Mounted?

Portability is also an overlooked feature for UPS devices. At 11 by 5.7 by 3.5 inches and weighing only 10 pounds, the Tripp Lite 550VA 300W is great for any space and for protecting the applications that run on the connected machines. Keyhole mounting flanges on the Tripp Lite unit offer IT staff the flexibility of securing the unit via wall-mounted installation.

3. Does It Come With Automatic Voltage Regulation?

Added protection like Automatic Voltage Regulation (AVR) systems help stabilize the output voltage of generators at variable loads. A good UPS should offer a hot-swappable user battery replacement that is supported via a battery access door on the unit. This makes it easier for IT staff to keep all units operating at peak performance.

The management of power is one of the most important investments for colleges and universities. With these added features and robust cybersecurity, the IT staff of educational organizations can rest comfortably knowing systems are protected from nearly every kind of threat or hazard.

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