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Protecting your computer against disasters (natural orotherwise) requires preparation. But it doesn't take a fire,flood or nuclear war to cause computer meltdown. The most direthreats or fluctuations are power interruptions such as blackouts,brownouts and surges. Whether the power goes out for five secondsor five hours, such fluctuations corrupt data and damage harddrives and other sensitive components. At the very least,recovering from an unexpected power outage can cause significantdowntime. Protection in this case is spelled UPS--anuninterruptable power supply device, which typically resembles acommon multioutlet spike bar or power bar.
The most common type of UPS, standby or off-line,is a battery backup that kicks in automatically when power dropsbelow a certain level. Because there's a momentary,imperceptible flicker in power levels as the UPS switches fromutility to battery power, the best choice for expensive orsensitive equipment running critical applications is anonline UPS device. This eliminates the switchover period bysupplying power from the battery and utility lines simultaneouslyuntil the power fails.
All UPS devices are not created equal, says Dan Rothman, generalmanager of UPS manufacturer Fenton Technologies in Santa Ana,California. "The bigger the VA [volt amps] number, the longerthe run-time. A very large, power-hungry network with severalcomputers will overwhelm a UPS with a small VA. By the same token,a single PC backed up with a high VA will run for a good while onbattery power," Rothman says. To determine the VA level youneed, multiply the voltage (110/120 volts in the U.S.) by the totalnumber of amps your equipment requires.
Since UPS devices maintain power for short periods of time,Rothman adds, a good UPS includes monitoring and automatic shutdownsoftware that closes applications and shuts down the computerbefore the UPS battery runs out.
Lost data is another frequent scourge of computer users.Protecting vital data means backing it up daily, either with aremovable storage drive or an off-site backup service.
Removable storage drives offer an easy, secure way to transferdata among computers and facilitate long-term storage of olderfiles. Off-site storage adds extra safety, says Steve Doize,desktop manager for Compaq's Prosignia line of PCs."There's always the possibility of a fire, flood orrobbery," he says. "If your data is on-site, it could bedestroyed, and you'll be no better off than if you never backedup at all."
Off-site data backup is done via Internet. You simply downloadthe necessary software, register with the site and choose aconvenient time. When the time comes, your computer automaticallyconnects to the Internet, uploads the desired files to the storagesite, then disconnects--all without human intervention. When youconsider the costs for add-on storage drives, storage media (tapes,disks, etc.) and labor, off-site data backup is often a cheaperalternative.
Protecting your PC should be your top priority. If it isn't,heed the advice of entrepreneurial expert and noted pessimist Mr.Murphy, who said, "Whatever can go wrong, will gowrong."
(For more on external backup drives, see "WiseBuys.")
Ounce Of Prevention
Want to play it safe? Check out the following power tools:
UPS:
Fenton Technologies' PowerPal features built-inoff-line voltage correction for brownout conditions.
Street price: $129-$599 (depending on VA rating)
(800) 735-5877
The 420 VA Powercard from Guardian On-Board is afull-featured off-line UPS that's compact enough to fit in yourcomputer's internal ISA slot.
Street price: $199
(877) 4-MY-POWER
On-site data backup:
Iomega's Jaz external drive can hold up to 2GB ofdata on removable storage disks.
Street price: drive, $400; disks, $25 each
(888) 446-6342
The DriveDefender from Promise Technology is a PCI cardthat allows you to add a second (blank) hard drive to your system,which can be used to back up important data if the main hard driveis in danger of failing.
Street price: $99
(800) 888-0245
Off-site data backup: Compaq Computer'sonline.backup is an Internet-based service that stores yourdata on its secure server (which you can access any time).
Price: $9.99/month for 500MB
(800) AT-COMPAQ
http://www.compaq.com/smb/onlineservices
Similar to Compaq's online backup service, Remote BackupServices' @backup also lets you access your stored dataat any time.
Price: $29.95/month for unlimited data storage
(800) 344-2000
