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Hurricane preparations: protecting your computer equipment.
Storms in general, and Hurricane season in South Florida in particular justify
some careful planning to protect sensitive electronic equipment, including
computers, printers, and network equipment. The two main threats to guard
against during a storm are electric surges (and brown-outs - not enough power)
caused by lightning, and of course water (i.e. driving rain through damaged
windows, and flooding).
Whether a storm threatens or not, back up your important data. That is probably
the best investment in time you will make, according to people who had to
suffer through trying to re-create data files from scratch that took sometimes
years to compile. For information on back-up approaches, click
here.
Anticipating power problems
Power problems arise when there is either not enough power sent to your system
(brown-out) or too much (power surge). Both problems can damage your computer
or any other electrical devises that are not protected during such an event.
Keep in mind that power surges can also arrive at your computer via data links
(telephone lines, CATV lines, and network cables).
Here is some advice on steps to take to prevent damage to your computer
systems, in order of effectiveness:
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Make sure your outlets are properly grounded. Professionally installed outlets
are grounded, but "home grown" units may not be. A $15 simple tester will tell
the difference.
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Use a surge protector. Don't confuse a surge protector with a power strip. A
power strip is nothing more than a few power outlets on a plastic box. They do
not protect against power surges. Good surge protectors often come with a power
surge rating (in joules) and offer some warranty against damage that may occur
despite the protector.
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Use battery back-up, i.e. an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS): they have a
built in battery that can power your computer in case of a power outage for a
short period of time, generally 5 to 60 minutes. Most power outages last only a
few seconds so a UPS will prevent you from losing your work. Never plug laser
printers into a UPS.
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The better UPS systems come with an Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR). An AVR
monitors power supply within a more narrow band and either shuts off power in
case of surges, or supplies it during a brown-out.
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Secondly, better UPS systems actually have a data connection to your computer
and can instruct Windows to power down "gracefully" to prevent lost data and
potential damage to open files.
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Thirdly, power surges can also be sent down telephone lines, CATV, and CAT-5
data network cables. Better UPS systems generally allow you to connect your
system via the UPS to the telephone line, CATV or Cat-5, so that potential
surges via those media are arrested in the UPS too.
NOTE: Do not rely on general purpose battery back-ups (UPS) to power critical
medical devices during an electrical storm! Check with your doctor or pharmacy
to obtain approved systems for that purpose.
When a lightning storm approaches.....
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By far your best bet is to power systems down and disconnect power cables and
all data cables to your sensitive electronics; there is a limit how much of a
lightning strike in your immediate area your (protected) equipment can take.
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Secondly, make sure you store your back-ups in a safe and dry place (you did
make them, didn't you?)
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If your computer system(s), printers, and network devices are near a window,
move them away from the window and cover them in plastic just in case the
window breaks and the systems would be exposed to driving rain.
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