What is an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)?

An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) offers guaranteed power protection for connected electronics. When power is interrupted, or fluctuates outside safe levels, a UPS will instantly provide clean battery backup power and surge protection for plugged-in, sensitive equipment.

APC, a flagship brand of Schneider Electric, offers UPS options for Computers & Peripherals, Networks & Servers, as well as Data Centres & Facilities.

Home: The electronic devices you rely on every day for communication, security and entertainment are at risk of damage and failure due to unexpected blackouts, voltage fluctuations or other power disruptions. A UPS provides battery backup power and protection for electronic devices, including:

• Wireless networking equipment (routers, modems)
• Computers
• Televisions
• Security systems
• Gaming consoles
• Mobile devices

Business: Downtime caused by power outages is frustrating for anyone, but can be financially crippling for a business or organisation. Every year, billions of dollars are lost due to downtime caused by power disruptions that could have been prevented by a UPS. For Fortune 1000 companies:

• Average annual cost of unplanned downtime, $1.25—$2.5 billion
• Average hourly cost of infrastructure failure: $100,000
• Average hourly cost of critical application failure: $500,000—$1 million

Small to medium-sized businesses may be at most financial risk due to a limited ability to generate revenue during downtime.

What power conditions will a UPS battery backup protect against?

Many power problems originate in the commercial power grid, which, with its thousands of miles of transmission lines, is subject to damage from weather variations such as hurricanes, lightning storms, snow, ice, and flooding, as well as equipment failure and traffic accidents.

For more information on the different types of power problems, please see our white paper, The Seven Types of Power Problems