08/12/2014
Every year we visit the graveyards of dozens of PC's, Mac's and gadgets due to power surges and other environmental factors destroying power supplies, hard drives and other digital components. Storm season is here early this year, folks, and it's crucial to be prepared. Whilst it's common sense to techies, if you haven't already got your gear covered here's a few suggestions:
- Buy a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply).
* A good Line Interactive UPS will set you back about $300 and will filter power surges, brownouts and other power fluctuations to ensure your devices are getting the correct power input while online. In the event of power loss, you'll also have some time up your sleeve to power essential devices down safely. If you have a lot of gear, this is a small investment for piece of mind.
- Backup your data regularly.
* You can use an external drive, or if you have a decent internet connection you can use Cloud products like OneDrive or Dropbox to maintain a copy of your data elsewhere. This makes data recovery simple and easy. If you do use an external drive, check your backups regularly and ensure it is unplugged during the storms.
- If you cannot afford a UPS, get a surge protector.
* Surge protectors are (usually) power boards that protect your devices from power surges and fluctations. Whilst they are effective, I wouldn't place complete trust in them and during storms it's advised to power your devices off and unplug them, unless you have a UPS.
- Don't leave your laptop/tablet charger plugged directly into a wall socket.
* Laptop/device power adapters are quite fragile and even small fluctations in power can destroy them easily. Make sure you don't have them plugged in and operational during storms or there's a good chance you'll be ordering a new one.
Stay safe, stay smart and there's no luck required.
- Mastertech
