This blog explores the importance of a UPS solution in business and in home office environments when it comes to the stormy seasons. Power outages and downtime can be a more common event during these seasons, and a backup solution is paramount.
Key Summary:
- Weather events post a significant threat to power supply and HCI sites.
- Implementing a UPS means that during blackouts and downtime – your IT infrastructure can gracefully shutdown and automatically restart.
- For home offices, UPSs are essential for power outage protection.
- Your IT department needs to be prepared and have a power outage backup plan.
Weather events have been increasing in number and impact over recent years. One of the habitual casualties of this trend is the power supply – the bigger the storm, the more likely it is to cause blackouts. This situation poses a challenge for hybrid IT infrastructure management, particularly at edge computing sites that run hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) solutions. With HCI, even a short power outage can create big problems because shutdown and restarting procedures must follow specific steps to avoid data corruption or loss.
Micro data centers that run HCI sites, whether part of an edge network or standalone, can support anything from a retail store to a school to a manufacturing operation. They usually have minimal or no staff, especially when they are part of an expansive edge network. It would be virtually impossible and prohibitively expensive to staff every site. HCI is suited to unstaffed sites because the technology is easy to install and features remote management capabilities.
A blackout at one or more of these sites could cause hardware damage and data corruption unless proper power backup protection is in place. To prevent such a scenario, organizations first need to ensure every HCI location has an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). Second, when an outage outlasts the UPS runtime, they need a process to ensure an unattended graceful shutdown and sequenced IT infrastructure reboot. The shutdown process should take place automatically to maximize uptime. Unattended startup also eliminates the need to dispatch technicians to reboot IT infrastructure at every site.
Graceful shutdown solution criteria
Organizations need an automated shutdown solution to manage extended power disruptions impacting HCI. So, what should they look for in a solution?
First, they should consider a solution that can communicate with the UPS over a distributed network to gracefully shut down hyperconverged infrastructure. It needs to be configured to activate a step-by-step sequence in the proper order to protect hardware and data.
Next, the solution should be set up for an automated restart once power is restored. Ideally, the process should be automated, requiring no human intervention. This saves on truck rolls to the site, which saves time and money. Automatic restart also minimizes downtime to get the business back up and running faster.
An integrated and validated shutdown solution
A graceful shutdown option helps bring peace of mind to organizations running hyperconverged infrastructure because they know they can get through a blackout without losing data or suffering equipment damage.
Severe weather making an uninterruptible power supply a “must” for the home office.
The number of employees working from home (WFH) has increased significantly, adding pressure on organizations to take steps to protect home office environments. Any protection and a backup plan should include an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) for power outages.
IT Departments must help minimize the effect of power outages for remote workers
Power disruptions are common with severe weather events, especially storms with high winds. It’s a risk homeowners traditionally have had to address. But now with so many people working from home currently, it’s now also the responsibility of the IT department.
So how can IT professionals help remote workers minimize the effects of power outages? First, explain to workers the types of power anomalies that can occur and the risks they pose to computers, routers, printers, and other home office equipment. Second, prepare a backup plan that includes a UPS to help remote workers weather power outages and avoid being disconnected from the outside world .
The seven types of power anomalies are:
1. Power Failure: Complete loss of voltage for a short or extended period, usually caused by faults in the power system or equipment failure.
2. Sag (or dip): Brief decrease in voltage levels for a short duration, usually caused by high starting currents of large loads or system faults.
3. Surge: Short-term increase in voltage levels, often caused by sudden reduction in load or capacitor switching.
4. Interruption: Complete loss of voltage for a short or extended period, usually caused by faults in the power system or equipment failure.
5. Undervoltage (brownout): Long-term decrease in voltage levels below the normal range, often due to high demand or faults in the distribution system.
6. Overvoltage: Long-term increase in voltage levels above the normal range, typically caused by capacitor bank switching or faults in the system.
7. Harmonic Distortion: Fluctuations in the sinusoidal waveform of the voltage or current, caused by non-linear loads such as variable speed drives or electronic equipment.
Step 1: Understand how bad power shortens the life of sensitive devices
Weather-driven power problems are commonly caused by high winds as power lines get knocked down by falling tree branches or lightning. When lightning strikes a tree or other object, much of the energy travels outward from the strike, in and along the ground surface. This can result in damage to internal components in computing devices even without a direct lightning strike to a house.
A sudden power loss can generate different problems. Power interruptions can be instantaneous (less than a second), momentary (up to two seconds), temporary (two seconds to two minutes), or sustained (greater than two minutes). A power interruption could cause a WFH employee to lose valuable data.
Long power outages can cut off communications to the outside world. If smartphone batteries run out and the employee is using an IP telephone, both will be down simultaneously. Most of us (especially millennials) feel lost when mobile phones aren’t usable.
Step 2: Implement a backup plan with an uninterruptible power supply
UPSs are frontline devices that provide power protection. Devices are equipped with batteries that offer protection from lightning surges, power sags, swells, and blackouts. As such, UPSs can safeguard investments in computing and networking equipment. The battery keeps the device running when the electrical supply is cut.
When discussing UPS protection with WFH workers, IT needs to assess how much capacity each worker needs. This is done by identifying the equipment the person is using to do his or her work and connect to the corporate network. Based on the findings, IT then can recommend which UPS model makes the most sense for the WFH worker’s needs. In many cases, the same devices recommended for home office use may suffice. Power users with more complex computing setups may require UPSs with higher capacity.
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Other Schneider Electric products Available from Comms Express:
Server Racks & Accessories | NetBotz Security and Environmental Monitoring | Extended Warranty | Accessory Extended Warranty | Power Distribution Units | Uniterruptible Power Supply
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Until next time…
