How to select a suitable power backup for your infrastructure?

Regardless of the industry domain, your is business in, availability is crucial for your success. For that reason, a reliable power infrastructure with an adequate uninterrupted power supply system is indispensable. The UPS is the backbone of every industry that keeps the businesses functioning even when the main power supply fails for some reason. 

A Battery Backup at Eaton Industries keeps your critical units such as servers, critical monitors, etc running and helps to avoid business interruptions and delays. Given the significance of UPS units, you should carefully choose the right backup that can deliver to the needs of your business infrastructure. Apart from the obvious location and budget, here are some crucial factors that govern the selection of the right backup.

The criticality of the backup equipment

Assessment of the critical units of your business and the loss a failed power supply to them can incur is inevitable. While for some businesses power failure can lead to serious threats, others can simply lose business. Consumers have become more demanding than ever and thankfully technology has empowered businesses to deliver to their expectations. 

Increasing penetration of technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things) and cloud has made businesses always available. However, these systems are of no good without an uninterrupted power supply. You need to find the level of backup you need and make a detailed cost-benefit analysis before buying a backup system.

Your needs for today and into tomorrow

Businesses grow and that is something that you also strive for. This means, your power protection requirements will change over time. Also, a UPS unit is not something that you would purchase now and then. It is a one-time investment that is supposed to deliver enduring value. For that reason, you should evaluate your backup needs as far into the future as possible. This factor plays a vital role in determining the suitable type and size of the UPS you should get.

Wattage requirements

Every UPS system is marked with a maximum VA (Voltage-Ampere) and watt rating. This threshold is the maximum current you can draw from the UPS unit. It is essential not to overload the UPS or it can drop the load instead of switching onto the batteries in case of a failure. 

Many manufacturers recommend using only 80% of the capacity of the systems to ensure the longevity of the system. This also helps the system to handle demand fluctuations and reduces the chances of overloading.

The probable backup runtime

Runtime is the duration for which your UPS system provides backup in case of a power outage. Evaluate your load and assess different models and manufacturers for backup runtime details of each product. Most UPSs provide enough backup to support your systems when used at 80% load. You can also extend the runtime by deploying additional external batteries with the UPS system. 

However, this can be a costly affair. External batteries can be expensive and need frequent replacements. You can also get a UPS with customized runtime to deal with long outages. As this can increase the cost of the backup system significantly, you should carefully weigh your expenses and returns before investing.