UPS/Battery Back up Question.

[elfnumber1]

Ok, I've been told by a few people that a UPS connected to your computer is necessary to prevent any HDD errors in the future. Especially what they call a "brown out" and that it happens everytime you turn on/off something. That with many of these happening, it could eventually destroy your HDD and lose data.

I am skeptical since I've never owned a UPS and never had any problems with a HDD. Any facts?

-elf

 

[Tiger]

Depends on the severity of the brown out.
Momentary "flickers" aren't a problem like the stuff that happens when you turn on the furnace blower or some other high draw appliance in the house. I doubt the UPS would even notice those.
Where they come in handy is for the long duration, more than a second, type of stuff that happens or a full on power failure.
They also provide some filtration of the power to the machine.
They're nice to have but if your not running any mission critical stuff they are at the top of the "nice to have but not really neccessary" list.

 

[nord1899]

I went for years with only a top of the line surge protector. Had no problems.

Until a little while ago, due to some thunderstorms causing 1 second blackouts. Just long enough for my computer to loose power and turn off. Yes I tend to leave things on all the time.

So I went out the next day and bought a good UPS for about $150. I have my Computer, Monitor, Router and Cable Modem on the battery part of it. To test how well it works, I unpluged the UPS from the wall and nothing happened, which is what I wanted. The computer, monitor and network all stayed up.

So if you are experiencing blackouts/brownouts that are causing your computer to turn off, worry excessively about data loss, then get one. But don't consider it essential. Its just a nice perk if you got the money.

 

[elfnumber1]

Thank you. Yeah I didn't think there be any problems without a UPS with normal use or computers and normal use of your things at home. I will continue to go without one since I don't see anything wrong without it. Thanks guys.

elf

 

[fr]

I think the data that is in your hard drive's buffer is lost when the power suddenly goes out.