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Air conditioners—not as innocent as they look. |
Does your system crash often? Have you had data mysteriously disappear from your computer? On the other hand, do you find your e-mails eaten up by goblins in cyberspace, never reaching their destination? Have your experiences been at times like a bad scene from the Hollywood movie "The Matrix" where you feel you are "Neo" combating multiple clones of the villain in sunglasses or do you find yourself contacting your ISP's Helpdesk all the time? The culprit may not be the usual suspect-a virus or a web attack-but your own air conditioner!.
Global warming and the rising temperatures worldwide have made summers hotter than ever before and heat wave conditions are harsh, to put it mildly. As a result, during summer, most of us find ourselves switching on the air conditioners to seek relief from the unbearable heat and extreme temperatures. More and more people are buying air conditioners (ACs) as better technology and lower cost of production have caused a drop in prices of ACs world over and it's a common feature in the workplace, especially the technical workplace. While ACs may keep our surroundings and us cool, did you know it could destroy our computers during brownouts?
What Is a Brownout?
Most of us have heard of blackouts, when there is a complete power shut down-but a brownout? We experience it almost daily during summers, except we do not know the term. An electrical brownout is nothing but a power surge, when the electricity voltage level spikes or drops below the required level for safe operation of electrical devices. When a large number of air conditioners are turned on in a particular locality, a brownout occurs. It can happen anytime but is most common during summers as that is when people tend to use them most.
Harold M. Belbin, co-founder and principal security engineer of Visiting Geeks (www.VisitingGeeks.com), an on-site computer repair, networking, security and wireless company serving homeowners and small businesses north of Boston, USA says, "Today's extreme heat is going to wreak havoc on personal computers. Have you ever seen the lights dim when the air conditioner, refrigerator, or vacuum cleaner turns on? These are examples of an electrical brownout."
So we have all experienced brownouts but are these a cause for concern for the safety of our equipment, especially our computers? Yes, if the following two studies are to be believed.
Two major studies of electricity supply quality have been completed in recent years.
The first one, by Bell Laboratories, found the following areas accounted for most power-related issues:
- Surges less than 200 volts - 82.2%
- Blackouts - 1.4%
- Surges higher than 200 volts - 2.4%
- Sags - 14%
The second one conducted by IBM confirms the Bell Labs study. The results by the IBM study found the main culprits were the same:
- Surges less than 200 volts - 87.5%
- Blackouts - 0.5%
- Surges higher than 200 volts - 2%
- Sags - 10%
The findings from both studies demonstrate that it is not blackouts or power shut downs and high spikes but surges below 200 volts that cause 85 to 90 percent of the damage. These surges are usually disastrous resulting in data loss, wastage of time for the consumer, frustration, and generate many frantic and angry calls to the help desk of the system administrator and the Internet Service Providers. Therefore, even if you live in a country where you have never heard of the term blackout, or if you have a generator that comes on the moment you have a power cut, you still experience brownouts each day.
When network or system maintenance personnel think of preventing data loss due to power supply problems, they typically consider an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) or a surge suppressor. Some use a combination of a stabilizer and a UPS. The above two studies however, indicate that such devices would address only five percent of power-related problems. Thus, even networks and computer systems that are well protected by UPS and surge protectors are at serious risk. This directly affects individuals at the workplace, as we are part of the network. Even if you are not working at a technical workplace, the very fact that you are part of the web, if you have an internet connection at home, puts your ISP mail server at risk which in turn puts you in the direct line of fire.
How Do We Protect Our Systems?
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| Picture © Microsoft Corporation. |
How do we protect our computers and data without investing in a brand new computer after each summer? Most of us think that using an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) solves the problem but Bahram Mechanic, CEO of SmartPower Systems (www.smartpowersystems.com), a maker of power conditioning equipment, disagrees and says it is not true for all cases.
Bahram Mechanic says, "Power problems caused by small surges, spikes, and sags in the electricity supply can wreak havoc on computer or networking equipment. Servers, workstations, and networking gear are best protected by using transformer-based filters (TBFs). Whereas old style power conditioners were large and expensive, a new breed of inexpensive electronic power conditioner is being deployed today in the computer room."
So are any protection options available? Yes, and the protection options vary depending on the user needs and you would be probably better off using a combination of the following to save yourself money, energy, and trouble.
Available Protection Options:
Surge suppressors or surge protectors are relatively inexpensive and offer excellent protection against catastrophic high-voltage spikes. However, they fail to handle the relatively small over and under-voltages that occur.
- Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
UPS is a backup power supply used when the main electrical feed has failed or drops to an unacceptable voltage level. UPS should clearly be part of any power protection strategy. However, blackouts comprise only one to two percent of power quality situations as the studies show. These are not useful during brownouts that we need to deal with and if the spike is below a limit, which it usually is, the UPS's fuse is blown only adding to more cost.
Isolation transformers or line conditioners have become more popular recently. These devices filter out high and low voltage spikes. Unfortunately, they are heavier and more expensive with adequate server protection than modern alternatives.
- Transformer-Based Filtering (Electronic Power Conditioner)
Technological advancements in power conditioning in the recent years have yielded devices that provide computer-grade power at the same price as surge protectors and a fraction of the price and size of isolation transformers. Known as transformer based filtering (TBF) devices, the latest circuits include transistors, thyristors, capacitors, and relays in tandem with a small transformer.
TBF power conditioner units provide basic protection against massive spikes of over 1000 volts as well as small spikes and surges. In addition, they constantly monitor the line power. If voltage goes too high for more than 80 milliseconds, the TBF power conditioner cuts the power to prevent damage.
If you have already invested in an UPS, a TBF power conditioner can be added to it relatively inexpensively.
Keep Cool the Whole Year Round
If you are an individual user, you'd be better off using a UPS with an add-on TBF combination, unless you're willing to buy a new computer when summer is over.
If you're a network or system administrator at a corporation or an educational institution or a government office, or an e-mail service provider or just someone who maintains servers, make sure to invest in TBF's, for you are responsible for data transmission across several computers and if those systems are damaged, you are responsible for the costs involved.
Next time you lose important data or experience a system crash, remember it may not be the work of a hacker, a virus, or the people at your power company who are responsible. It could very well be your system administrator, service provider or network manager who had not taken adequate precautions during summertime, and you too, for it is all of you together who let in the main culprit-the air conditioner!
Keeping cool does not mean your computer is safe! This is because your computer comes with a warranty but your power supply does not. These surges tend to affect all your appliances giving them a short life term. So take adequate precautions instead of cursing the computer and screaming at the helpdesk personnel.
Do not let the heat get to you and stay cool the whole year round.
Sources:
1) Visiting Geeks— www.VisitingGeeks.com
2) SmartPower Systems, Inc—www.smartpowersystems.com
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