Maximizing UPS Availability

By Chris Loeffler, Eaton Corporation

Uninterruptible power systems (UPSs) play a vital role in ensuring IT reliability. As a result, their own reliability is a crucial consideration too. Any time a UPS fails, mission-critical electrical loads are potentially at risk.

What, then, can organizations do to optimize UPS availability? As this white paper shows, the conventional answers to that question are often not the best ones. UPS reliability is ultimately less a function of UPS design—such as the differences between line-interactive and double-conversion products—than of overall power system design. In the end, the surest way to increase UPS availability is to focus on minimizing repair time and maximizing redundancy, both inside your UPSs and across your power protection scheme as a whole.

In addition, this white paper also explains why, contrary to popular belief, modular UPS designs provide superior availability even though they typically contain more parts that could potentially fail.