Protect Your Technology At Home & The Office…

In the past week we’ve been getting a lot of calls with questions about preparation for the storm and what the end users should do to make sure there are no technology casualties. I don’t expect all the clients to know the inner workings of the securities we put into place, but for the most part, all our clients are covered for a major storm like hurricane Sandy. I wanted to go into depth on the coverage that all businesses and firms should have as well as some things you can do in your home to cut technology losses and weather the storm with peace of mind. Technology is expensive, here’s how to protect it.

In an office environment there are a few things that we try to avoid when storms come, power surges & improper computer shutdowns due to power loss. An improper shutdown may lead to operating system corruption and downtime. To fix these two issues, we install UPS’s or Uninterrupted Power Supplies on each PC and the server as well as a voltage regulator or surge protector. Sometimes it’s an all in one unit, sometimes they are separate depending on the setup. While the surge protector stops surges from destroying your PC, the battery gives the ability to automatically shut down your PC when it find that there is little battery power left to run your device. This setup has to be configured. It works the same way on servers. Any server or computer without a battery backup device & surge protector is at risk during a storm. If you don’t have these solutions in place, unplug your device and plug it back in when you come back to work after the storm. Another benefit of these devices is that once power is restored, your PC & servers will boot back up automatically. This is great for remote access because once power is restored, work can continue without any human interaction.

When it comes to your home, protecting your computers and expensive electronics should be a priority in a storm. Just like in the office, every PC should have a battery backup device w/ surge protector & so should your television, minus the battery backup. Your modem & router should also have a battery and surge protector setup. In fact, I would purchase a larger battery for the modem and router so in case of a power outage, internet & phone is still up. Often when I lose power, our internet & phone is up for hours due to heavy duty UPS’s in place, and just because you lose power in your area, doesn’t necessarily mean that your internet is down. We often watch Netflix or surf the web on our iPhones & iPads without issues. We have a bunch of battery backup devices, when the power goes out, we usually unhook one from a PC and plug in a lamp. We’ll get a few hours out of the lamp and it works great. Having these devices around your house is great. They serve a purpose while things are calm and they serve an alternate purpose when things get hectic.