Small Business Tech

It appears that the hurricane season really gets started tomorrow in Florida with the arrival of TS/Hurricane Fay. It is just like Summer begins on June 21st, but it really begins when you make your first trip to the beach. This storm is requiring everyone to make judgment calls about opening their offices or not. I think that most are dependent upon their location in relationship to the land-fall location and projected patch. The next decision is if you should shut down the computer equipment or leave it running.

Your main consideration is whether or not you will have employees working. Remember that your local employees might just log in remotely and work. It is not like they can go to the beach. You may also have remote employees that will be totally unaffected by the storm. If your server and/or other interconnecting equipment is shutdown, then you have even greater loss than you could already be facing.

The key is a good battery backup and management software. I have long been a fan of the APC UPS products coupled with the included power management software. It can effectively monitor your battery during a power outage and shut down your server in a safe manner. Windows server software on correctly configured hardware will even restart automatically if power is restored.

One thing to remember about your power supply needs. Be sure to have your router and modem as well as other network infrastructure on a UPS. This can be a smaller unit since these devices take very little power. They should run for hours without electrical main power.

If you are in Florida stay safe. It could be a great day to organize the office.

Labels: APC, Small Business Server, UPS