Rothstein Associates Inc.

ENSURING UNINTERRUPTED UPTIME
by Kenneth G. Brill

Senior managers often assume that computer downtime problems will be eliminated if
enough money is spent on a sophisticated uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system. This
can be a mistake because the protection provided by a UPS system can be an illusion in
many cases. For example, vendors' solutions often address only part of the user's problem.

To avoid this common pitfall and maximize the return on investment, it is crucial that senior
management work closely with the data center to clearly establish performance goals for the
UPS system. This article examines the data center manager's role in evaluating and
selecting a reliable UPS system and avoiding implementation pitfalls.

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CONTENTS

Problems Addressed
Differentiating between a UPS System and Uninterruptible Power Supply
Managing a UPS System
Ensuring Uptime
Defining Authority and Accountability
Preventive Maintenance
The Leadership Factor
System Reliability
Technical Factors and Subsystem Performance
Lightning Protection
Utility Service Entry and Building Switchgear
Critical Power Buses
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Uninterruptible Power Supply Air Conditioning
Frequency Convertor
Batteries
Emergency Generators
Emergency Readiness Testing
Computer-Room Power Distribution
Grounding
Recommended Course of Action

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kenneth G. Brill is an uptime consultant specializing in the engineering and management
issues of building fault tolerant systems that never fail. He is also an advocate of making
disaster avoidance the first step in disaster recovery planning and has written extensively on
issues of infrastructure reliability. Brill is the President of Computersite Engineering and is
the founder of the Uninterruptible Uptime Users Group. Brill has a degree in electrical
engineering from the Universityof Redlands and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

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1989, 16 pages Order #DR-111 $35.00
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1-888-ROTHSTEin

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