What is a UPS?
An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is a system capable of supplying high-quality electrical power without interruptions. A generator cannot be considered a UPS because, in the event of a power disturbance, there will always be an interval between the power failing and the standby generator firing. This break in power may result in significant financial losses and explains the need for a UPS. UPSs not only provide protection against all types of power supply failure but are also capable of filtering a vast range of disturbances found in the mains power supply thus providing more sensitive loads with a clean power supply.
power supply. A UPS contains, among other items, a source of power, such as a battery, to provide back up power when utility power is lost or a short outage occurs. The UPS can be utilized to provide power for short-term outages or until a stand-by generator is started for longer term power back up. The function of a modern UPS can be enhanced by utilization of communication software. This allows linking the UPS with various network and administrative platforms. As an example, SNMP (simple network management protocol) which supervise all UPSs, can communicate intelligent information over the network.