UPS for Industrial Computing

It’s a normal day, as you are reading this blog — your spreadsheets open, a design half finished, an email half written on another tab. What happens if your power goes out on your PC? Thanks to the work of Microsoft and Google, probably nothing. But what if the PC is operating on a factory floor or lies at the heart of a data logging, security, or medical embedded application? This can cause a loss of data and damage to sensitive equipment. Not to mention, the loss of valuable time. A Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) is a solution. But why is a UPS for industrial computing critical?  And, with so many options, which option is best?

What is a UPS?

At the core, a UPS is a secondary power source — a battery — that connects to a system to take over in the event of a change in power. They come in three general categories, or modes, each with their own purpose.

Offline/standby – This is your most basic UPS, giving you surge protection and battery backup. When power is lost, a switch triggers to bring the system onto battery backup – usually in a matter of milliseconds. This is fine for most PCs, routers, firewalls and the like, but can cause data errors if the machine is running a particularly intensive process, like rendering video.

Line Interactive – These UPSs are popular in areas where power fluctuates. A line interactive UPS can sustain a continuous under voltage (brownouts) and overvoltage situations thanks to a an autotransformer that compensates without tapping the battery. However, the voltage adjustment can cause power momentary irregularities that can affect sensitive devices like medical equipment, precision measuring tools and the like.

Online/double-conversion – The Online UPS is a ‘must have’ when no variation in power can be allowed. In these UPSs, the battery is connected into the current constantly and, when power changes occur, there is no effect on output. The primary downside to these is that the batteries can take more wear and tear and require replacement more frequently, but they are the best choice when system stability is at stake.

UPS for Industrial Computing – how do you pick a mode?

Making the move to a UPS is sometimes a tough sell, at least before a disaster. It’s important to look at your use case and decide. Does your factory have an initial power draw when the line starts up? You will want a line interactive UPS to prevent damages to your PCs. Do you have an older manufacturing machine that occasionally blows a fuse? A battery backup will save you from losing data. Are you running delicate and precisely calibrated sensor equipment? An Online UPS will prevent them from becoming inaccurate.

The Takeaway

When thinking about how to fail-proof your industrial system, especially in harsh environments, a good first step is to go fanless, and remove vents from a system. That’s a clear start for maintaining the life of a system, but UPSs are often an afterthought, or worse never thought of until a failure happens. The time to think about a UPS for industrial computing before you need one!

Note: This blog was originally posted on November 11, 2013. It was updated on June 11, 2020. The original post highlighted the use of an in-PC UPS. OnLogic no longer recommends this type of UPS.