MGE's Compact UPS

This summer, while I was out getting new driver's license at the Department of Motor Vehicles, one of California's infamous "rolling blackouts" struck my office. I was only about 15 minutes away, but that didn't help me backup my data onto disk to work on the laptop or shut down my computer. Until the lights came back on, I was stuck going to the beach. It can be much worse if you're working on a file that you haven't saved or trying to keep a network going when the power goes out. Many a poor soul has lost hours of work that way. Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) can save your bacon in such situations and over the years they've evolved (or devolved) from big expensive systems that keep networks powered up to gadgets you can afford to put in your home office. If you're interested in keeping the juice flowing when lightning strikes, MGE UPS SYSTEMS just told about its new line-interactive UPSs that it says offer affordable backup power for workstations and servers in packages up to 50 percent smaller and lighter than comparable systems. The Ellipse Premium units, as they're called, are available in power ratings from 500VA to 1200VA, and in desktop and rackmount formats. MGE says the 3" deep the units have enough battery power to keep a Windows NT server running for up to an hour (depending on configuration). The Premium models also feature a voltage regulator that allows the UPS to ride through deviations in input voltage without discharging the battery during momentary brownouts. The 650, 800, and 1200 VA Ellipse Premium models feature load shedding "PowerShare" technology. During a power outage, the UPS will automatically shed non-critical devices such as ink jet printers to provide battery time to the PC workstation or server. The Ellipse Premium is compatible with Windows 95, 98, 2000 and NT. The Pulsar Ellipse Premium product line is available now priced starting at $220 and include a two-year warranty that includes battery replacement and comes with MGE's $35,000 equipment protection warranty.