MGE's Pulsar Evolution UPS Family

Anyone who has a history with computers knows that dreaded events like hardware failures and blackouts are more likely to happen when you haven't backed up your data. Uninterruptible power supplies can't help you much if your hard drive goes South, but they can really save your bacon when the lights go out, especially if the system you need to back up and shut down is a corporate server. MGE UPS Systems' new Pulsar Evolution UPS family is intended to protect systems in just such an environment, powering rack-optimized servers, storage systems and Internetworking equipment during electrical disruptions. The new UPS devices are 1.75 inches (1U) high and are available in power ratings of 500, 800 and 1100VA. MGE says the Evolution packs enough battery power to keep a hub, switch and router up for 45 minutes or a Windows 2000/NT server running for up to 25 minutes (depending on server configuration) to give you time to backup and shutdown during a blackout. Microprocessor-controlled charging is said to extend battery life up to 50 percent, and "smart" battery management is intended to warn you when the hot-swappable batteries need replacement. The Evolution also incorporates high-frequency line-interactive technology that delivers a sinewave output, voltage correction, and wide input voltage tolerances. Local or remote network power administration is handled through the unit's USB and serial ports with MGE's Solution-Pac power management software for Windows 95/98/2000, NT, Novell NetWare, SCO Unix v.3.0, SCO Openserver 5.0, and Linux. Solution-Pac provides power management for one or more servers as well as SNMP or web-based remote monitoring. The Pulsar Evolution product line is available now starting at $349 and has a two-year warranty that includes battery replacement and comes with MGE's $35,000 equipment protection warranty. I may not need that much horsepower in a UPS, buy you can bet I'll have some kind of power management in place before next summer's series of California power outages. Then again, I'll probably put it off, just like I put off hitting Save.