Network Communications News (NCN) June 2016 | Page 36

S P E C I A L F E AT U R E

UPS & power management

Practical makes perfect
When choosing a UPS system, obvious features such as its capacity, battery autonomy, availability, economy
and resilience to failure will be weighed up first. Maintenance contracts will most likely be discussed as well.
However, while these factors are essential, careful consideration should also be given to the practical aspects
of setting up a new UPS. In this article Mike Elms at Uninterruptible Power Supplies Ltd (UPSL) looks at
these practical aspects, showing the importance of their role in the UPS installation’s ultimate success.

W

henever a designer specifies
a UPS for their critical data
centre or office load, their
first priorities will logically
relate to the functionality
and performance of the
UPS itself; does it have
sufficient capacity and battery autonomy

for the load’s requirements? Does
it offer high enough availability and
sufficient resilience to faults? Will TCO be
reasonable, together with a sufficiently
green footprint – and can the system
easily be scaled for future expansion?
While these are perfectly legitimate
and indeed critical considerations, there

are other factors that are less publicised
but nevertheless equally critical to the
ultimate smooth performance and
success of any UPS installation. These
relate to the practical aspects of setting
up a UPS, from its initial transport and
delivery to site, through to installation
and commissioning, and then arranging

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