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nearby lightning skrike kills neighbours computers (and mine)

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nudone:
i'm having a rethink about all this.

nothing is going to provide a guaranteed solution, well, nothing except for unplugging the machine. plus, maybe next time it won't be a lightning strike, maybe it will be a house fire or a gas explosion or a plane crashing into the roof.

so, as the data is really the only crucial thing about the whole computer, i think a remote backup solution is the answer. that is the only sure way to have piece-of-mind. my problem then becomes that my broadband is so slow (1 meg) it's not convenient to use online storage except for a few small files.

weekly (or daily) backups to external drives that are stored off-site is the way to go.

i suppose a good UPS won't do any harm though. it could save time, stress and money at the very least.

40hz:
The best way to do it is with a two pronged shield.

The first line of defense is to protect your house power lines at the utility service entrance point. That provides "whole house" protection. But it can be a little costly since it needs an electrician or your utility company to install it. Prices range from about $200-$1000 USD depending on ratings and how fancy you want to get with status displays and blinkin' lights.

Residential Surge Suppressors are the first line of defense against damaging electrical surges and spikes that originate outside your home. They are installed by an electrician at your circuit breaker panel and safely reduce the severity of power transients caused by utility accidents, power outages and lightning.
--- End quote ---

Your second line of defense is a good quality UPS (best solution) or plug-in surge suppressor attached to sensitive equipment.

It's important to plug everything that is a part of your system into (at least) a surge suppressor. If you don't, a surge entering an attached but unprotected component (ex: monitor, cabled-in printer, phone line, etc.) can still damage your computer since there's a circuit path.

So a whole-house residential surge suppressor + local device protection is the way to go if you're that worried.

Carol's suggestion you look into if you're covered under you homeowner's/renter's insurance policy is a good one. Lightning damage is rare enough that filing a reasonable property damage claim seldom affects your rate going forward. Some insurance companies will also partially underwrite your getting a residential suppressor installed if you're in an area that experiences a lot of lightning damage. Worth asking about since they seldom volunteer that sort of information.

------------------------

Note: I've been told by an electrician that daisy-chaining two surge suppressors together boosts the level of protection to anything plugged into the downstream strip. I have no way of knowing if this is true, but it does seem to make sense since any residual surge that made it through the first suppressor would likely be stopped by the second.


eleman, how do we tell if we have an online UPS or not?
-mouser (June 30, 2011, 04:36 AM)
--- End quote ---

(Old IT joke: if it cost less than a grand - or you can pick it up by yourself - it isn't an online UPS - no matter what the brochure calls it.)

There's no way you can tell just by looking at it - although size and price is a good clue. The manufacturer's site however, should have that information available. "Online" is also sometimes called "zero switchover" or "continuous" in the product literature.

Basically in an online system ALL power at the device plug is coming through the battery circuit in the UPS. In cheaper UPS systems AC power goes though a suppressor circuit (just like a power strip) but switches over to battery in the event of a surge or power loss. That switchover takes a minute but definite amount of time. If the surge is large enough that it too rapidly blows through the suppressor circuit, the UPS may not have enough time to switch to the battery circuit before it - and whatever is attached to it - gets roasted.

It's pretty rare having that happen. But it does, so that's why there are "online" or "continuous" UPSs.

Good article here if you're interested in a more in-depth description of how they work. The article is a little old. But it's still accurate since UPS systems work the same now as they did back then.

nudone:
thanks 40hz. that's great information - but pretty much makes me conclude that data is god and the machine can simply be sacrificed. it'll be cheaper for me to replace the computer parts than have a proper electrical system installed.

and, as we all know, our data is irreplaceable so it simply must be backed up somewhere safe - but done conveniently enough not to make it a "chore".

Renegade:
Last November I bought a surge protector power bar that has a $75,000 guarantee. It might not actually protect things, but if anything does go wrong, it's going to cover a lot of damage. It was quite expensive though. I think it was $80 or $90... I forget.

Still, it's not $1,000, but it is an option... Doesn't address data though... but if you backup often, that's pretty much covered, though you're still stuck with down time.

eleman:
Here is an interesting piece on surge protectors and connected equipment warranties. Worth to read.

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