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Power Terms


Advanced Battery Management

Three-stage charging technique that automatically tests battery health. Provides advance notification when preventive maintenance is needed, allowing ample time to hot-swap batteries without ever having to shut down connected equipment significantly extending the life of your UPS's battery (and, quite possibly, your contract).

Alternating and Direct Current

  1. Alternating current is electric current that reverses direction at regular intervals, as opposed to Direct Current, which is constant. Usually in a sine wave pattern, for optimal transmission of energy.
  2. Letting your newspaper subscription lapse periodically, so you only sometimes know what's going on in the world.

Blackout

  1. Zero-voltage condition lasting for more than two cycles. Also known as a power outage or failure.
  2. Standing up too fast.

Brownout

  1. Steady state of low voltage, but not zero voltage. Brownouts often occur during summer months when energy use is high.
  2. Good name for ring-around-the-collar remover.

Buck and Double Boost

UPS voltage regulation that enables pure sine wave output. Sometimes called a step-up/down power stage, never called "Maurice."

Double-conversion

UPS topology that provides power to the load from its inverter 100% of the time, regulating both voltage and frequency. Singularly effective.

Efficiency

A measure of output versus input. If power efficiency of a device is 90%, you get back ninety watts for every hundred you put in the rest is mainly dissipated as heat from the filtration process. In other terms, this would be equivalent to the bartender pouring off about an ounce and a half of your beer before handing you the remaining 14.5 ounces!

eNotify

Service that monitors the ongoing health of a UPS and its battery. Provides 24x7, real-time response to UPS and battery alarms, immediate notification of significant events via phone, e-mail or pager, and remote troubleshooting and problem resolution. Paradoxically, prevents you freaking out.

Frequency

[see Sine Wave] A measure of the number of occurrences of a repeating event over time. In the Americas, electrical current is supplied mainly at 60 Hz, or 60 cycles per second, which would sound about like a low "B" note on a piano if you could hear it, and feel like a firm vibrating massage if you could feel it without, you know, dying.

Harmonic Distortion

  1. Distortion of the sine wave, appearing at regular intervals whose frequency is a multiple of the fundamental frequency. Deforms the normal sine wave into a complex waveform. Harmonic distortion can damage electrical equipment over time.
  2. Like, when your auras and chakras get all out of whack, man.

Input current distortion

[see Harmonic Distortion]

kVA

One thousand Volt-Amperes. [See Volt-Amps]. Common measurement of equipment capacity.

kW

A measure of the rate of energy use or production. Equal to 1.34 horsepower. The fewer of these your facility eats per hour, the better.

LanSafe

  1. Power management software that uses an intuitive, graphical interface and SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) to provide control and visibility over multiple UPS products.
  2. Believing oneself impervious to former Cowboys head coach Tom Landry.

Line-interactive

UPS topology in which the system interacts with the utility line to regulate the power to the load. Provides better protection than a "Standby" system but is not as fully prepared against irregularities as a full "Double-Conversion" system, making it the "Goldilocks" of UPS topologies.

Load

  1. All equipment connected to and protected by a UPS.
  2. Pretty rockin' Metallica album.

Load Segment Control

  1. UPS configuration with separate receptacle groups, enabling scheduled shutdowns and maximum backup power time for critical devices.
  2. How a caterpillar carries a bread crumb without tipping over.

Network Transient Protector

UPS feature that isolates networks, modems and cables from power threats including surges and spikes. Can't do a thing about dirty looks from lesser equipment.

Offline

Any UPS that does not fit the definition of double conversion. Line-interactive and standby topologies are "offline," as are minor office skirmishes that take place just outside the boardroom.

Power factor

  1. Ratio between Volt-Amps supplied by a UPS and actual wattage used by the connected equipment. Ideal transfer is represented by a Power factor of 1, representing 100% efficiency.
  2. Why DeNiro can get immediate seating in any restaurant he wants, and you can't.

Powerware Hot Sync

Wireless technology that allows paralleling multiple UPS modules for extra capacity or redundancy, ensuring that critical systems are always protected. Frequently results in feeling like you're "Hot Snot."

Rack-mount

Able to be affixed and secured into a standard equipment rackgenerally up to 42 stacked spaces, each 19 inches wide, or about the size of a pizza box. But not as greasy.

Sine wave

Mathematical function that plots three qualities of an electrical signal over time: amplitude, frequency and phase. Clean, uninterrupted power is represented by a sine wave. Can also resemble ocean waves, though they're rarely very perfect.

Single-phase

  1. Lower-capacity distribution of power using only one portion of a power source that is three-phase, like what's supplied by most electric utilities. Used for heating and lighting, no large motors or other heavy-drain devices.
  2. That part of junior high school in which you briefly but fiercely embrace an unusual hobby or interest, like lawn bowling, never to return to it again.

Standby

  1. UPS type that "stands by," waiting for a power problem from the utility company and rapidly switching to UPS battery power to protect equipment against power failures, sags and surges.
  2. The person you call after your hot date falls through, and the two of you go out for milkshakes in your sweatpants instead.

Three-phase

  1. Power supplied through at least three wires, each carrying power from a common generator but offset in its cycle from the other two. Used for heavy-duty applications.
  2. The universal healing process after buying inferior power protection:
    1. Denial
    2. Anger
    3. Calling Eaton

Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)

  1. How much the circuit voltage deviates from a perfect sine wave. When viewed on a meter, a poor voltage THD is most often manifested in a flat topped waveform that comes from the inability of a power source to respond to the demands of highly nonlinear loads.
  2. The parts of a difficult lecture that didn't quite make it into your brain, but rather united in a "blahblahblah" cacophony of scratchy-sounding jargon and esoteric corollaries.

Uninterruptible Power System (UPS)

  1. An electrical system designed to provide instant, transient-free back up power during power failure or fault. Some UPSs also filter and/or regulate utility power (line conditioning).
  2. Device whose sole purpose is to save your equipment, your data and your job.

Volt-Amps (VA)

  1. The voltage applied to a given piece of equipment, multiplied by the current it draws. Not to be confused with Watts, which are similar but represent the actual power drawn by the equipment, and can be somewhat lower than the VA rating.
  2. Legendary Brigadier General from Planet Zap.

X-slot

Communications bay on select Eaton UPS products enabling remote management and future expansion. Compatible with serial ports, SNMP/WEB adaptors, and most other equipment you may have around, excepting the espresso maker.