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We have been having a lot of
conversations and time spent with our customers
surrounding the topic of running in the wake of
a natural disaster. In the aftermath of
Katrina, Rita, and Wilma, quite a few customers
have been affected to some degree. With
winter snowstorms coming around the corner... it
seems to be a good time to discuss the topic:
specifically, the area of getting power.
With power grids being what
they are, it seems that there is no real rhyme
or reason as to why your particular business
doesn't have power... yet your restaurants and
customers do. One customer in Florida
mentioned that he had power simply because he
was across the street from the hospital, but
(unfortunately), none of his restaurants or
customers seemed to.
It seems that in the aftermath
of the hurricanes, a local 'run' was made on any
store that was selling generators.... and
indeed, several RDS's picked up one during this
time frame.
While I am not a power expert,
(I know enough not to stick a fork in the wall
socket), I do have a small amount of knowledge
in this area, and want to take the opportunity
to answer some of the most common questions in
this area.
First, not any generator will
do when it comes to running your computer
equipment. AC power here in the US cycles
at a frequency at 60hz. (I believe in
Europe, it cycles at 50hz).
Achieving this cycle on most generators is done
through an analog (mechanical) system tied into
the generator's throttle. In short, the
faster the generator's throttle, the higher
power frequency... the lower the throttle, the
lower the power frequency.
Generators are then "tuned" to
run a constant throttle speed that will generate
an output as close as it can get to maintaining
60Hz.
This is fine for items like
your fridge or freezer, or on a construction
site (where many of these generators are
intended for use) where if the power frequency
is off by a tad (a 'tad' being equal to a few Hz
here or there), the compressor or drill motor is
largely unaffected.
But your electronic equipment
is counting on a power feed at that frequency in
order to operate. Stray too far out of
that range (62hz, 58 Hz...), and bad things
happen to your computer systems.
Indeed, many of the calls we
got were from folks that would hook up their
computer systems to a generator and get anything
from system crashes to system freezes to
machines that wouldn't boot up at all.
The first natural reaction is
then to try to insert a surge protector into the
mix, thinking that it will somehow regulate the
power. Surge protectors don't help in this
regard. Surge protectors are there to
block power spikes (like from a bolt of
lightening).
Next, an attempt is made to put
a UPS in the mix, in an effort to somehow
condition the power. This actually does
work... a UPS will send conditioned power to
your system... the problem is that the UPS sees
"dirty" power coming from the generator, and
will respond by providing power from its battery
system, and not charge itself in the process.
Obviously, this solution only works for the
duration you have battery power.
If you wish to include a backup
generator in your plan, you need one that will
run clean power. One fairly cost-effective
generator that does work is the Honda-EU1000 and
Honda EU2000 series generators. These
particular generators have line conditioners in
them, ensuring that you have digitally regulated
power coming out. Another great feature of
these boxes is their ability to be hooked up in
parallel. Combining 2 EU-2000's with an
optional cable from Honda, and now you have the
equivalent of a single 4000 watt generator.
So, how much power do you need?
That's a more difficult question. If you
plan on running all of your appliances plus your
hot tub and sauna, you'll need a pretty big one.
I won't comment much on how much power your
freezer or big-screen TV will need... but a
ball-park estimate for a computer is around 400
watts per unit, including the monitor.
That estimate is a little on the liberal
side.... individual results may vary.
(Large CRT monitors will suck up much more power
than, say, a flat-screen LCD monitor).
As part of an ongoing
maintenance plan, make sure you start your
generator once a month or so... and when you do
run it, put a load on the system at the time.
This not only keeps everything running and
lubricated, but also shows that both
the power portion and engine portion of the
generator is working properly.
Lastly, spend the extra $2 and
put fuel stabilizer in your generator's fuel.
There is no telling how long your system will be
sitting in preparation for an emergency... and
there is nothing worse than finding your fuel
turned to varnish when you pull the starting
cord, fouling up your carburetor in the process.
As with any plan, the key is to
organize it BEFORE you need it. Creating a
plan in RESPONSE to a major disaster makes
everything much more difficult achieve.
FAQ OF THE MONTH
Quite a few phone calls have
come in from people wanting to MOVE their DMS
Server (SQL Services and all) from one computer
to another. Usually, they have purchased a
new server and wish to rotate out their existing
one.
While this is certainly
possible, I would like to take this opportunity
to inform you that this is not a "5 minute
process". Typically, the steps involved to
rotate out your existing server to a new one can
take between one and several hours, depending
upon how many workstations you have, and what
stage your new server is in it's configuration.
The following are the steps
involved in rotating out your old server to a
new box:
- Download and install a DEMO COPY of DMS on
your new server. (this will install a new
instance of SQL Server and DMS on your box, and
initialize a fresh instance of a database that
can be overwritten).
- BACKUP your existing DMS Database on your
OLD SERVER. (This can be done in DMS by going
to File-->Backup, and clicking on BEGIN.
- COPY the DMSBAK.BAK file in the \DMSDATA
directory from your OLD SERVER to the \DMSDATA
directory on your NEW SERVER
- Use the DBAMGR.EXE utility located in your
\DMS2000 directory on your NEW SERVER to restore
the backup file to your NEW SERVER
- Go into Workstation Setup on each computer
on your network, and tell it the location of the
NEW SERVER
- STOP the SQL Services on your OLD SERVER by
clicking on the little green triangle in the
lower-right-hand corner of your screen. (This
will prevent other workstations from
accidentally connecting to the wrong database
server).
Obviously, this is a quick
outline of the steps necessary. Help from
DataWedge support is HIGHLY recommended for such
a procedure. If you have questions, please
feel free to contact us!
DID YOU KNOW
DataWedge now has a download
manager available to help you download and
update your DMS program?
DataWedge now has WEB SITE
ADMINISTRATION PAGES for your on-line ordering
engine. From these administration pages,
you can add black-out dates (for holidays and
specific time ranges), change your email address
destination and more! For help in setting
up your account, please Contact us at (208)
874-4185
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