[olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts

[Tim V - DZ]

Had pretty good luck with "expensive surge protectors."  I like APC
brand, though they seem to be a bit pricier.  The BackUPS office line
throws a little battery into the mix - one that will keep a little Linux
box going for a while, but if you have a large monitor only expect a few
minutes.

About the worst I've seen with "cheap surge protectors" (like ACE brand
spike bars, and the like) are blown power supplies.  Just swap the power
supply out with a new one and everything in the computer still works.

I'm not sure who's liable for what with the OPPD thing...I'd imagine the
scenario would be similar to an insurance company, where at some point
you'll want them to replace something and they'll think they shouldn't
have to...

$0.02

-t

-----Original Message-----
From: olug-bounces at olug.org [mailto:olug-bounces at olug.org] On Behalf Of
Joe Catanzaro
Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2003 9:39 AM
To: olug at olug.org
Subject: [olug] One Point Twenty-One Jigawatts

I didn't grow up in a place that has lots of lightning like the
Mid-west, 
so I have several questions regarding best practices for lightning and 
computers. Just like many of you, I have about 6 computers running 24/7
and 
would like to prevent the loss of data and fried hardware as much as 
possible. And bear with me here, I'm not very smart when it comes to 
lightning strikes.

When a storm rolls in, do you turn off the computer? Rely on a cheap
surge 
protector? Rely on an expensive surge protector? Unplug everything?

How does the lightning get to my computer? Does it strike the power pole
in 
the back ally and then travel through the circuits in my house? Or does
it 
hit my house directly?

Are lightning strikes common and is it worth getting that OPPD "whole
house 
surge protection?"

I grew up in Hawaii and the last thing we were concerned with was a bolt
of 
lightning.



Joe Catanzaro
joecatanzaro at cox.net

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