Well we made it through the summer with less storms then I expected.

With that being said Hurricane season is on us and while we don't get too many that we have to worry aboot Earl is on its way. With high winds and storms power lines can get knocked down and electrical surges can happen.

Many people believe that the standard $5 and $10 "surge" power strips will protect their computers. Unfortunately this is not the case. These units do not react quickly enough for a computer. You really need to spend $30-$40 to get an acceptable surge protector.

If it's possible the best thing you can do is get an APC or similar brand battery backup unit with surge protection built in. These units will allow you to power down your system gracefully to prevent any file corruption with a sudden shutdown.

Below we have an example of a surge protector and a battery backup surge protector.

One thing you should also check to see is if the unit has any type of warranty. Many higher end units provide a warranty for anything that is plugged into them.

If you are unsure of the unit you have, please give us a call so we can come out and have a look. We have seen many computers destroyed because of lightening damage.

Sometimes it only gets the power supply which an inexpensive fix. Often it will get to the main board, network card, and sometimes the hard drive where all your data is.

Insurance usually covers the cost of the equipment, but it is hard to put a price on the amount of downtime you will have due to shipping times, replacement parts availability, and the amount of time it takes to replace the parts.

It's always better to be safe than sorry...