So I have been working with a customer for a few years now. In the past year or so I have strongly recommended that they replace all of their dead UPS’s, Surge Strips, and yes the PC’s and Devices that are in the wall directly with new warranty based battery backup solutions. Be it financial reasons or other, it was not done.
Well for those of you not in Tampa Bay, we are back in our heavy storm season where as almost every day we get nasty storms and lightning. This week, this customer took a direct hit from a lightning strike – and when I say direct, I mean full on direct. I am told they saw Fire come out of the phone pbx box mounted on the wall. What makes this even scarier is that the PBX was 3 feet away from the server and backup tapes.
Now in this customers defense, they are moving to a new location where as all of these issues will be resolved – but it had not happened yet. The team and I were able to get onsite that afternoon – we were shocked what what we found. The following were damaged beyond repair.
A BrightHouse Cable Modem
Linksys RVS400 Router
4 PC’s Motherboard Network Cards
1 PC – (3 Months Old)– Totally fried – Very important data on C: (not on server)
1 – 8 Port Network Switch
1 – 5 Port Network Switch
1 – 24 Port Network Switch (Picture below)
1 – Very expensive Printer/Scanner/Fax
It took my team about 6 Hours combined to troubleshoot all of the failures, and get them up and running with “Big Sur Loaner Gear”. This customer will now need to buy new network cards, switches, routers, etc.
I am in the process of helping them with the new building where as everything will be on UPS.
Now, how can this be prevented?
Make sure ALL of your digital equipment is on a suitable UPS with the Network Jack Protection. The above issue I just spoke about was because lightning traveled through the network cables. I am still surprised today how many people spend upwards of $1500.00 on a fancy new computer, and 1000’s more on network gear and plug it directly into the wall or directly into their cube. I even come across people who later tell me that when the power blips, the pc just shuts off even with a battery. (Just so you know – This is for 1 of 3 reasons, 1 – Your battery is DEAD – replace it asap, 2 – your PC is plugged into the surge side of the battery backup, not the battery, or 3 you do not have a battery backup) IF this customer had the UPS’s in place with network protection, we would not have had such a large scale failure if anything at all.
Battery Backup’s cost about $40-$60 for the low end models, compare that to the $1500 you spend on the hardware, and the $300-$600 – you will need to pay a engineer to fix your problem. Also add the cost of the lost productivity that that person can not work.
As you can see, the $40-$60 is a much smarter move. If you would like a quote on new batterys, or would like our team to assess your network for this type of issue, please let me know and I will be happy to help. Rember – IF you have a UPS, and fill out the warranty card – Most UPS/Battery Backup Vendors will cover your failed equipment! but only IF you keep the reciept, and register the unit.
Again, Thanks for stopping by!