In one of my boxen, both my power supply and network card died while in overnight hibernation – why?
And: What must I do to appease the electricity Gods so that I don't lose more hardware?
In my home I've got… five computers in various states of use (monthly through to continuous), and I've lost power supplies for all of them, including the laptop, generally in lumps (several components around the same time). These losses have also included other bits and bobs, including a hard drive.
Do I need some kind of power conditioner? Those power-boards with surge protection, that's just a marketing lie, right? And a cheap UPS isn't going to filter the electricity any, is it? So what do I do, spend up big?
Best Answer
I'm in an area with variable power and daily brownouts, and lost a lot of gear like you. I added a 2u APC rackmount UPS, big thing, and put nearly everything on it. It was wildly successful. The UPS would go on and off all day long, even when I could see no other evidence of power fluctuation. No more hardware losses. So I went and bought more of these big UPSs and put all my stereo gear on one, and other electronic clusters on another. The damage to my gear stopped.
I didn't buy brand new APC UPSs, I waited till they had sales and I bought reconditioned units. That kept the cost down.
Bottom line - I think you need something to smooth your electricity. I don't think it is a marketing lie, but I think you need more than the consumer versions of UPSs available.