| By Angelo Esposito, Computer Consultant | Please note that information in this article may be time sensitive and specific to the date it was originally published. Please contact the author for updates to this information. |
Very few places on earth endure as many lightning strikes as Florida.
And for this reason, surge protection of electronic and computer equipment isn’t a matter Jacksonville business owners should gamble with. One close strike can seriously damage or completely destroy your office equipment.
The most reasonable approach to effective and affordable surge protection is an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS), which is an emergency power back-up unit. These devices protect a single PC and prevent damage from any surges, except for direct lightning hits that can burn through even the best protectors. They regularly prevent 90% of screen flicker and re-boots caused by casual, indirect lightning, which is still capable of causing outages.
The next best solution is a high quality surge protector. Hook your PC power and incoming phone lines to it. This will protect you up to a point. But when the lightning gets very close (thunder following light burst within 4-6 seconds) the only sure protection is to power down and unplug all incoming lines, electrical, phone, and cable. Take a break or attend to another task and, in most cases, the storm will pass within 30 minutes.
Angelo Esposito
is president of
Network Consulting & Integration, Inc.
He can be reached at (904) 821-7117
or aesposito@nciflorida.com.
