Surge Protection & UPS

A quality surge protector will stand behind its products. The only brand I recommend is APS for its Equipment Protection Policy.

For big bricks at the plugs, there are 1' long, 3-pronged extension cords that allow access to all slots of a strip style surge protector (see below).

Even laptops can be damaged through their AC adapters if a surge is strong enough. A surge protector could mean the difference between an untimely unrecoverable crash, repairing a computer or a simple reboot.

But *surge protectors* can also be damaged from electrical events. I had to replace a battery backup just last year - it was completely fried.

Which is why your important stuff should be backed up. Do it NOW!

The next step is a UPS - Uninterruptible Power Supply. More hardware for when (not if) the power goes out, so you might shut down your PC properly before its battery runs down and until power comes back on.

Note that some UPS or surge suppressors have ports to protect landline phones (think of your fax or modems) or Ethernet connections, as surges can also come in through these lines.