Do you have your Scribe (or Gutenberg) on a UPS?

This storm season, we've gotten several reports of Scribes needing repairs to their cache drives due to unexpected power cuts. 

Having sensitive electronics on a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is always a good idea, and George particularly recommends it for protecting your Scribe. I expect your Gutenbergs would benefit from being on a UPS as well. Also, while we generally ask that the Scribes are left on overnight, if your area is expecting heavy storms it's probably best to shut them down (using the Shut Down barcode on the Advanced Barcodes Sheet , or press and quickly release the power button, just don't hold it down for a hard shutoff).

Finally, a reminder that if your Scribe's lights are flashing all yellow, please contact Customer Support.

A little follow-up information and answers to a couple of questions we've received:

What kind of UPS do we need?

• Any UPS that will work for a desktop computer (the majority of UPSs available) will work just fine for your Scribe! 

Can we put multiple Scribes on one UPS?

• Generally, yes! However, every UPS has a load limit, and the more things the UPS powers, the quicker it will deplete the battery. The idea is to keep the Scribe up during power flickers and very brief outages, or allow for a graceful shutdown, not to keep operating the Scribes during a power outage. If in doubt, consult your IT; George will also follow up with specific load recommendations once he's had a chance to take some measurements.

Is it really worth buying a UPS?

• Absolutely! The main benefit of a UPS is that it protects the cache drive (the single most expensive component in any Scribe) from being corrupted by a sudden loss of power. In addition to the cost of replacing the cache drive, libraries with only one Scribe (or only one full-size Scribe) should consider the downtime that would result from a drive failure. While a UPS doesn't guarantee that your cache drive will weather any and every storm, it greatly improves its chances.

Your IT group may already have a spare UPS on hand, and if not, they will at least be familiar with them. Don't wait for bad weather--get your Scribe (or Gutenberg) on a UPS today!