In today’s world, it’s easy to work remotely. From 2005 to 2011, the number of remote workers grew 73 percent according to the Telework Research Network. Working from home is reported to increase productivity anywhere from 10 to 20 percent and 80 percent of telecommuters say they experience better work-life balance.
However, there can be extra technological challenges that go along with working remotely. Power outages and redundancy are more of a concern and this doesn’t usually get considered until after an employee experiences difficulty. In the enterprise world, it is also important to account for this but it isn’t as likely that remote workers will have this failsafe at home.
However, if you’re at home on your desktop computer and your power goes out, you’re dead in the water and at risk for data loss, data corruption or damage to equipment. Your equipment is also at risk again for damage to the motherboard or other parts when the power surges back on.
Power Redundancy
I personally like to recommend purchasing a backup battery unit, called an APC UPS, that you can plug both your computer and your router into. This handy appliance will not only afford you at least 20 minutes of additional power time (and keep your Internet connection going!) to safely wrap up what you’re doing and gently power down, but will also function as a surge protector to avoid getting your devices fried when the power comes back on. Wouldn’t you hate to lose over an hour’s work on a complicated data spreadsheet because of a power hiccup, or have a useless work computer because the motherboard got burned during a power surge? A typical APC UPS is great because it can power all types of electronics, not just your workstation or router. You can plug fax machines or TVs into them and best of all, these battery packs are rechargeable!
Check out our article on high availability and power redundancy for enterprises.