No, this post is not about Public Enemy or rap, it’s about fixing our UPS (uninterrupted power supply).

Our UPS in our server room expired last week. The batteries died. No more juice. Kaput! Batteries only have a limited shelf life, so this was not unexpected, but still a nuisance. And though we don’t host our data on our own site as we want to ensure that our systems stay up, we do need to ensure we always have access to the internet, and our phones are up and running. And for that, we need power. And I didn’t know how to fix this, other than buying a whole new UPS. So I thought of my buddy, who’s name is, coincidentally, Dave.

Dave is kinda like that MacGyver guy that was mentioned in a previous blog post. He is my go to guy when I need some “fix-it” ideas, and want to avoid spending a bunch of money. And what is interesting to me is he never professes to be a technology wizard or even particularly web savvy (he has a Grade 8 education). But he does know a bunch about technology and has a knack for knowing how to get things done, which includes fixing technology equipment.

So I mentioned the issue to Dave and he noted that it was easy to replace the UPS batteries. He spoke to the guys at Battery World… and they were able to replace the batteries for about a third of the cost of buying a new UPS. And it now works great. So, if you want to keep your classroom, small business or home computers up and running, and you have a UPS, this is a great way to maintain it cost effectively!

And Dave goes up one more notch on the MacGyver comparison ladder. Thanks Dave!