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             Notes on a conversation during an impromptu UPS test

“So what should the UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) do when the power goes
out?” asked Bunny.

“It sounds an alarm, and I should have,” I said, turning to the keyboard and
typing a command, “nine minutes of power.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes. Well, let's test it,” I said, getting up, and pulling the plug on the
UPS. About five seconds later, it started beeping. “See?”

“Hmm … I see,” said Bunny. “And then what?”

“Well, it's enough time for either the power to come back up, or to shutdown
the computers. You don't really need—”

Just then all our computers suddenly lost power.

“Oh, well that was interesting,” I said.

“I thought you said you had nine minutes.”

“Apparently, so did the UPS.”


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