We had a Prime minicomputer, running a stock control system at a warehouse in the Cotswolds. When it was installed, a UPS was also fitted.
One day contractors digging up the road outside hit the electrical supply and the power to the building went out. After finding a torch, I headed to the computer room to gracefully shut down the machine, as the power was likely to be out for several hours and the UPS was rated for about 20 minutes. When I got there, the machine was dead. Later investigation showed that between the UPS and the computer was an RCD circuit breaker wired in such a way that a loss of the mains power would trip the breaker, cutting all power to the machine.
Should I mention that the warehouse was part of a department full of electrical engineers, who installed and wired up the supply themselves? No - that would be embarrasing!
Biting the hand that feeds IT
