Surge Protectors - Belkin's Claims. Opinions?

I've been following the thread started by Lem on the topic of
surge-protectors with interest but got bored with it until I saw a
Belkin advertisement for its range of said gadgets.

The ad features a pie chart which I shan't try to emulate in ascii,
but the gist of it goes like this:

======[begin quote]======
MAIN CAUSES OF DATA LOSS
Storm damage: 9%
Fire/explosion: 8%
Hardware/software error: 8%
Flooding/water damage: 7%
Mains failu 5%
Operating error/sabotage: 3%
Other causes: 7%
Power cut/surge: 53%
======[end quote]======

I've worked in electronics and computers since 1970 repairing
microwave cookers, VCRs, TVs, laptops, monitors etc, so I have my own
opinions based on my experience.

MAIN CAUSES OF DATA LOSS

Storm damage: 1% (That's due to modems with the 'no dialling tone'
error. Control Panel's test passes them, but they've been zapped by
high voltages induced in phone lines by thunderstorms.)

Fire/explosion: 8% (no opinions on this one)

Hardware/software error: 60% (Hard disks with the click-of-death would
account for maybe 5%. I'd blame operator error for most of it, caused
by being dumb enough to dabble with p2p file sharing such as Kazaa.)

Flooding/water damage: 1% (The hard disk usually survives in laptops
with drinks spilled into them. Dunno if a hard disk would stand total
immersion; there's generally a hole with an air-filter which probably
isn't watertight.)

Mains failu 2% (Oh ****, I forgot to hit the Save button.)

Operating error/sabotage: 25% (Viruses, spyware, adware, backdoors,
zombie PCs used by hackers and spam merchants are the culprits. If
you've already got viruses then your PC might still work OK, albeit
slowly - *until* you attempt to install e.g. Norton 2004. Your mileage
may vary, as the 'merkins say. ;o) )

Other causes: 2%

Power cut/surge: 1% (A UPS would help if you're in the habit of
working on a project for hours without saving it. The reservoir
capacitors in a standard power supply will often sustain a PC when the
lights blink off for a few hundred milliseconds due to a surge.

Most bog-standard PC PSUs already have surge protecters built in.
They're probably the same inductances, ferrite rings and Voltage
Dependant Resistors that are in other gadgets.

These are all my own opinions based on personal experience.

best wishes to all, Dave.


2000 hi-resolution photos especially Edinburgh &
Scotland. Also 3D rendered art & altered images.
* No advertisements * http://www.henniker.org.uk

Dave dave@hennikerDOTorgDOTuk wrote:

I've been following the thread started by Lem on the topic of
surge-protectors with interest but got bored with it until I saw a
Belkin advertisement for its range of said gadgets.

======[begin quote]======
MAIN CAUSES OF DATA LOSS
Storm damage: 9%
Fire/explosion: 8%
Hardware/software error: 8%
Flooding/water damage: 7%
Mains failu 5%
Operating error/sabotage: 3%
Other causes: 7%
Power cut/surge: 53%
======[end quote]======

53% down to power cut/surge? Add on 5% for mains failure and they're
suggesting 58% of data loss is caused by problems which, conveniently
enough, might be solved by buying one of their products? Oh, come on!

A most data loss is attributable to hardware/media failure, often
coupled with some failing to implement or sustain proper protection or
recovery methods.

The next largest cause I'd class as "Operating error/sabotage",
usually end users deleting files or screwing up data, IT staff messing
up during administration work etc.

I've only ever lost one drive to what might *possibly* been problems
with power, although I've had to replace countless modems but they've
never caused any loss of data.

--
iv Paul iv

On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 23:36:02 +0100, Paul Hopwood
wrote:

Dave dave@hennikerDOTorgDOTuk wrote:

I've been following the thread started by Lem on the topic of
surge-protectors with interest but got bored with it until I saw a
Belkin advertisement for its range of said gadgets.

======[begin quote]======
MAIN CAUSES OF DATA LOSS
Storm damage: 9%
Fire/explosion: 8%
Hardware/software error: 8%
Flooding/water damage: 7%
Mains failu 5%
Operating error/sabotage: 3%
Other causes: 7%
Power cut/surge: 53%
======[end quote]======

53% down to power cut/surge? Add on 5% for mains failure and they're
suggesting 58% of data loss is caused by problems which, conveniently
enough, might be solved by buying one of their products? Oh, come on!

A most data loss is attributable to hardware/media failure, often
coupled with some failing to implement or sustain proper protection or
recovery methods.

The next largest cause I'd class as "Operating error/sabotage",
usually end users deleting files or screwing up data, IT staff messing
up during administration work etc.

I've only ever lost one drive to what might *possibly* been problems
with power, although I've had to replace countless modems but they've
never caused any loss of data.


I'd say the main cause of data loss is poor backup regieme. After all
you pretty much are going to have some sort of media failure at some
point.

Up to now I've had a handful of people bring be defective media. When
I worked for one major magnetic media producer mostly it was things
like storage next to radiators and general abuse of the media which I
had to investigate.

The rest of the time it was an odd HD failure but mostly data
corruption, malware (e.g. virus) damage or just an app/OS going
rampant (like the old word processor one company had which cached the
FAT table of the floppy disk, but couldn't detect a change of media
:-| ).

Hi,

Main's and power issues can be a problem in some areas of the UK. In the
rural parts of West Wales for instance, devices such as printers seem to
have a shorter life. One extreme example was 3 replaced printers in less
than 12 months.

Generally those people with poor mains power know about it already so that
Surge Protectors and UPS's are already installed.

Other than that the most common loss are to modems even when a direct ground
strike or such is some distance away. Unplugging your Modem/DSL devices
during lightning storms is generally a good idea ;-)

Some of the Belkin products are reasonably priced and they do come with a
connected equipment guarantee.

Kind Regards

Simon
--
"Bagpuss" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 11 Jul 2004 23:36:02 +0100, Paul Hopwood
wrote:

Dave dave@hennikerDOTorgDOTuk wrote:

I've been following the thread started by Lem on the topic of
surge-protectors with interest but got bored with it until I saw a
Belkin advertisement for its range of said gadgets.

======[begin quote]======
MAIN CAUSES OF DATA LOSS
Storm damage: 9%
Fire/explosion: 8%
Hardware/software error: 8%
Flooding/water damage: 7%
Mains failu 5%
Operating error/sabotage: 3%
Other causes: 7%
Power cut/surge: 53%
======[end quote]======

53% down to power cut/surge? Add on 5% for mains failure and they're
suggesting 58% of data loss is caused by problems which, conveniently
enough, might be solved by buying one of their products? Oh, come on!

A most data loss is attributable to hardware/media failure, often
coupled with some failing to implement or sustain proper protection or
recovery methods.

The next largest cause I'd class as "Operating error/sabotage",
usually end users deleting files or screwing up data, IT staff messing
up during administration work etc.

I've only ever lost one drive to what might *possibly* been problems
with power, although I've had to replace countless modems but they've
never caused any loss of data.


I'd say the main cause of data loss is poor backup regieme. After all
you pretty much are going to have some sort of media failure at some
point.

Up to now I've had a handful of people bring be defective media. When
I worked for one major magnetic media producer mostly it was things
like storage next to radiators and general abuse of the media which I
had to investigate.

The rest of the time it was an odd HD failure but mostly data
corruption, malware (e.g. virus) damage or just an app/OS going
rampant (like the old word processor one company had which cached the
FAT table of the floppy disk, but couldn't detect a change of media
:-| ).