From Shon Harris AIO Fifth Edition:
Protecting power can be done in three ways: through UPSs, power line conditioners, and backup sources.
UPSs use battery packs that range in size and capacity. A UPS can be online or standby.
Online UPS systems use AC line voltage to charge a bank of batteries. When in use, the UPS has an inverter that changes the DC output from the batteries into the required AC form and that regulates the voltage as it powers computer devices.
Online UPS systems have the normal primary power passing through them day in and day out. They constantly provide power from their own inverters, even when the electric power is in proper use. Since the environment's electricity passes through this type of UPS all the time, the UPS device is able to quickly detect when a power failure takes place. An online UPS can provide the necessary electricity and picks up the load after a power failure much more quickly than a standby UPS.
Standby UPS devices stay inactive until a power line fails. The system has sensors that detect a power failure, and the load is switched to the battery pack. The switch to the battery pack is what causes the small delay in electricity being provided.
So an online UPS picks up the load much more quickly than a standby UPS, but costs more of course.
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