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Article: Evaluating power supply reliability.
- Article from:
- CED
- Article date:
- January 1, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Advantage Business Media. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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How to add meaning to a subjective concept
A manufacturer wanted to hire an accountant, and applicants were given a simple test: "What is two plus two?" Candidate after candidate failed--until one gave the answer his future boss wanted: "What would you like it to be?"
Compliance with power supply specifications is easily verified. Regulation, efficiency, and the like are readily determined. They're objective measures, like the real answer to two plus two. Reliability is an important attribute of a power supply, but is difficult to understand, and nearly impossible to measure. Let's examine what "reliability" means, and look at the use (and misuse) of ...