It's important to have good battery backup, especially for business servers, as a sudden power loss means sudden crash of the operating system. We've seen our share of corrupt Windows and other files, as well as physical hard drive damage, as a result of power failures. The solutions to such issues are rarely cheap, so battery backups can be thought of as an insurance policy against such events.
Something a little bothersome that I've seen lately, even in very knowledgeable technicians, is a penchant for under-powering their power backup solutions. Part of the confusion comes from the fact that UPSes (battery backup units, to the non-techie) are usually rated on VA (volt-amps), whereas computer products only list consumption of Watts. In my experience, it's best to multiply by 1.2 the total wattage of the systems being plugged into a UPS, to determine the number of VA the devices will consume.
So, for a basic server with a 500 watt power supply, many people would purchase a 500 VA UPS . . . and then wonder why their server still crashes violently every time the power goes out. 600VA would be a minimum size for protecting such a machine; I'd even size it a bit bigger at 750 or 850VA to allow enough time to make sure everything shuts down and/or to allow for other low-voltage peripherals (monitor, network switch, etc.).
APC, one of my favorite UPS manufacturers, has some nice resources, including an online UPS selector tool. It really helps think about issues like Watts-to-VA conversion and continuous uptime after the power goes out.
APC also has a nice computer power FAQ section on their web site. Here's one tip I found interesting and useful, regarding chaining surge suppressors off of UPSes. Interesting things to think about.
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