Power failure

The loss of electricity to a computer, peripherals or other electronic devices. When a power failure occurs, any data currently in a temporary storage, such as in the computer' memory, is immediately lost and unrecoverable. Power failures may also cause data corruption and, in some cases, hardware to go bad.

What are the causes of power failures

There are several ways a power failure can occur with a computer or other technology that requires power. Below are the most common reasons for power failures.

1. A power surge or over voltage that trips a circuit breaker.
2. An electrical storm that causes a power surge and damages power equipment.
3. Brownout that turns off a device because it is not getting enough power.
4. Damage to the power outlet.
5. The power company is working on power lines that require the power to turned off.
6. Too much power usage that causes rolling blackouts.

Power terms, Surge