Andy: Nice article.  I wish I'd had time to write a full article, our experiences were similar in some ways, different in others.

We provide a semi-public SQL Server for our customers to trade info with each other, as well as web sites and email services for them.  Those servers need to keep running.  I live on the north east side of Orlando, and had quite a bit of tree damage as well as minor house damage (ripped out soffits, total destruction of pool screen, tree falling across the power line to our private well - minor stuff).

Needless to say, we lost power Friday around 8:30 and didn't get it back until the following Friday night.  Judging from the number of very large trees ripped out by the roots or snapped in half on our property we got a pretty good wack.

We do have a different setup in the server room though.  We run all the servers off DC, all the time, including a small air conditioner.  We use a couple of old telecom battery chargers to charge a bank of batteries, and a set of 48VDC to 120VAC inverters (Exeltech MX series - which I love) to keep the servers and AC running.  We get about 7 hours run time on the batteries.  We also use a 5KW gas generator as a backup power supply to recharge.  We worked it to near death this week, but never had to shut down the servers.

Our next move will be to get a "whole house" style generator that can kick on and keep the whole office running, not just the server room.

Glad you're okay Andy, come take a tour and get a free lunch sometime.