An Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is designed to provide near-instantaneous power protection, supplying energy stored in batteries during a power failure. This ensures that critical systems remain operational while a backup generator starts up, preventing system outages. Generators alone have a startup delay and therefore are not sufficient for maintaining operation without a brief interruption. Surge protectors cannot provide power during an outage, and power conditioners do not supply energy but only regulate the quality of power.