I have had all of my computer components plugged into 3 surge protector power strips that have been located under the desk behind a drawer and under a shelf that is above the drawer. Every time I had to move a plug or replace a peripheral, I had to pull out the drawer and climb over the shelf to get to them. There reason for having 3 power strips linked together was that many of the plugs were over-sized and covered 2-3 of the outlets. With this power strip, every outlet can be used. Since the product description and included documentation does not mention a joules rating for surge protection, I am assuming this unit does not provides surge protection, but it does automatically shut off if the wattage through it goes over 2500 watts. For my purposes, I plan to leave one surge protector power strip under the desk that I will plug this power strip into. This unit is kept on the shelf above the drawer where it can be accessed very easily. I also love that this power strip includes 4 USB ports to charge tablets and my phone without having power cables running across my desk to plug them into USB charging devices. I like that there are buttons to turn off either the USB ports or either set of four outlets, but I don't think this would be necessary unless you might run over the 2500 Watts of power. If you were to use this unit in the kitchen for appliances, this may be the only time you need to worry about wattage since many kitchen appliances can use 1000 to 1800 watts of power. For my application, the 10 foot power cord excessive, but it may be helpful in other applications. My husband saw this power strip when I got it, and now he wants one for his workshop that has a lack of outlets. I guess I have to buy another one for him,. If I change my opinion of this power strip or have any problems with it, I will definitely update this review. So far, I am very happy with this power strip and have rated it at 4 stars instead of 5 only because the product description describes it as being a surge protector with no evidence of the capability. UPDATE 8/21/18: I have updated my star rating from 4 stars to 5 since the seller has notified me that this power strip has a joules rating of 150 joules. He has assured me that he will update the product page to reflect this information. With a joules rating of 150, this power strip provides more protection than many available. UPDATE 8/27/18: I have added a second picture to show the new home for this power strip. All of the plugs in it now used to be behind the printer stand plugged into a regular power strip. Now they are all accessible on the desk, and we don't have to pull out the printer and climb behind the printer stand to get to the plugs. We love this power tower and plan to get more for other areas. I would also like to mention that I have plugged this power tower into a surge protector power strip since the tech specification do not mention surge protection - only overload protection in case you run more than 2500W through it at one time.