Upright vacuum cleaners have the pump mounted directly above the suction intake, with the bag mounted on the handle, which rises to about waist height. Upright designs usually employ mechanical beaters, often rotating brushes, to help disturb dust to be vacuumed up. There are two types of upright vacuums. On a single-motor upright, the beater brush is driven by the vacuum motor via belt, while on a dual motor upright, the vacuum and beater brush are driven by separate motors. The dual motor upright is very common in commercial uprights.
Canister (or cylinder) designs have the motor and bag in a separate canister unit (usually mounted on wheels) connected to the vacuum head by a flexible hose. Although upright units have been tested as more effective (mainly because of the beaters), the lighter, more maneuverable heads of canister models are popular. Some upmarket canister models have "power heads", which contain the same sort of mechanical beaters as in upright units, although such beaters are driven by a separate electric motor.