APC Shutdown: Difference Shutdown Baremetal-Server and VM-Server

[LSP]

Hello everyone,

are baremetal servers and VMs shut down by different shutdown signals?
Do I understand correctly that VMs are shut down via the PowerChute Software which is connected to the vCenter and baremetal servers via the UPS?

So far this is my way of thinking:
The shutdown signal for baremetal servers is configured on the UPS under Configuration -> Shutdown -> Start of Shutdown -> Low Battery Duration -> 15 Minutes. For example, if the UPS has 15 minutes of battery life remaining, the baremetal servers are shut down.
For VMs, the shutdown is configured via the Powerchute interface. Set the delay for UPS on Battery to 30 minutes so that the shutdown is initiated after 30 minutes in battery mode.

Is my way of thinking correct?

Thanks in advance!

Greetings,
LSP

[LSP]

are baremetal servers and VMs shut down by different shutdown signals?
Do I understand correctly that VMs are shut down via the PowerChute Software which is connected to the vCenter and baremetal servers via the UPS?

So far this is my way of thinking:
The shutdown signal for baremetal servers is configured on the UPS under Configuration -> Shutdown -> Start of Shutdown -> Low Battery Duration -> 15 Minutes. For example, if the UPS has 15 minutes of battery life remaining, the baremetal servers are shut down.
For VMs, the shutdown is configured via the Powerchute interface. Set the delay for UPS on Battery to 30 minutes so that the shutdown is initiated after 30 minutes in battery mode.

Is my way of thinking correct?

Thanks in advance!

Greetings,
LSP

[BillP]

@LSP 

Both the host and bare-metal servers will require an instance of PowerChute running on them.

Within PowerChute you can configure a shutdown of the OS and in the case of a host OS the VMs when the UPS has run on battery for X minutes or when the UPS falls below X runtime. Also by default PowerChute will trigger the shutdown when the NMC reports the UPS has fallen below the configured low battery threshold. 

So, if you configure the low battery threshold to 15 minutes once the runtime falls below that number the NMC will send a signal to all configured PowerChute clients and they will trigger the shutdown. 

And, as mentioned above, you can configure PowerChute to trigger the shutdown after the UPS has run on battery for X minutes or when the runtime falls below X time. By utilizing all three methods you can stager the servers shutdown based on need.  By staggering the shutdown you can improve UPS on battery runtime. 

[LSP]

This means that the VMs are shut down via the PowerChute VM stored in the vCenter. However, the VM hosts servers are shut down by the UPS when the battery life is low. With the bare metal servers, I would only have to store the IP address on the NMC and the servers would be shut down by the UPS itself if the battery status was low. I don't necessarily have to configure the events in either case.

Thanks in advance!

[BillP · Accepted solution]

@LSP 

PowerChute VM will shutdown the VMs on each host, then vCenter server and finally the hosts. 

For other server you need to install PowerChute on each server. If you do not configure any events within PowerChute when the UPS reaches the low battery threshold the NMC send a signal to all configured PowerChute clients telling them the UPS has reached low battery. The PowerChute clients will then trigger the server shutdown. 

To see the list of configured PowerChute clients with the NMC log into the NMC and go to Configuration - PowerChute Clients.