EXP400 array and snmp

[james.bowes_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 5/29/2009

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Hi.

I have 2 Symmetras and have recently started work on configuring the management cards to provide an orderly shutdown and restart. Things I have considered:
* Application servers can shutdown in any order - there are 5 here.
* Database server next.
* Secondary AD domain controller can shutdown next.
* Primary AD domain controller can shutdown next.
* Disk array attached to Primary AD DC can shutdown last.
# Disk array first.
# Primary DC next
# Secondary DC...
# DB server...
# etc.

My questions are:
* What, other than the array, do I need to do to affect this properly?
* I blelieve I would have to time the shutdown of servers individually so I would know how long each takes... Is that a bad idea?
* How long should I let the systems run on battery? 5 minutes, 10 minutes?
* Is there a certain way I should handle the timings?
* Has anyone managed one of these IBM arrays with SNMP or more in particular, managed an exp400 using SNMP? If so how well/poor did it work?

Thanks for any and all advice or pointers with respect to this.

Regards,

James

Message was edited by: james.bowes

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 5/29/2009

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what model of symmetra is this?

My questions are:
What, other than the array, do I need to do to affect this properly?

I am not sure what you mean by this. you need to install powerchute network shutdown on the units that you want to communicate with the management card. if you have things that arent supported by network shutdown, you can run a script on an installation of powerchute and tell it to shut off something that isnt supported by powerchute and tell it to shut items off that way if possible. so yes, install powerchute network shutdown, which is free, on [OSs that are supported|http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/SJHN-7AYQNP_R8_EN.pdf] so it can communicate with the network management card in the UPSs so it knows when the UPS is shutting down and will gracefully shutdown. you can then trigger command files from PCNS and tell it to shut other items down.

I blelieve I would have to time the shutdown of servers individually so I would know how long each takes... Is that a bad idea?

no, this is a good idea. you need to know this information.

How long should I let the systems run on battery? 5 minutes, 10 minutes?

this is totally up to you. but if a shutdown commences via PCNS, and the power comes back on while its shutting down or after it has shutdown and the UPS hasnt shutdown yet, the servers will not turn back on unless the UPS is power cycled OR the servers are manually turned back on. also, your BIOS needs to be set correctly for it to turn back on after the UPS reboots as well.

Is there a certain way I should handle the timings?

you can basically stagger shutdowns based on how much total runtime you have and how much time you need to shut things down. you want to make sure your items have enough time to shutdown as you kind of mentioned and then thats about it that i can think of. some people need equipment to stay on for a certain amount of time during an outage, i dont know. its all up to you. we can help you set it up once you have this stuff installed.

Has anyone managed one of these IBM arrays with SNMP or more in particular, managed an exp400 using SNMP? If so how well/poor did it work?

i havent. maybe other people can chime in but i am not familiar with it at all. 😞

[james.bowes_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 6/3/2009

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Hi and thanks for the reply.

The Symmetras are 3000XL units. I am still looking into the snmp for the array... The script is interesting however the array only has 2 on/off switches and really, I cannot see how to power it down other than manually.

--james

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 6/3/2009

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i am not sure what you mean by "The Symmetras are 3000XL units." We don't have any Symmetras that are 3000VA..?

depends on the design of the switch. if it has a 2 position switch i am not sure how that would work.

[james.bowes_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 6/3/2009

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Hmmm - it appears I have supplied the wrong model information... The models of UPS are SUA3000RMXL3U. Would it be the SUA3000RM that is the required information?

Thanks in advance.

--james

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 6/3/2009

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SUA3000RMXL3U is what i needed. but they all use the same network management cards anyway and use the same powerchute software, etc