Hyper-V 2012 R2 and network shutdown

[Anonymous user]

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post on this forum.

I have installed an APC  Smartups SMT1500RMI2U rack mounted UPS along with an APC AP9630 Network Management Card which has been duly configured with a static IP address, DNS, hostname settings, outlets and outlet groups etc.

The runtime has been left at default setting in the NMC (360 seconds).

I am using this UPS to protect a DELL R720 rack server which has been loaded with Microsoft Hyper-V 2012 R2 Core (GUIless version)  which in turn has 3 Vitual Machine servers.

Soon I realised that I had to load Network Shutdown 3.1 (PCNS) on the HyperV host since I could not load the Powerchute agent on it because it was looking for a serial port but the UPS is connected to the networ via the NMC.

I have configured PCNS correctly and from another machine via the browser I go to https://hypervhost:6547 to access the web interface of network shutdown.

Here I am a bit confused how to setup the "Configure Events" section. I understand the one UPS on Battery but there are others like Runtime remaining below threshold, Runtime remaining above threshold, Battery Discharged and others that I am not sure whether I should configure or not.

What happens if I do not configure any of them, would the default settings of the NMC take care of network shutdown ie saving the state of the VMs+plus shutting down the host?

Secondly can I still use Powerchute agent/server/console to monitor the UPS? I tried to install this on a different machine but I could not connect to the NMC via the agent.

Can someone make it clear for me?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best regards from Melbourne Australia

Alfred

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi,

All configurable events are described in the PCNS help file and the users manual starting on page 33. It is up to you to decide which if any events you would like the Server and VMs shutdown for. You don't not need to configure any events. The NMC will inform PCNS when the battery is low and PCNS will start the shutdown process for that event. The default low battery setting is 2 minutes. This value is configured on the NMC (see screenshot below). If your server and VMs take longer than 2 minutes to power down you should adjust the low battery setting accordingly.

The one thing you do need to configure in the PCNS interface is whether or not you want PCNS to shutdown and or start up the VMs.

VM start up and shutdown is discussed starting on page 12 of the users manual.

You will not us PowerChute Business Edition Agent/Sever/Console with PowerChute Network Shutdown. PCNS is a standalone application that is access via the web interface as you mentioned.