NMC Config and PCNS to Shut Down

[Anonymous user]

Hi everyone,

Last night i had situation regarding Powerchute client, my UPS model is Smart-UPS 5000 and what happened is the UPS goes to on battery mode and after 10 minutes the server shutdown although the Low battery duration was set to 30 minutes and maximum required delay was set to 20 minutes whatever the next was more strange for me the server restored power after the electricity come back again then after 5 minutes the server powered off again by Powerchute signal, i don't know what is going on and my situation is critical because we had an electricity issues everyday in the site so your support will be appreciated.

UPS Network Management Card 2

[voidstar_apc · Accepted solution]

Your screenshot shows low battery duration is 15 minutes, not 30. You've probably adjusted it, but we'll use assume 15 minute.

If the low battery duration is 15 minutes, and PCNS hasn't been configured to shut down before low battery, and the UPS started a shutdown after 10 minutes, that implies your runtime was 25 minutes (15 minute low battery + 10 minutes before hitting low battery).

Once the UPS has been commanded to turn off which should happen when a server shuts down, it must turn off, even if power returns. This is to allow the servers to turn back on. That might be what you're seeing when the servers turn off 5 minutes after power returned. In that scenerio, the servers shut down and tell the UPS to turn off, power comes back, someone or something turns the servers back on before the UPS completes its shutdown cycle, then 5 minutes later the UPS turns off the output and turns it back on.

I'm not sure which UPS you have. If your UPS has outlet groups, you might want to look at the settings of the outlet groups for the turn off and turn on delays.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for your reply

UPS Model: Smart-UPS SRT 5000
NMC: AP9537SUM

let's say i want to deploy this scenario so what is the basic configuration for NMC and PSCN side.

- I want the UPS to send shutdown command to the server when the trigger of low Battery Duration will be 15 minutes  and give three extra minutes to the server to gracefully shutdown before UPS shutdown outlet group and if the power back again UPS will wait 5 minutes before send to restore server power and what is the best scenario to apply outlet group for the turn off and turn on delays.

how to set the below parameter regarding the scenario that i want to deploy

- Low battery duration
- Maximum Required Delay
- Basic Low Battery Duration
- Shutdown Delay
- return Delay
- PowerChute  shutdown parameters
- ups on battery event (PCNS)

Thanks

[BillP]

Hi,

You need to set the Low Battery Duration to 15 minutes. Once the UPS fails below 15 minutes of available run-time it will signal PCNS and the OS will be commanded down. In PCNS configure either UPS power off or outlet group power off so when PCNS commands the OS down it will command the UPS or outlet group off. If you want all outlet groups to power off you must select UPS power off. 

In the NMC go to Configure - Outlet Groups and configure Power off Delay for each of the outlet groups you want powered down. Set the Power off Delay to 3 minutes so after receiving the power down command from PCNS the outlet group/s will wait 3 minutes then cut power. Also in the Outlet Group configuration set the Reboot Duration to 300 seconds so that if AC during the Power off Delay the Outlet Group will wait for the Power off Delay to complete and the wait 5 minutes before restoring AC.

An explanation of each of NMC settings can be found in the NMC help files and PCNS also offers help files. 

ConfigurationOutlet Groups

Outlet Group Settings: Click the name of an outlet group (the default name or, if already configured, the configured name) to configure or change the following parameters for the outlet group:

Name

A descriptive name for the outlet group (for example, a description of the devices connected to this outlet group). The name is displayed with the outlet group number wherever the interface displays that outlet group number.

Sequencing

Use these settings to define how the UPS responds to a command issued by a user. For more sequencing information refer to Switched Outlet Groups on SMT and SMX Smart-UPS.

Power Off Delay

When this outlet group is on, it waits this delay before turning off when "Off with Delay," "Reboot with Delay," or "Shutdown with Delay, AC Restart" is selected as the action for this outlet group. (During a delayed reboot, the outlet group then waits the number of seconds configured as Reboot Duration and Power On Delay before it turns on.)

Reboot Duration

When this outlet group is on, it uses this delay as follows:

• If "Reboot Immediately" is selected as the action for this outlet group, the outlet group turns off immediately and then waits this delay followed by the "Power on Delay" before turning on.
• If "Reboot with Delay" is selected as the action for this outlet group, the outlet group waits these three delays: "Power Off Delay" before turning off, and "Reboot Duration" followed by "Power on Delay" before turning on.

Power On Delay

When this outlet group is off, it waits this delay before turning on when "On with Delay," "Reboot" (with or without delay), or "Shutdown, AC Restart" (also with or without delay) is selected as the action for this outlet group.

Minimum Return Runtime

UPS must be able to provide battery power for this long before turning the outlet back on after a power failure. This can be used to ensure that attached loads have enough time to safely shut down if AC utility power fails again. For example, if the minimum returnruntime were 50 seconds:

1. Power fails.
2. UPS finishes shutting down. At this point, the UPS has 20s of runtime remaining, which means that when it turns back on, it can only power the load for 20s.
3. Power returns; AC Utility line is good. UPS starts charging its battery.
4. When the UPS charges its batteries up enough to provide 50s of runtime, it has met the minimum return runtime requirement and will turn the outlet back on.
5. If power fails again at this point, devices attached to the outlet are guaranteed at least 50s of runtime to safely shut down.

We recommend making sure both the power off delay and the minimum return runtime are long enough for attached loads to safely shut down. In practice the power off delay is usually the amount of time necessary to safely shut down the load, and the minimum return runtime should therefore be at least that long.

Load Shedding

Use these settings to automatically shut down an outlet in response to one or more conditions. To enable a condition, mark its checkbox and configure its value; you can enable multiple conditions.

• Conditions to turn off this outlet group:
  • power failure is longer than ___ seconds: An input power failure continued for more than this number of seconds.
  • UPS runtime remaining is less than ___ seconds: The number of seconds the UPS can support the current load while operating on battery power has dropped below this number of seconds.
  • UPS is overloaded: The output drawn from the UPS exceeds the rated limit.
• Settings that determine how the outlet group is turned off:
  • Skip outlet off delay: Shut down the outlet group immediately.
  • Stay off after power returns: The outlet remains off until you turn it on.

If you use PowerChute Network Shutdown (PCNS) on this outlet, be sure "Skip outlet off delay" is not checked so that PCNS clients can safely shutdown. Also, each PCNS client has its own set of conditions that may be configured to start a shutdown.