NMC 'Wake on LAN' support

[Anonymous user]

Does some APC NMC support 'wake on LAN', so that servers can boot up automatically via wake on lan magic packet after power is restored?

Darko

[BillP]

We have servers-end software that will do just that. Upon power restoration, the UPS-NMC, will send a signal out to the attached servers (communicating via IP) to wake up. It's PowerChute Network Shutdown (PCNS).

Maybe this is something that you can look into? Unless you have an OS that's unsupported by PCNS.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks a lot for your response.

Is it important which UPS is used and which version of PCNS ? Are there some special settings on NMC's web interface which has to be configured ? What are the settings on server side in order to make this working.

Also, what is happening in following two situations:

1. If servers are shutdown and UPS is still running and power is returned. I suppose that only in this case NMC sends magic packets to boot up servers. Is this correct?

2. If servers are shutdown and UPS is shutdown and power is restored. I suppose that UPS will boot up and also boot up servers by restoring power. In this case wake on LAN is not used. Correct?

[BillP]

Hi-

[Take a look at this article|http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1003].

What usually happens is that the UPS goes to battery, and then you can install the powerchute network shutdown on all of the servers attached to that UPS. You can stagger their shutdowns if you'd like which you can set up through the powerchute network shutdown software. However you do it, you should have a server that shuts down last - which in the powerchute software - there is an option to have that server send a shutdown signal to the UPS so then the UPS is shut off.

When the power comes back on (based on the settings you can put - such as have the UPS wait until its 90% charged), it will start outputting power again and then as mentioned in that article above, the server needs to have the BIOS set correctly to have an "Always On" power setting or "Last state" so that when the server sees power again, it will boot back up.

Thus, I believe this should work even with the network cable attached so its really not WOL (Wake on Lan) in my opinion.

To answer your specific questions:
1. If servers are shutdown and UPS is still running and power is returned. I suppose that only in this case NMC sends magic packets to boot up servers. Is this correct?
If the servers are already shutdown by the software and the power returns, I believe the UPS will need to be rebooted (or servers manually turned on) because while the UPS is running on battery, the servers are always seeing power coming from the UPS so when the UPS switches from battery power back to online, there was no power cut to the output of the UPS to kind of reset the output. There was either battery power or utility power seen by the servers so until the UPS is rebooted, they will remain off.

2. If servers are shutdown and UPS is shutdown and power is restored. I suppose that UPS will boot up and also boot up servers by restoring power. In this case wake on LAN is not used. Correct?
As long as the BIOS is set appropriately, yes you are correct. I wouldnt call this wake on lan though. It is really a function of the BIOS on the server. You could theoretically do it with a server that does a hard shutdown and has no network connectivity (not sure why you'd want to do this though 🙂 )

There are specific settings in the network management card that you can set relating to the shutdown - for example - you can set a return or shutdown delay on the UPS - or tell the UPS to wait until the battery is charged to a certain percentage as well - so that if the power does come back on then go back off 10 minutes later, the UPS doesnt start to turn on, turning the output on for the servers with only a 10% battery charge.

Here are some items from the management card you can configure for this situation:

End of Shutdown

Return Runtime Duration - The amount of time that the UPS must be able to support the load by battery power in order for the UPS to end its sleep time (or turn back on when rebooted) and resume providing output power.
Minimum Battery Capacity - The minimum battery capacity, as a percentage of full capacity, required in order for the UPS to end its sleep time (or turn back on when rebooted) and resume providing output power.
Return Delay - Defines how long the UPS waits before it turns on after a shutdown that was caused by a power failure, after a scheduled shutdown, or after a shutdown initiated by a Control command. If the battery is depleted below the percentage configured as "Minimum Battery Capacity", the UPS first waits until the battery is recharged to that minimum capacity. If the battery is depleted below the capacity to provide the runtime configured as "Return Runtime Duration", the UPS first waits until the battery is recharged to the capacity that is able to provide that runtime.

Also - no, it doesnt matter what UPS you use. Any UPS with a network management card will use powerchute network shutdown. Any UPS that does not have a network management card in it, will most likely use powerchute business edition or if it is a home office PC, maybe powerchute personal edition which is USB for Back UPS only.

[Click here to view the operating system compatibility chart.|http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/SJHN-7AYQNP_R1_EN.pdf] This lists all of the operating systems compatible with the latest version of this software. If you dont see it on this list, you can also try one of the older versions which I can link you to on our FTP site if for some reason only the older version will work.

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

I tested behaviour you described on smaller UPS devices (i.e. SmartUPS 5000) and it works as you mentioned, but what about more serious devices such as Silcon SL60KH. Is it the same ?

Also, see second post on this thread by InRowRCena which claims opposite

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

Thank you very much for your response !!!

By 'wake on LAN' I mean that NMC send specially crafted packet over LAN called magic packet. This packet is received by server's network card, which then boot up server. You can find more on this on:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN

Can you check if there is NMC which uses this technology to boot up server in situation 1 that I described above.

Thanks.

[BillP]

No, the NMC does not send those packets as far as I know. I have searched everywhere. The UPS turns itself on as well as the output power and the BIOS setting does the rest. Most people think its wake on lan but its really just the BIOS having an 'always on' type power setting so that when the power comes back on, it sees that and boots the server back up. As mentioned, you can try it with the network cable unplugged and it should work with turning the server back on.

[BillP]

i do not deal with the silcon UPSs directly so I'll have to ask one of the three phase tech support engineers.

which I did. the only thing that you cant do is have one of your powerchute network shutdown clients shutdown the silcon in a parallel installation.

the servers attached to the silcon will follow the same rules as discussed prior - servers need to have the BIOS setting set correctly to come back on. the only thing that was recommend that the checkbox in the powerchute network shutdown that says "turn the UPS off after this client has shutdown" should be UNCHECKED - especially when testing because then it will shut the UPS off and thus drop any other load that has not been gracefully shutdown. also, starting up a silcon from what i understand can be involved, especially after an extended outage.

as mentioned, i am not an expert on the silcon so if you have any other specific questions on silcon procedures, you can post in the silcon area in the forum or call the three phase tech support line.

essentially, everything should be the same in the set up but you want to make sure you UNCHECK the box that turns the UPS off after the powerchute client has shutdown

i attached a screen shot of this setting.

i think InRowRCena maybe meant that its LIKE wake on lan, but its technically not.

[Anonymous user]

Hi again,

Thanks for support and researh you did.

Just to be sure that I understood what you said. It means that if servers are shutdown gracefully as a result of power outage, and Silcon continues to run on batterires if in that moment external power is restored Silcon will reboot itself. In this way servers will be booted up (I assume 'Always ON' BIOS settings on servers). Also, all other equipment connected to UPS which dont support PCNS (switches, routers, ...) will be rebooted, as a result of UPS restart. Correct?

InRowRCena explicitly said that signal to servers to boot up is sent via IP, which means that it is 'wake on lan', so I would like to ask you if you can check this with support engineers if something like this is applicable to Silcon.

[BillP]

double checking the management cards in the silcon that i have access to - as long as the option of "Restart when power is restored" or (if you have an older AP9606 card) "Reboot on line return," if the power goes out COMPLETELY, then the UPS will reboot when the power returns and provide power then as mentioned the servers will turn on with the BIOS setting.

I believe that if in the scenario you described, if the servers are already shutdown, and the silcon keeps going, then the utility power comes back, you will need to either turn everything on manually (that doesnt come back on - like a switch, router) or reboot the UPS.

the reason behind that being that the servers would always be receiving power from the UPS whether from battery power or utility power. so they shut off and are never "rebooted." there is nothing to tell them to turn back on sent via the management card, which we already discussed. utility power is never disrupted to cause them to reboot.

if you try it with the smart ups, it should act the same way with the silcon. is this what you witnessed?

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Actually, no.

In scenario I described Smart UPS restarted itself and in this way power on servers is restared and they booted up.

Also, all equipment like switches, routers, ... restarted as a result of UPS restart.

What I am asking is if the Silcon would behave the same way.