PowerChute Business Edition not supporting multiple ESXi hosts under same vCenter cluster

[BillP]

This question was originally posted by kong on APC forums on 8/8/2017

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Hi  Support,

I have the following UPS connecting to my 3 ESXi hosts under the same vCenter cluster (refer attachment).

I was told by my region Schneider Electric support that my UPS model is not supporting multiple ESXi server shutdown rules by Powerchute Business Edition.

If that's the case, what are the solutions to enable multiple ESXi hosts shutdown for my UPS? I'm using Smart UPS 2200 with PowerChute Business Edition installed in vMA. Connection from UPS (RJ45) to one of my ESXi server (Serial). I don't have NMC included in my UPS.

Hope to hear from your side soon.

Thanks.

Kong

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bill on APC forums on 8/9/2017

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Hi,

We do not support VMware vCenter Server with PowerChute Business Edition. PowerChute Business Edition is designed for single UPS and single host. To shutdown multiple hosts using vCenter Server you should purchase a network management card (AP9630 or AP9631) for the Smart-UPS and run PowerChute Network Shutdown. 

Here are a few links to useful documentation. 

http://www.apc.com/salestools/SJHN-92FLU8/SJHN-92FLU8_R6_EN.pdf?sdirect=true

http://www.apc.com/salestools/PMAR-9DNLQK/PMAR-9DNLQK_R3_EN.pdf?sdirect=true

http://www.apc.com/salestools/PMAR-9HBK44/PMAR-9HBK44_R4_EN.pdf?sdirect=true

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by kong on APC forums on 8/15/2017

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Hi Bill,

Thanks for the answer. So means that I need to purchase a new NMC for my Smart UPS 2200. But what are the differences between AP-9630 and AP-9631? Is it free to download the PCNS software?

Thank you.

Best regards,

Kong

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Jonathan on APC forums on 8/15/2017

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Good day Kong,

The AP9630 and AP9631 are both network management cards but the AP9631 has far more features than the AP9630. On an AP9631 you can attach a temperature/humidity probe for environmental monitoring as well as the dry contact dongle should you need Input and Output Relays.

When it comes to the PowerChute software, the PowerChute Network Shutdown is free to download from our website.