PowerChute Business Edition or PowerChute Network Shutdown

[dave1kelsey_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 9/24/2012

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Hi,

We have the following setup and i was wondering what people thought was a more appropriate software to control it, any thought gratefully received.

We have about 28 servers powered through 7x APC SmartUPS 3000, all have Network management Card 2 installed.
The servers are dual PSU and have been setup to take 1 input from 1 UPS and the 2nd input from another UPS. Not ideal i know but that the way it is.

I need software to be able to control the shutdown on servers in parallel mode, so the server needs to receive the shutdown signal from both UPS before actually shutting down.

What would be the best software to achieve this?

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bernard on APC forums on 9/24/2012

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Hi Dave,

Having the 2 PSUs of each server on different UPSs is actually ideal to achieve redundancy. What is the operating system of the servers? You can use [Powerchute Network Shutdown|http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SFPCNS301] and configure it as a redundant setup in the configuration wizard. Check the compatibility of your server's OS here.

[dave1kelsey_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 9/24/2012

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Yes i thought that might be the case, but when speaking to APC directly it wasn't an "ideal situation"
The server O/S are a mixture of 2003/2008 so should be fine.

Am i right in assuming that the Network Shutdown function is included in Business Edition, but BE includes monitoring functionality? If this is the case and assuming we don't need monitoring functionality are we better off with just Network Shutdown?

Message was edited by: dave1kelsey

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Bernard on APC forums on 9/24/2012

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PowerChute Business Edition allows you to monitor, manage and control your UPS and at the same time, provides graceful shutdown options for compatible servers. But using PowerChute Business Edition requires that you have a physical data connection between the servers and the UPS using either the USB or the serial cable.

Powerchute Network Shutdown on the other hand is responsible for shutting down the servers where you install them. You mentioned in your previous post that you already have network management cards in your UPSs, these network management cards are what you use now to manage, monitor and control your UPS in your setup. And just like what the name of the software implies, the shutdown signal travels over the network and using Powerchute Network Shutdown no longer requires the physical data cable connection that using Powerchute Business Edition must have have.

[dave1kelsey_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 9/24/2012

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Thanks for clearing that up i appreciate it

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Bernard on APC forums on 9/24/2012

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No problem. 🙂