Small Network - 1 SMX1000 Need Power Quality Monitoring & NAS Shutdown

[BillP]

This question was originally posted by Greg on APC forums on 9/28/2017

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Hi all,

I've researched APC software, forums, etc and am not connecting the dots. I need to monitor utility power quality from our SMX1000 and have a NAS that needs to be told to shutdown in the event of a power failure. Currently configuration looks like this:

a. 1x SMX1000 connected to a Windows 10 system via USB cable

b. PowerChute Business Edition v9.2 installed in the above system (agent and console)

c. 1x QNAP TVS-1282T3 running latest QTS

d. Above server and QNAP on same network

The agent is giving me the power quality metrics we need. Our utility power has been degrading and the APC is stepping in for overages and underages way too often, even at reduced sensitivity. We need data to try and track down the source of the problem which may be in the utility power. So far, so good.

Where I am lost is how to tell the QNAP NAS to shutdown on utility failure. The USB cable used to be plugged into the NAS and the NAS listened for the signal from the APC. Now I have the QNAP set to be a UPS Slave and it's looking to connect to a master.

While I can run this configuration for a short time to gather power metrics, this can't be permanent as is. So the question is how to I communicate the shutdown command to the NAS. I'm willing to buy a network card for the APC but only if I have the full solution mapped out and confirmed it will work. Possible solutions in order of preference:

1. Chute acts as a network master and sends the command.

2. Chute executes a bat file with commands to SSH to the QNAP and tell it to shut down. We've been hacked and the QNAP was the target so REALLY don't want SSH active on the QNAP however.

3. Chute triggers a WinNUT installed on the Windows 10 machine which then acts as the master to send the command. More and more function points getting in critical path for a critical function: UPS > Agent > NUT > QNAP.

So given the prevalence of non server equipment in today's data centers, especially small ones (NAS or other storage systems, some network equipment, Flash systems, other appliances etc) and the existence of open protocols, please tell me I am missing something obvious and this is easier than it looks. 🙂

Thanks for taking the time and lending me your expertise!!

Greg

[BillP · Accepted solution]

This reply was originally posted by Gareth on APC forums on 9/28/2017

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Buy a network management card, plug the NAS    into the UPS using the USB  and configure it as you did before, this keeps it simple, you know it worked before.

Install Powerchute    network shutdown on   any windows system you want to shut down and to see what's going on you login to the NMC    url/ip    and that will show the info you need to monitor, plus a lot more than the UPS shows without a NMC.