SmartUPS 5000 w/ 9630 Managment Cards

[BillP]

This question was originally posted by Joshua on APC forums on 11/29/2012

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Hello,
We have 12 smart ups 5000 that we have networked up. I can web to each one and log in with no issues (http). We'd like to evalauate PowerChute as a method to monitor all of them. I've downloaded PowerChute Business Edition 5 Node v9.0.1 as sort of an evaluation to demo to our Facilities dept. The idea is that we'll buy the full 25 node version if they like it.
The problem is I can't seem to get discovery working. I enter the IP range and in wireshark and I can see the UDP request being sent to the device, but it is getting returned "destination unreachable (port unreachable)". I've checked w/ our security folks and there is no filtering going on. I tend to believe them as I have never had an issue, and being a VoIP engineer, I've thrown a lot of obscure UDP packets over the network with no issue.

Am I missing someting? Do I need to set something up on the 9630 web page? I can't find anything. Also, I've tried downloading the documentation off this site, but I can't view any contents.

Thanks,
Josh

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Joshua on APC forums on 12/5/2012

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thank you sir! this was very helpful

[voidstar_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 11/29/2012

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Hi Joshua,

If your UPS has a network management card, you should use the free [Powerchute Network Shutdown|http://www.apc.com/products/family/?id=127] instead.

PowerChute Business Edition is used for SmartUPS units connected via a serial cable.

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Joshua on APC forums on 11/29/2012

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Thanks, I just installed PowerChute Network Shutdown, but I don't think this is what we're after. This looks like the client that should be installed on a server that is powered by the UPS.
Our 12 APC 5000s are used in TELCO closets. The only thing connected to them are Cisco LAN Switches.
What are looking for is more of a single monitoring tool that will alert us of events and all an admin to check the state of the UPSs. We can do all of this now, but its via 12 individual webpages. If it were a cisco product, they'd probably call it UPS Manager 🙂
It sounds like Powerchute Business Edition is what we're after. The problem I see is the serial cables, the challange being how do we get a serial cable to all these TELCO closets. Is there way to connect the APCs using DB9 to RJ45 serial cables over the Cisco switches (IP)? The only cable I see on this site that looks right is the Cisco Unity Express UPS Serial Cable.

Otherwise it seems like we'd have to run serial cables from our Server Room out to all of the TELCO closets.

Thanks,
Josh

[voidstar_apc · Accepted solution]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 11/30/2012

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Hi Joshua,

You're right; I see what you mean. Here are some options:
- The APC pre-packaged solution is [StruxureWare Data Center Expert|http://www.apc.com/products/family/?id=350] previously called ISX Central and before that \*grin\* ISX Manager. It has support specifically for APC products and will also monitor products from other vendors.
- You can monitor the Network Management Cards using your existing network management system, such as HP OpenView, IBM's Tivoli, Nagios, Zenoss, OpenNMS, etc. The NMC utilizes vendor-neutral protocols so it's pretty widely supported.
- You can roll your own monitoring through SNMP.
- You can set up email notification and/or syslog.