Symmetra PX 40k and PCNS Agent on Servers

[BillP]

We recently upgraded to 1 Symmetra Px unit for our server room. Previously, we used 16 Smart UPS 3000. Each Smart UPS had a network management card installed with an IP address. PCNS was installed on all servers, and the agent was configured with the IP address of the appropriate network management card depending on which UPS it was connected.

We use only Windows, and we have @ 90 servers.

APC told us before installing the Symmetra that we would not have to uninstall and re-install the PCNS software.

I have configured the Symmetra with the network addresses for each network segment. We found that we could not enter more than 50 IP addresses, so we had to use network addresses: 10.1.0.0, 10.11.0.0, 10.12.0.0, etc.

Now, when I look at the PCNS config on each server, it's getting an error:

"PowerChute cannot communicate with the Management Card"

Also, I see it is still trying to contact the IP address of the OLD SMART UPS.

My first question is: Will using the network address of the segment instead of using the distinct IP address of the server work?

My Second question is: How do I update PCNS with the new IP address of the Symmetra without re-installing the software?

My third question is: Is two-way communication necessary between Symmetra and PCNS in order for my servers to gracefully shutdown?

Thanks for your time.

Sillz

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Let me try to clarify a few things.

Communication between PCNS and the network management card needs to be established, both incoming and outgoing (2 way). Certain features may not function if the communication is only one way. For example, if you were to want to shut the UPS down after a particular agent shuts itself off, the message needs to come from the agent to the NMC.

There is a silent install available for PCNS that may help if you are attempting to configure multiple agents. Here is the link:

http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=3075&p_created=1071076705&p...

As you have already noticed the agent list is only capable of storing 50 agents on the NMC itself. The management card broadcasts the packet on port 3052 on it's local segment and sends unicast messages to agents or remote segments. When an agent on the remote segment receives the unicast message, it will then send out a broadcast message to the rest of it's segment. That being said, I would perform a reinstall of your agents pointing them towards the new IP of the management card itself. After doing that I would edit your device list so there are 2 to 3 agents per segment. Once those agents receive the unicast from the card, they will forward the shutdown messages via broadcast message to the rest of the agents on their segment.

Let me know if you have any other questions