Symmetra PX & Serial Shutdown

[Ratso_apc]

Greetings -

I recently inherited a small data center with a Symmetra PX 80kW (208V 3PH). While I have over 15 years experience with the Smart-UPS line, this is the first Symmetra I've had.

I'm trying to find a mechanism to automatically shut down key servers via their serial (or USB) port, but my read of the docs indicates the Symmetra PX does not provide this functionality. This seems strange for such a high-end device, so I'm hoping I'm just missing something.

At one point the "Synchronized Control Group" functionality looked promising, and I considered network-connecting a Smart-UPS to the Symmetra PX and placing them into a Synchronized Control Group. That way, when the Symmetra triggered a low-battery condition, the Smart-UPS could in turn be used to trigger the serial shutdown via an attached Share-UPS. But the docs indicate that all UPS's in the Control Group MUST be of the same model (with no reason given). So it appears that approach may not work.

Any advice on how to affect a serial-driven automatic shutdown with the Symmetra PX would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ratso

[Ratso_apc]

Greetings -

I recently inherited a small data center with a Symmetra PX 80kW (208V 3PH). While I have over 15 years experience with the Smart-UPS line, this is the first Symmetra I've had.

I'm trying to find a mechanism to automatically shut down key servers via their serial (or USB) port, but my read of the docs indicates the Symmetra PX does not provide this functionality. This seems strange for such a high-end device, so I'm hoping I'm just missing something.

At one point the "Synchronized Control Group" functionality looked promising, and I considered network-connecting a Smart-UPS to the Symmetra PX and placing them into a Synchronized Control Group. That way, when the Symmetra triggered a low-battery condition, the Smart-UPS could in turn be used to trigger the serial shutdown via an attached Share-UPS. But the docs indicate that all UPS's in the Control Group MUST be of the same model (with no reason given). So it appears that approach may not work.

Any advice on how to affect a serial-driven automatic shutdown with the Symmetra PX would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Ratso

[Anonymous user]

Hello Ratso,

Due to the size of the Symmetra 80K, it is adviseable that you use Powerchute Network Shutdown as your server shutdown software. Each Symmetra should have a Network Management Card (AP9617 or AP9619) installed. You can assign an IP address to this card and your Symmetra is now accessible over the network. Once the card is on the network, you can install Powerchute on each of the servers that you would like to have shutdown on a power failure event. This software doesn't communicate over a serial cable but via the network. I understand that you would like to use a serial cable, but the serial based Powerchute software (Powerchute Business Edition) is only tested on smaller single phase UPS units, such as the Smart UPS.

You can download Powerchute Network Shutdown from the following link.

http://www.apcc.com/tools/download/software_comp.cfm?sw_sku=SFPCNS221&id=127&family=&part_num=&swfam...

[Ratso_apc]

Thanks for the timely response KVM4Life -

I'm familiar with the PCNS software, but I don't subscribe to the network-based shutdown philosophy, at least not until PCNS supports certificate-based authentication for its network traffic. That's one reason why I'm looking for a serial-based mechanism.

You state that "Due to the size of the Symmetra 80K, it is adviseable that you use Powerchute Network Shutdown as your server shutdown software."

While I don't see how the capacity of the UPS would affect the mechanism it uses to trigger a shutdown, the statement raises a more relevant question: By "advisable" do you mean to say that it's not possible to do so? I accept the fact that you (or APC?) may advise against it, but the original question remains: Is there a way to do it?

Oh yes, just to clarify: I don't (historically) use the PowerChute Business Edition software for sensing the serial trigger. I use the native serial-sensing mechanism that's typically part of the OS distribution (e.g. Win2003, Linux).

Respectively,
Ratso

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

Okay, let me clarify. Powerchute Business Edition is not tested on Symmetra products. Powerchute Network Shutdown is the advised software due to the fact each unit is shipped with a Network Management Card.

The reason I mentioned the size of the UPS is because its an 80KVA unit 80KVA can support a large number of servers (100+ and more). If you were to try and gracefully shutdown all these servers, you would need several serial connections, which could take up a lot of space. Also, the maximum number of servers that you can shutdown off of a serial connection to one UPS is 40 through our Share UPS product line.

I apologize if I can't provide you a better answer.

[Anonymous user]

Hi Ratso,

Sounds good. I meant it as the software is tested on Smart UPS units or devices in Simple signaling. Symmetras are seen as supporting larger loads, and with regards to servers, you could potentially plug in a high number of servers that would generally create a mess in terms of the number of required serial cables.

Hope this helps.

[Anonymous user]

I run a couple of small server rooms with 12kva Symmetras. We recently upgraded our server and OS architecture to I am using 64-bit Xeon processors and 64-bit Windows OS. My issue with Powerchute is the lack of 64-bit support. The only 64-bit Powerchute available is for Itanium processors.

Theoretically the 32-bit powerchute will work, but I am having installation issues and support is telling me that while it might work, it is not actually supported. What are my options for clean shutdown of 64-bit Xeon systems if I am using a Symmetra?

Chad

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I don't see Xeon processors on the compatibility list either:

http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/ASTE-6Z5QEX_R0_EN.pdf

I would suggest installing the PCNS software on a machine running a 32 bit supported OS. When you log into the web interface of the PCNS client, not the network card, you can configure that machine to execute a command file for a certain condition. To do this, open a web browser and type http://ipaddress:3052 (use real ip as opposed to words). From here you would configure an event, for example, UPS on battery. When the UPS has been on battery for X number of seconds, execute this command. The command file can be a simple batch file that sends a shutdown command to the 64 bit OS's. This would be a valid workaround to the 64 bit support issue.