VMware Shutdown - Single UPS Configuration

[Anonymous user]

hi All,

we are currently planning to get new UPS and along with this was determining best configuration with our virtual environment, Clustered/HA enabled. 3 Esxi 5.1 Hosts, 1 SAN and Domain Controller (DC-physical) and SAN.  i was wondering if you what the would you advise in order for us gracefully shutdown vm's, and hosts as well as one physical server (DC) in the event of extended power outage.

would this configuration works better than PCNS on vm? your comments and advise is very appreciated. thank you.

also from PowerChute Network Shutdown: VMware User Guide, im a little confuse by this statement.

If the UPS is supplying power to a storage array then you should only select the

option to shut down VMware hosts.

Does it mean that this will not shutdown the physical host?

Physical Host - UPS Power Protection

In some setups, PowerChute needs to be able to monitor UPS's which are powering

equipment outside a VMware cluster. To do this you must select the Advanced UPS

configuration and add additional NMC IP addresses.

On the VMware Host Protection page, do not associate VMware hosts with these

UPS's.

The following additional options will then be displayed on the Physical Host - UPS Power

Protection page:

 Shut down VMware Hosts - trigger a VMware shutdown sequence on all hosts that

are protected by PowerChute.

 Shut down PowerChute machine - shut down the physical machine which has the

PowerChute installation after the VMware hosts and their VMs have been shut down.

Both options are enabled by default:

 If the UPS is supplying power to a physical machine both options should be selected.

 If the UPS is supplying power to a storage array then you should only select the

option to shut down VMware hosts.

[Anonymous user]

hi All,

we are currently planning to get new UPS and along with this was determining best configuration with our virtual environment, Clustered/HA enabled. 3 Esxi 5.1 Hosts, 1 SAN and Domain Controller (DC-physical) and SAN.  i was wondering if you what the would you advise in order for us gracefully shutdown vm's, and hosts as well as one physical server (DC) in the event of extended power outage.

would this configuration works better than PCNS on vm? your comments and advise is very appreciated. thank you.

also from PowerChute Network Shutdown: VMware User Guide, im a little confuse by this statement.

If the UPS is supplying power to a storage array then you should only select the

option to shut down VMware hosts.

Does it mean that this will not shutdown the physical host?

Physical Host - UPS Power Protection

In some setups, PowerChute needs to be able to monitor UPS's which are powering

equipment outside a VMware cluster. To do this you must select the Advanced UPS

configuration and add additional NMC IP addresses.

On the VMware Host Protection page, do not associate VMware hosts with these

UPS's.

The following additional options will then be displayed on the Physical Host - UPS Power

Protection page:

 Shut down VMware Hosts - trigger a VMware shutdown sequence on all hosts that

are protected by PowerChute.

 Shut down PowerChute machine - shut down the physical machine which has the

PowerChute installation after the VMware hosts and their VMs have been shut down.

Both options are enabled by default:

 If the UPS is supplying power to a physical machine both options should be selected.

 If the UPS is supplying power to a storage array then you should only select the

option to shut down VMware hosts.

[Anonymous user]

what configuration should i use (recommends) if i also want to be able to shutdown my physical server after esxi hosts (one cluste/ HA)? using just one UPS.

[Anonymous user]

thanks Bill.

please bare with me. when you say physical machine are you referring to SAN? 

with the above config, if i install PCNS on Windows Physical Server, would this also shutdown itself after shutting down esxi hosts cluster/HA?

thanks again

[BillP]

Hi,

The configuration you attached the screenshot of is the correct one i.e. PCNS configured for Single UPS Configuration and vCenter Managed option. In that configuration you do not get the option to enable/disable shutting down the Physical machine running PCNS. This only applies in an Advanced cluster configuration where PCNS is installed on a physical Windows machine. When you use the configuration shown the physical machine running PCNS will get shut down

If you want the NAS shutdown you should write a script that PCNS will run that will command the NAS down.

[Anonymous user]

as per dell, PV3220i doesnt have shutdown command as long as there was no i/o running at the time of power off. it will be fine.

[Anonymous user]

you mention above" In that configuration you do not get the option to enable/disable shutting down the Physical machine running PCNS." which machine would not get the option to enable/disable shutting down?

thanks

[BillP]

The Windows system that is running PCNS.

[Anonymous user]

Can i install PCNS on regular desktop then configured to shutdwon esxi hosts and one physical server?

[BillP]

Hi,

You should review pages 4 and 5 of application note AN-180 http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/SJHN-92FLU8/SJHN-92FLU8_R0_EN.pdf

[Anonymous user]

That would work. thank you.

just final verification. should i follow this note regarding storage?

[BillP]

Hi,

In your configuration you do not have to option to not power down the Windows system running PowerChute. Both the ESXi hosts and the Windows systems will be powered down. If you want the NAS shutdown you should write a script that PCNS will run that will command the NAS down.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Sorry for the late response.

Now that i have my testing environment. I applied Low battery Delay to 15 minutes. it does shutdown the VM's gracefully but have three concerns:

1. It does not shutdown host01 where the Vcentre is running.  This host remains running until the outlet group turns off.  Is this something that can be done?

2. At the start up/Power restored, it does turn on the switches and storage but not the Physical server where the PCNS was installed as well as Host02.

3. Host01 one gets turn ON  but does not start VM's.

hope you can assist  or comment on this scenarios.

btw, i have SMART-UPS X 3000

thank you in advance.