questions about set up and load for 3000XL units and AP9225

[Anonymous user]

Hi.

I have an AP9225 master switch and am thinking about buying an AP9225EXP. I am a bit of a noob in this area so please bear with me. The existing set up is using 2 3000 XL units which power 6 servers - 4 of the servers are 1U, 1 is 3U and 1 is 5U. Additionally there is 1 PC and and 1 IBM EXP400 array which is only using 4 discs on side. The load is spread across both UPS units but I don't like how it was done - set up before my joining the company.

The servers have redundant power supplies and I have noticed the monitoring cables are attached to some of the servers. It seems this set up was started but not completed. So I am hoping someone may help me to understand what ways are possible to properly set this up...

For example:

Should each server's PSU's be plugged into different UPS units?
How can I calculate the load that all servers produce?
Will an expansion unit (AP9225EXP) help me to effectively manage the start up/shutdown sequence if power goes out completely?
What can I read to gain more of an understanding?

Thanks for any and all suggestions.

[BillP]

Should each server's PSU's be plugged into different UPS units?

For maximum redundancy, you should have each power supply on a different UPS and have each UPS on a different circuit. that way, if one circuit goes down, hopefully you have a chance of the other one being unaffected and it will continue to power the load.

How can I calculate the load that all servers produce?

Most devices have their power requirement/max draw written right on it. If not, you can look into a device that if you plug something into it, it tells you how much power the device is drawing. Usually, these are called watt meters and may run around $15-$40. Kill-a-watt meter is one i have seen. for the most accurate sizing, you'd want to size everything in watts. We refer to watts as the "real" power where as volt-amps is more of the "apparent" power.

Will an expansion unit (AP9225EXP) help me to effectively manage the start up/shutdown sequence if power goes out completely?

To be honest, the masterswitch plus is very outdated and requires a lot of complicated cabling and isnt as advanced as some of our current shutdown solutions. I would look into a getting a network management card and using APC's free powerchute network shutdown software for the type of set up that you have. It has many features and the shutdown procedure is done over the network (so it uses your existing network). The network management card itself also does SNMP monitoring and email notifications, etc where as the masterswitch does not offer anything like that. I think it will be the cheapest solution and is something we are always adding new features to. The masterswitch solution has been replaced by this but if you absolutely needed to use physical serial connections, you could some how get this masterswitch working but again, i think it will be a lot more complicated and time consuming than its worth.

What can I read to gain more of an understanding?

You can check out [APC's knowledge base|http://www.apc.com/support/answers.cfm] for some pointers to start and you can also check out http://testdrive.apc.com to log into some of the solutions I have mentioned here and "test drive" them to see what we offer.

hope this helps!

[Anonymous user]

Hi and thanks for the reply.

You know it's funny - the outsourced IT services company had already sold the company I work for a management card plus a master switch a few years back.

So now just to be certain I understand you, we could avoid using the master switch and buying the exp unit IF we were to use the management card plus install the powerchute software on all servers? The serial cables of course would still be required as well - is that correct? That would be a heck of a lot simpler...

I am still trying to figure out the SNMP part for the external array - an IBM EXP400. It's got to be powered on before the server it's attached to starts up otherwise the array won't be seen properly.

[BillP]

if you use a network management card inside the UPS, you do not need any type of serial connection to the servers. the only time you'd need to use a serial cable is to configure network management card locally to put the IP address on it. communication and shutdown will be done over the network only.

you'd install the network management card into the UPS, configure it with an IP address, install powerchute network shutdown on each computer you have plugged into the UPS for power and want to shutdown gracefully when the UPS turns off due to low battery or some type of power event (which the settings are very customizable).

you can stagger shutdowns, run command files, etc and things like that if you need to and that software is free.

[Anonymous user]

Hi again.

My management card details are as follows:

model - AP9617
hardware revision - A10
AOS version - 1.1.6

So I am thinking I should be able to manage all the servers from this one card and remove the master switch. Should I upgrade the card's firmware or should I look at getting a newer card? I just re-read this and was thinking maybe I need a 2nd switch for my other UPS or can I chain the 2 UPS units together?

Thanks very much in advance.

Message was edited by: james.bowes

Message was edited by: james.bowes

[BillP · Accepted solution]

yes i'd recommend upgrading.

[take a look at this link here for doing that|http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=768]

each UPS needs to have a network management card inside of it. you cant daisy chain them together.