APC UPS in vSphere?

[svaradha]

Hi!

I'm looking for an UPS to use with my IBM x3400 server running vSphere 4. I've been using APC UPS' in the past and these seem to work good, but never tried to get it working in a virtual environment before.

So my question is, what model do you recommend (not the cheapest and not the most expensive either) and how exactly do you get it working? A step-by-step guide would be great! I know there are a few guy's out there that are looking for exactly the same answer...

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Regards,

-Satheesh-

[schepp]

Well, choose a model for your special requirements.

On your ESX servers you need to install the Powerchute software from APC.

Then you need to link your ESX server with the web interface of the UPS. It's pretty simple and self explaining

Also the virtual machines all need to have the vmware tools installed to shut them down properly.

[svaradha]

So ANY model will work?

Will VMware still give support if I install 3rd. party software inside vSphere?

All servers are running VMware Tools

Do you have any experince?

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Regards,

-Satheesh-

[athlon_crazy]

I managed to get PCNS work with ESX 3.5 using pcns-221.rpm. Unfortunately I dont find any pcns .rpm for ESX 4.0 yet. The last one I checked was pcns-223.rpm which also for ESX3.5.

vcbMC-1.0.6 Beta

vcbMC-1.0.7 Lite

[GergMN]

Could you elaborate a bit, I was wondering the same thing.

My Dell Servers are running ESXi directly on the server. Is there a way to install Power Chute directly on the server itself as well? DO you have to do that through the server's ESXi command interface? Or do you install the software within a VM on the host? In addition, my UPS's come with a serial cable, but I don't think my servers support pass-through configuration to 'see' the serial connection from within a VM.

Thanks for the info.

[lamw]

APC does have support for both ESX(i) 4.0 (spoke with one of their guys at VMworld 2009), you can find more information here: http://www.virtuallifestyle.nl/2009/10/apc-powerchute-network-shutdown-on-vmware-vsphere/

Regarding support for ESXi, the utility just installs on vMA 4.0 appliance from what I remember and has network connectivity to your UPS system ... I would probably contact APC for more information if you're interested in the specifics and documentation.

=========================================================================

William Lam

VMware vExpert 2009

VMware ESX/ESXi scripts and resources at:

VMware Code Central - Scripts/Sample code for Developers and Administrators

VMware Developer Comuunity

Twitter: @lamw

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