subject: Reduce Data Center Costs With A Remote Power Management System [print this page] As todays networks are growing, becoming most expensive to operate and even more complicated, the number of distributed networks and remote branches are also increasing rapidly, creating a need for efficient console servers. And with budgets for network management staff dwindling, it is becoming even more important to build in capabilities to improve the response time to an outage or other problem This makes remote power management a key element in efficiently managing your data center.
While some businesses are utilizing UPS (uninterruptible power supplies), a substantial number are not implementing a remote power management solution to provide them with the full range of protection and cost savings available to them via a remote console server. These power management console servers are network-managed devices that allow remote control of the power on a per-receptacle basis, allowing remote cycling of equipment and other management capabilities.
For many equipment issues, cycling power can be the fastest - or only - way to correct problems. Through a remote console server, technicians can monitor power, perform a remote reboot and control individual power receptacles. If a system freezes, the technician can remotely reboot power and quickly return the network to operational status.
The benefits of remote power management include:
reduction in required site visits;
quick recovery from software lockouts;
ability to activate standby equipment and remotely shut down defective equipment;
remote monitoring of power consumption to identify any changes;
reports to audit power before making the decision to add equipment;
ability to control power sequencing.
The single most important justification for remote power management is the cost savings related to site trips previously required to alleviate common issues, including:
restoring network connectivity via remote reboot of key servers or network equipment after a failure;
remotely activating standby equipment and shutting down primary equipment;
increases in power consumption from attached systems that can indicate an impending hardware failure;
knowing in advance whether equipment expansion or upgrades can be done within a rack pdus power level;
sequencing power to outlets on power up to eliminate current inrush and maximize use of circuit ratings;
maximizing runtime by shutting down non-critical equipment.
A UPS is sometimes considered sufficient protection for equipment, but a complete power management solution provides control in addition to power outage protection. Advanced power management is often integrated with other remote management resources to simplify management and reduce the number of interfaces.
These technologies are called out-of-band management or out-of-band networking and are implemented on console terminal servers. The most common interface used for out-of-band management is a serial connection to the service port of servers, storage, routers, switches, and other types of network equipment. Through a single interface, an administrator can manage power, console terminal servers and environmental and security management for a wide variety of applications.
Complete power management beyond the protection of a UPS can be a critical element of network management for todays businesses. A properly-configured power management system can provide around-the-clock remote power access and real-time monitoring that allows the data center manager to address a large number of common network problems without the need for a site visit. With this capability, businesses can greatly reduce the cost of network downtime without increasing network management staffing costs.
