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CHAPTER 9: POWER, ENVIRONMENT AND DIGITAL I/O
This information is logged for all UPSes which were configured with Log Status checked. The information is also presented graphically.
9.2.6 OVERVIEW OF NETWORK UPS TOOLS (NUT)
Network UPS Tools (NUT) is built on a networked model with a layered scheme of drivers, server and clients. NUT can be configured
using the Management Console as described above, or you can configure the tools and manage the UPSes directly from the command
line. This section provides an overview of NUT.
Monitor log graph
and alert
NUT upsc client
Local NUT upsd
server
NUT serial/USB/
SNMP UPS drivers
Multiple local
UPSes
Multiple remote
UPSes
NUT upsd server
UPS drivers
FIGURE 9-23.
The driver programs talk directly to the UPS equipment and run on the same host as the NUT network server (upsd). Drivers are provided
for a wide assortment of equipment from most of the popular UPS vendors and understand the specific language of each UPS. They
communicate to serial-, USB- and SNMP network- connected UPS hardware and map the communications back to a compatibility layer.
This means both an expensive “smart” protocol UPS and a simple “power strip” model can be handled transparently.
The NUT network server program upsd is responsible for passing status data from the drivers to the client programs via the network.
upsd can cache the status from multiple UPSes and then serve this status data to many clients. upsd also contains access control
features to limit the abilities of the clients (for example, so only authorized hosts may monitor or control the UPS hardware).
There are a number of NUT clients that connect to upsd to check on the status of the UPS hardware and do things based on the status.
These clients can run on the same host as the NUT server or they can communicate with the NUT server over the network (enabling them
to monitor any UPS anywhere).
The upsc client provides a quick way to poll the status of a UPS server. It can be used inside shell scripts and other programs that
need UPS data but don’t want to include the full interface.
The upsmon client enables servers that draw power through the UPS to shutdown gracefully when the battery power reaches
critical.
There are also logging clients (upslog) and third party interface clients (Big Sister, Cacti, Nagios, Windows and more).
The latest release of NUT (2.7.4) also controls PDU systems. It can do this either natively using SNMP or through a binding to Powerman
(open source software from Livermore Labs that is also embedded in Black Box console servers).
These NUT clients and servers are all embedded in each Black Box console server (with a Management Console presentation layer
added). They also run remotely on distributed console servers and other remote NUT monitoring systems. This layered distributed NUT
architecture enables:
Multiple manufacturer support. NUT can monitor UPS models from 79 different manufacturers and PDUs from a growing number of
vendors, all via a unified interface.
