Chapter 8: Power Management
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8. Power Management
Black Box
console server
s manage embedded software that you can use to manage connected Power Distribution Systems (PDUs), IPMI devices, and
Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs) supplied by a number of vendors.
8.1 Remote Power Control (RPC)
The
console server
Management Console monitors and controls Remote Power Control (RPC) devices using the embedded PowerMan and Network
UPS Tools open source management tools and the Black Box power management software. RPCs include power distribution units (PDUs) and IPMI
power devices.
You can control serial PDUs invariably using their command line console, so you could manage the PDU through the
console server
using a remote
Telnet client.
Also, you could use proprietary software tools supplied by the vendor. This generally runs on a remote Windows PC, and you could
configure the
console server
serial port to operate with a serial COM port redirector in the PC (as detailed in
Chapter 5).
Similarly, you can control network-attached PDUs with a browser (for example, with SDT as detailed in
Chapter 6.3)
, an SNMP management
package, or using the vendor-supplied control software. Servers and network-attached appliances with embedded IPMI service processors or BMCs
invariably have their own management tools (like SoL) that provide secure management when connected with SDT Connector.
For simplicity, you can now control all these devices through one window using the Management Console’s RPC remote power control tools.
8.1.1 RPC Connection
Serial and network connected RPCs must first be connected to, and configured to communicate with, the
console server
:
For serial RPCs, connect the PDU to the selected serial port on the
console server
. From the
Serial and Network: Serial Port
menu, configure the
Common Settings
of that port with the RS-232 properties, etc. required by the PDU (refer to
Chapter 5.1.1 Common Settings
). Then select
RPC
as
the
Device Type
.
For each network-connected RPC, go to
Serial & Network: Network Hosts
menu and configure the RPC as a connected Host by specifying it as
Device Type: RPC
and clicking
Apply
(refer to
Section 5.4, Network Hosts
).
Figure 8-1. Select RPC connections menu.
Select the
Serial & Network: RPC Connections
menu. This will display all the RPC connections that have already been configured.
