HP Power Manager available for 11i v3?

[Shirley Barger]

Hi.  I'm doing a cold install of 11i v3 on an rx3600 that's been running 11i v2 since 2007.  It's connected to an R5500 UPS and has been running HP Power Manager Server (HPPM) 4.1.  Now when I look for an updated version, all I seem to find is HPPM that runs on either Windows or Linux.  Did I miss an announcement of discontinuance?  Am I just not finding a link to the right HPPM?  I install in two days.  Thanks for any enlightenment.

[Duncan Edmonstone]

Shirley,

It does look a little odd - whilst the product page seems to list only Windows and Linux, the QuickSpecs explicitly state that although there is no Management Server for HP-UX, you can get a Management Agent (I guess this means that you have to have a Windows or Linux box actually connected to the UPS, and this sends the remote shutdown command to the HP-UX box)

But there are no signs of any downloads for the Management Agents for HP-UX, Netware, ESX, and OpenVMS, all of which are listed on the QuickSpecs. I did wonder if the agents were bundled up in the server downloads, but having taken a look I don't find anything.

I'll see if I can contact the product manager and get this clarified, in the meantime I'd suggest you log a support call for this and ask for clarification there as well - either the software is missing or the QuickSpecs need updating.

[Torsten.]

I have an old copy of version 4.2 and the readme says it will run on 11.31 too.

[Bill Hassell · Accepted solution]

Power Manager disappeared from HP sites more than a year ago and calls to HP were not useful. Basically, the entity that supported the HP-UX version disappeared so the links dried up and all you can find is an obsolete package called LanSafe 3:

https://h20392.www2.hp.com/portal/swdepot/displayProductInfo.do?productNumber=J43xxASW

HP's suggestion was to buy a Proliant server and stick it into the rack and use it to manage the R3000/R6000 UPS's.

What I have done is to track down the UPS manufacturer (Eaton) and locate their current LanSafe 6 product:

http://powerquality.eaton.com/Support/Software-Drivers/Default.asp

I have installed and tested this on 6 servers, 11.11, 11.23 and 11.31, PA and IA.

Although the HP-UX code is primitive, configuring the UPS is quite easy with the PC version installed as a non-participant. Since many rack mount UPS system serve multiple systems, the LanSafe software can be installed as the primary controller (with the data cable), a participant in the power service (ie, same rack) or as a non-participant. A laptop can then connect to the primary controller and display the fancy graphics and detailed status. The participant systems are then told when to shutdown because power has not been restored and the batteries are almost gone.

It is not clear whether this situation (no HP-UX support) will be fixed. Larger data centers have a central UPS with a backup generator. Smaller data centers and closet operations for SMB or small-medium businesses porbably won't use servers running HP-UX in those situations (PCs and Linux only).

[Shirley Barger]

To Duncan, Torsten and Bill, many thanks!  Duncan, the QuickSpecs had thrown me for a loop too, as they showed HP-UX 11.31 and lots more.  Bill, I really appreciate the clarification and the links.  I'm going to check out LanSafe6, but I likely can't put it up for the next month.  We have no money for Proliants or even cheapo boxes to run UPS's (I work for a large but poor California community college).  So, Torsten, any chance I could get a copy of the 4.2 version from you?  I'm installing 11iv3 this Saturday.