Simplifying power management in virtualized data centers

Eaton Intelligent Power Manager plug-in for VMwares vCenter Server integrates virtualization and power
management
Server virtualization enables companies to increase efficiency and uptime while lowering hardware capital expenses
and operations spending. It also poses a number of significant power management opportunities.
Eatons Intelligent Power Manager (IPM) can help IT managers reap the benefits of virtualization. In particular, it
comes with a plug-in for VMwares vCenter Server, currently the most popular virtualization management solution on
the market. It enables IT managers to administer their backup power and power distribution assets in sophisticated
ways via the same console they use to manage their physical and virtual servers.
This technology brief discusses the factors behind virtualizations skyrocketing popularity, as well as the power
management difficulties that virtualized data centers often encounter. It then provides an overview of how IPM helps
mitigate those complexities, along with detailed step-by-step instructions for installing and using the IPM plug-in for
vCenter Server.
Virtualization and power management
Eager to save money and time while maintaining continual uptime, businesses are rapidly implementing server
virtualization. In fact, nearly 80 percent of server workloads supported by x86 hardware will be running on virtual
machines (VMs) by 2016, according to analyst firm Gartner Inc.
Given the many and significant benefits it offers, virtualizations exploding popularity is easy to understand. Chief
among those benefits are these:

Lower hardware capital expenses: Conventional data centers typically feature large numbers of lightly
utilized servers. Converting those physical machines into virtual ones consolidates the number of power
devices being used and significantly lowers server-related hardware spending.

Easier hardware administration: Reducing physical servers lessens operational and capital expenses, by
decreasing hardware purchase and administration burdens.

More efficient use floor space: Consolidating servers through virtualization enables organizations to fit more
processing and storage capacity into an existing footprint, delaying the need for costly construction projects.

Enhanced availability: Server virtualization solutions equipped with live migration capabilities can relocate
VMs from one host device to another quickly, enabling companies to keep critical applications up and
running during power outages, hardware failures and maintenance procedures.

Power management challenges created by virtualization

Though it offers many compelling benefits to IT equipment, virtualization does complicate power management in a
number of ways.
For example, many organizations use virtualization management software to administer host servers, VMs and more.
At present, though, users of virtualization management suites must usually employ a separate set of management
tools to monitor their power infrastructure, decreasing the productivity of their technicians and potentially delaying
response times when problems occur.
Additionally, while live migration capabilities can move VMs dynamically from one host server to another under a
variety of conditions, few such products offer built-in functionality for migrating virtual workloads automatically during
power outages, when the function is most often needed.

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January 2012

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Virtualization power management with Eaton Intelligent Power Manager

Intelligent, logical and complete power management solutions such as Eaton IPM make tackling virtualization-related
power management challenges significantly easier. By implementing IPM, IT managers can:

Automatically assemble a global, consolidated view of their backup power and power distribution
infrastructure
Monitor and manage power hardware both inside and outside the data center, even on an outlet-by-outlet
basis for some devices
Shut down affected servers and network devices gracefully and automatically during extended utility failures,
protecting unsaved work and preserving data integrity
Receive real-time notification of uninterruptible power system (UPS) and power distribution unit (PDU)
trouble signs, such as deteriorating performance or an overheating battery
Significantly reduce the cost and complexity of rolling out new commands, features and functions by
executing mass management card firmware upgrades over the network
Measure power consumption to help calculate power usage effectiveness (PUE), a widely-utilized metric for
gauging data center power efficiency

Integration with VMware vCenter Server

Among IPMs most powerful features is its seamless integration with VMwares vCenter Server virtualization
management solution.
At present, VMwares ESX/ESXi hypervisor is the dominant platform for server virtualization. Indeed, fully 85 percent
of large organizations and 78.9 percent of midsize ones use ESX/ESXi, according to data from analyst firm Nemertes
Research. Most organizations that use ESX/ESXi also use vCenter Server to administer their virtual server
infrastructure. IPM plugs directly into vCenter Server, enabling IT personnel to view, monitor and administer not only
physical and virtual servers but UPSs, PDUs and other power devices through a single console.

Figure 1: Thanks to the seamless integration between IPM and VMware vCenter Server, administrators can view and
manage their power systems from within the vCenter Server dashboard simply by clicking the Eaton Power
Manager tab.
Whats more, drawing on its interoperability with live migration systems such as VMware vMotion, IPM can
automatically and transparently move VMs during power disruptions from impacted host servers to unaffected
devices. As a result, businesses can weather power disruptions without suffering data loss or application downtime.
VMware interfaces
To connect with vCenter Server, IPM uses the vSphere API, which is accessible through a Web service .
IPM connects to the vSphere API via HTTP. Different versions of IPM connect to the vSphere API in different ways,
however. The chain of those connections appears below:

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Versions of IPM 1.14 and earlier => Perl Script (with VMware SDK from VMwares Perl library) =>
VMSphere API

IPM 1.25 => VMSphere API, accessed directly through HTTP

Installation requirements
Before registering IPM as a plug-in for vCenter Server, administrators must do the following:

Install VMware vCenter Server and vSphere Client. Note that vCenter and IPM can be installed on the same
server or on different ones. They can also be deployed on a physical server or a VM running on the VMware
ESX/ESXi hypervisor.

Install VMware administrative tools on every VM you will be managing via vCenter Server. IPM relies on
these tools to shutdown VMs gracefully during power outages.

Installing the IPM plug-in for vCenter Server

To install and register the IPM plug-in for vCenter Server, perform the following steps:
1. Open IPM.
2. In the Views pane on the left side of the screen, click System within the Settings folder (see figure 3).
3. On the right side of the screen, click Edit modules settings (see figure 3).

Figure 2: To install the IPM plug-in, start by clicking System in the Views pane and then clicking Edit modules
settings.

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4. In the Edit modules settings dialog box, click the Virtualization (Network Solution Only) option and then click the
Save button (see figure 3). Virtualization now appears in the Views pane under Settings (see figure 4)

Figure 3: The Edit modules settings dialog box.

5. In the Views pane, under Settings, click Virtualization.
6. On the right side of the screen, click Add Supervisor.
7. In the Add Supervisor dialog box (see figure 5), do the following:

In the Product field, select VMware

In the Hostname or IP address field, type the supervisor hostname or IP
address
In the Username field, type the supervisor administrator username
In the Password field, type the supervisor administrator password

8. Click the vCenter Plugin option.

9. Click the Save button.
VMware vCenter Server will now:

Register IPM
Create a new tab in vCenter labeled Eaton Power Manager
Declare a series of new power -related events
Create a new host alarm that is triggered when a power failure impacts this
hypervisor

In addition, IPM will:

Build a comprehensive list of hypervisors in the VMware environment

Create a new type of node that represents those hypervisors

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Figure 4: After you close the

Edit modules settings dialog
box, Virtualization appears in
the Views pane.

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Figure 5: The Add Supervisor dialog box

Using the IPM plug-in for VMware vCenter
Once the IPM plug-in for vCenter Server has been installed and registered, administrators can use it to view
information about a host servers power source, define shutdown settings for VMs and create or modify a variety of
power-related events.
Viewing host server power information
1. In the Views pane, click Node List within the Views folder (see figure 6).
2. Click VMware host (see figure 6). A list of VMware host devices appears in the Node List pane.
3. In the Node List pane, click the host device whose power information you wish to view. The information appears
in the Selection view pane, under Power Source.

Figure 6: To view host server power information, click Node List in the Views pane, then click VMware host and
then click a node in the Node List pane.

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Defining and editing shutdown settings

1. In the Views pane, click Nodes Settings within the Management folder (see figure 7). A list of hypervisors
appears in the Node List pane.
2. In the Node List pane, click the hypervisor whose shutdown settings you wish to view or change (see figure 7).
Current shutdown settings for the selected hypervisor appear in the Node configuration pane, under Shutdown
settings.
3. To edit the shutdown settings, click the pencil icon next to the Shutdown settings label (see figure 7). The
Shutdown Settings Configuration dialog box appears (see figure 8).
4. When you have finished defining or editing settings, click the Apply button.

Figure 7: To define or edit a shutdown setting, click Nodes Settings in the Views pane, click a node in the Node
List pane and then click the pencil icon next to Shutdown Settings.

Figure 8: The Shutdown Settings Configuration dialog box

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Triggering events in vCenter Server through IPM

Once vCenter Server and IPM are configured, a power outage to one of the host servers will:

Send an event that triggers an alarm in the vCenter Server alarms page
Put the server into maintenance mode
Use vMotion to migrate all VMs on the physical host server onto a different physical host server that has not
lost utility power
Shutdown the hypervisor

Conclusion
Virtualization management tools like vCenter Server (from VMware, a company with which Eaton has a technology
alliance partnership) usually provide excellent tools for administering VMs and the physical servers that host them.
Few if any of them, however, have built-in power management capabilities. IPMs plug-in for vCenter Server helps fill
that gap by adding a variety of sophisticated power management features to vCenter Server and enabling data center
managers to operate those features directly from within the vCenter Server dashboard. Drawing on the instructions in
this technical brief, organizations with virtualized server infrastructures can significantly reduce their exposure to
downtime and data loss due to utility outages while still enjoying all of the many benefits server virtualization has to
offer.
For more detailed technical information about IPM, and to see configuration examples, visit
http://pqsoftware.eaton.com/manual/ipm/eaton_ipm_users_guide_en.pdf.
About Eaton
Eaton Corporation is a diversified power management company with 2010 sales of $13.7 billion. Eaton is a global
technology leader in electrical components and systems for power quality, distribution and control; hydraulics
components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic
systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for
performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton has approximately 73,000 employees and sells products to customers
in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com.
About the author
Jim Tessier is a product manager for Eaton single-phase UPSs, power monitoring software and connectivity
products. Jims 25-year career in technology organizations includes product management for personal
computer options and monitors. He can be reached at [email protected].

Technology Brief

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January 2012