User guide

US 8,549,062 B2
1
NETWORK REMOTE POWER
MANAGEMENT OUTLET STRIP
RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PATENTS
This application is a continuation of US. patent applica
tion Ser. No. 11/126,092, ?led May 9, 2005, and titled NET
WORK POWER ADMINISTRATION SYSTEM, Which is a
continuation of US. patent application Ser. No. 10/313,314,
?led Dec. 6, 2002, now US. Pat. No. 7,171,461, issued on
Jan. 30, 2007, and titled NETWORK REMOTE POWER
MANAGEMENT OUTLET, Which is a continuation-in-part
ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/930,780, ?ledAug. 15,
2001, now US. Pat. No. 7,043,543, issued on May 9, 2006,
and titled VERTICAL-MOUNT NETWORK REMOTE
POWER MANAGEMENT OUTLET STRIP, Which is a con
tinuation-in-part of US. patent application Ser. No. 09/732,
557, ?led Dec. 8, 2000, now US. Pat. No. 7,099,934, issued
on Aug. 29, 2006, titled NETWORK-CONNECTED
POWER MANAGER FOR REBOOTING REMOTE COM
PUTER-BASED APPLIANCES, Which is a continuation-in
part ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/375,471, ?ledAug.
16, 1999, now US. Pat. No. 6,711,613, issued on Mar. 23,
2004, titled REMOTE POWER CONTROL SYSTEM THAT
VERIFIES WHICH DEVICES IS SHUT-DOWN BEFORE
SUCH ACTION IS COMMITTED TO, Which is a continua
tion-in-part of US. patent application Ser. No. 08/685,436,
?led on Jul. 23, 1996, titled SYSTEM FOR READING THE
STATUS AND CONTROLLING THE POWER SUPPLIES
OF APPLIANCES CONNECTED TO COMPUTER NET
WORKS, and now US. Pat. No. 5,949,974, issued onAug. 7,
1999, Which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to remote poWer manage
ment systems, and more particularly to electrical poWer dis
tribution devices and methods for conserving the primary
rack-mount spaces in a standard RETMA rack.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Network server “farms” and other netWork router equip
ment have settled on the use of equipment bays in 19" stan
dard RETMA racks. Many of these server and router farms
are located at telephone company (TelCo) central equipment
of?ces because they need to tie into very high bandWidth
telephone line trunks and backbones. So each TelCo typically
rents space on their premises to the netWork providers, and
such space is tight and very expensive.
The typical netWork router, server, or other appliance
comes in a rack-mount chassis With a standard Width and
depth. Such chassis are vertically siZed in Whole multiples of
vertical units (U). Each rented space in the TelCo premises
has only so much vertical space, and so the best solution is to
make best use of the vertical space by ?lling it With the
netWork appliances and other mission-critical equipment.
TWo kinds of operating poWer are supplied to such netWork
appliances, alternating current (AC) from an uninterruptable
poWer supply (U PS) or direct from a utility, the second kind is
direct current (DC) from TelCo central o?ice battery sets.
Prior art devices have been marketed that control such AC or
DC poWer to these netWork appliances. For example, Server
Technology, Inc. (Reno, Nev.) provides operating-poWer con
trol equipment that is specialiZed for use in such TelCo pre
mises RETMA racks. Some of these poWer-control devices
can cycle the operating poWer on and off to individual net
Work appliances.
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Such cycling of operating poWer Will force a poWer-on
reset of the netWork appliance, and is sometimes needed
When an appliance hangs or bombs. Since the netWork appli
ance is usually located remote from the netWork administra
tion center, Server Technology has been quite successful in
marketing poWer managers that can remotely report and con
trol netWork-appliance operating poWer over the Internet and
other computer data netWorks.
Conventional poWer management equipment has either
been mounted in the tops or bottoms of the server farm
RETMA racks, and thus has consumed vertical mounting
space needed by the netWork appliances themselves. So What
is needed noW is an alternate Way of supplying AC or DC
operating poWer to such netWork appliances Without having
to consume much or any RETMA rack space.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
Brie?y, a vertical-mount netWork remote poWer manage
ment outlet strip embodiment of the present invention com
prises a long, thin outlet strip body With several independently
controllable poWer outlet sockets distributed along its length.
A poWer input cord is provided at one end, and this supplies
AC-operating poWer to relays associated With each of the
poWer outlet sockets. The relays are each addressably con
trolled by a microprocessor connected to an internal I2C-bus
serial communications channel. The poWer-on status of each
relay output to the poWer outlet sockets is sensed and com
municated back on the internal I2C-bus . A device-netWorking
communications processor With an embedded operating sys
tem translates messages, status, and controls between exter
nal netWorks, the internal I2C-bus, and other ports.
In alternative embodiments of the present invention, a
poWer manager architecture provides for building-block con
struction of vertical and horizontal arrangements of outlet
sockets in equipment racks. The electronics used in all such
variants is essentially the same in each instance. Each of a
plurality of poWer input feeds has a monitor that can provide
current measurements and reports on the internal I2C-bus.
Each of the poWer input feeds could be independently loaded
With a plurality of addressable-controllable outlets. Each out
let is also capable of measuring the respective outlet socket
load current and repotting those values on the internal I2C
bus. Separate digital displays are provided for each monitored
and measured load and infeed current. The internal I2C-bus,
logic poWer supply, netWork interfaces, poWer control mod
ules and relays, etc., could be distributed amongst several
enclosures that have simple plug connections betWeen each,
the infeed poWer source, and the equipment loads in the rack.
An advantage of the present invention is that a netWork
remote poWer management outlet strip is provided that frees
up vertical rackmount space for other equipment.
Another advantage of the present invention is that a net
Work remote poWer management outlet strip is provided for
controlling the operating poWer supplied to netWork appli
ances over computer netWorks, such as TCP/IP and SNMP.
A further advantage of the present invention is that a net
Work remote poWer management outlet strip is provided that
alloWs a netWork console operator to control the electrical
poWer status of a router or other netWork device.
A still further advantage of the present invention is that a
netWork remote poWer management outlet strip is provided
for reducing the need for enterprise netWork operators to
dispatch third party maintenance vendors to remote equip
ment rooms and POP locations simply to poWer-cycle failed
netWork appliances.