User guide

US 8,549,067 B2
1
NETWORKABLE ELECTRICAL POWER
DISTRIBUTION PLUGSTRIP WITH
CURRENT DISPLAY AND METHOD OF USE
RELATED APPLICATIONS AND PATENTS
This application is a continuation of US. patent applica
tion Ser. No. 1 1/548, 175, noW abandoned, ?led Oct. 10,2006,
and titled NETWORKABLE ELECTRICAL POWER DIS
TRIBUTION PLUGSTRIP WITH CURRENT DISPLAY
AND METHOD OF USE, 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 of US. patent
application Ser. No. 09/930,780, ?led Aug. 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 continuation
in-part of US. patent application Ser. No. 09/732,557, ?led
Dec. 8, 2000, now US. Pat. No. 7,099,934, issued onAug. 29,
2006, and titled NETWORK-CONNECTED POWER
MANAGER FOR REBOOTING REMOTE COMPUTER
BASED APPLIANCES, all of Which are incorporated herein
by reference.
This application also incorporates by reference US. patent
application Ser. No. 09/375,471, ?led Aug. 16, 1999, issued
as US. Pat. No. 6,711,613 on Mar. 23, 2004, and titled
REMOTE POWER CONTROL SYSTEM THAT VERIFIES
WHICH DEVICES IS SHUT-DOWN BEFORE SUCH
ACTION IS COMMITTED TO and US. patent application
Ser. No. 08/685,436, ?led on Jul. 23, 1996, issued as US. Pat.
No. 5,949,974 on Sep. 7, 1999, and titled SYSTEM FOR
READING THE STATUS AND CONTROLLING THE
POWER SUPPLIES OF APPLIANCES CONNECTED TO
COMPUTER NETWORKS.
BACKGROUND
1. Technical Field
The technical ?eld relates generally to poWer management
systems and, more particularly, to electrical poWer distribu
tion devices and methods.
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 uninterruptible
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
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mises RETMA racks. Some of these poWer-control devices
can cycle the operating poWer on and off to individual net
Work appliances.
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
Brie?y, a netWork remote poWer management outlet strip
embodiment of the present invention can comprise a long,
thin outlet strip body With several independently controllable
poWer outlet sockets distributed along its length. A poWer
input cord can be provided at one end, and this can supply
AC-operating poWer to relays associated With each of the
poWer outlet sockets. The relays can each be addressably
controlled 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 can be sensed
and communicated back on the internal I2C-bus. A device
netWorking communications processor With an embedded
operating system may translate messages, status, and controls
betWeen external netWorks, the internal I2C-bus, and other
ports.
In alternative embodiments of the present invention, a
poWer manager architecture can provide for building-block
construction 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 can have a monitor that can
provide current measurements and reports on the internal
I2C-bus. Each of the poWer input feeds could be indepen
dently loaded With a plurality of addressable-controllable
outlets. Each outlet can also be capable of measuring the
respective outlet socket load current and reporting those val
ues on the internal I2C-bus. Separate digital displays can be
provided for each monitored and measured load and infeed
current. The internal I2C-bus, logic poWer supply, netWork
interfaces, poWer control modules 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 certain embodiments of the present inven
tion is that a netWork remote poWer management outlet strip
is provided that frees up vertical rackmount space for other
equipment.
Another advantage of certain embodiments of the present
invention is that a netWork remote poWer management outlet
strip is provided for controlling the operating poWer supplied
to netWork appliances over computer netWorks, such as TCP/
IP and SNMP.
A further advantage of certain embodiments of the present
invention is that a netWork remote poWer management outlet