User guide

US 8,549,067 B2
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The protocol stack 722 interfaces to a remote poWer man
ager 724, and it converts software commands communicated
in the form ofTCP/IP datapackets 726 into signals the remote
poWer manager can use. For example, messages can be sent
from the host 702 that Will cause the remote poWer manager
724 to operate the relay-sWitch 712. In reverse, voltage, cur
rent, and temperature readings collected by the sensor 71 0 are
collected by the remote poWer manager 724 and encoded by
the protocol stack 722 into appropriate datapackets 726.
Locally, a keyboard 728 can be used to select a variety of
readouts on a display 730, and also to control the relay-sWitch
712.
The display 730 and keyboard 728 can be connected as a
terminal through a serial connection to the poWer manager
724. Such serial connection can have a set of intervening
modems that alloW the terminal to be remotely located. The
display 730 and keyboard 728 can also be virtual, in the sense
that they are both emulated by a Telnet connection over the
netWork 704.
The host 702 typically comprises a netWork interface con
troller (NIC) 732 connected to a computer platform and its
operating system 734. Such operating system can include
Microsoft WINDOWS-NT, or any other similar commercial
product. Such preferably supports or includes a Telnet appli
cation 736, a netWork broWser 738, and/or an SNMP appli
cation 740 With an appropriate MIB 742. A terminal emula
tion program or user terminal 744 is provided so a user can
manage the system 700 from a single console.
If the computer-based appliance 714 is a conventional
piece of netWork equipment, e.g., as supplied by Cisco Sys
tems (San Jose, Calif.), there Will usually be a great deal of
pre-existing SNMP management softWare already installed,
e.g., in host 702 and especially in the form of SNMP 740. In
such case it is usually preferable to communicate With the
protocol stack 722 using SNMP protocols and procedures.
Alternatively, the Telnet application 736 can be used to con
trol the remote site 706.
An ordinary broWser application 738 can be implemented
With MSN Explorer, Microsoft Internet Explorer, or Netscape
NAVIGATOR or COMMUNICATOR. The protocol stack
722 preferably includes the ability to send hypertext transfer
protocol (HTTP) messages to the host 702 in datapackets 726.
In essence, the protocol stack 722 Would include an embed
ded Website that exists at the IP-address of the remote site
706. An exemplary embodiment of a similar technology is
represented by the MASTERSWITCH-PLUS marketed by
American PoWer Conversion (West Kingston, RI).
Many commercial netWork devices provide a contact or
logic-level input port that can be usurped for the “tickle”
signal. Cisco Systems routers, for example, provide an input
that can be supported in softWare to issue the necessary mes
sage and identi?er to the system administrator. A device inter
rupt has been described here because it demands immediate
system attention, but a polled input port could also be used.
NetWork information is generally exchanged With protocol
data unit (PDU) messages, Which are objects that contain
variables and have both titles and values. SNMP uses ?ve
types of PDU’s to monitor a netWork, TWo deal With reading
terminal data, tWo deal With setting terminal data, and one, the
trap, is used for monitoring netWork events such as terminal
start-ups or shut-doWns. When a user Wants to see if a terminal
is attached to the netWork, for example, SNMP is used to send
out a read PDU to that terminal. If the terminal is attached, a
user receives back a PDU With a value “yes, the terminal is
attached”. If the terminal Was shut off, a user Would receive a
packet informing them of the shutdoWn With a trap PDU.
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In alternative embodiments of the present invention, it may
be advantageous to include the poWer manager and intelligent
poWer module, functions internally as intrinsic components
of an uninterruptable poWer supply (U PS). In applications
Where it is too late to incorporate such functionally, external
plug-in assemblies are preferred such that off-the-shelf UPS
systems can be used.
Once a user has installed and con?gured the poWer man
ager 708, a serial communications connection is established.
For example, With a terminal or terminal emulation program.
Commercial embodiments of the present invention that have
been constructed use a variety of communications access
methods.
For modem access, the communication softWare is
launched that supports ANSI or VTl 00 terminal emulation to
dial the phone number of the external modem attached to the
poWer manager. When the modems connect, a user should see
a “CONNECT” message. A user then presses the enter key to
send a carriage return.
For direct RS-232C access, a user preferably starts any
serial communication softWare that supports ANSI or VTlOO
terminal emulation. The program con?gures a serial port to
one of the supported data rates (38400, 79200, 9600, 4800,
7400, 7200, and 300 BPS), along With no parity, eight data
bits, and one stop bit, and must assert its Device Ready signal
(DTR or DSR). A user then presses the enter key to send a
carriage return.
For Ethernet netWork connections, the user typically con
nects to a poWer manager 708 through a modem or console
serial port, a TELNET program, or TCP/IP interface. The
poWer manager 708 preferably automatically detects the data
rate of the carriage return and sends a usemame login prompt
back to a user, starting a session. After the carriage return, a
user Will receive a banner that consists of the Word “poWer
manager” folloWed by the current poWer manager version
string and a blank line and then a “Usemamez” prompt.
A user logged in With an administrative username can
control poWer and make con?guration changes. A user logged
in With a general username can control poWer on/off cycling.
Users logged in administrative usernames can control poWer
to all intelligent poWer modules, a user logged in With a
general username may be restricted to controlling poWer to a
speci?c intelligent poWer module or set of intelligent poWer
modules, as con?gured by the administrator.
A parent case, US. patent application Ser. No. 09/732,557,
?led 72/08/ 2000, titled NETWORK-CONNECTED
POWER MANAGER FOR REBOOTING REMOTE COM
PUTER-BASED APPLIANCES, includes many details on
the connection and command structure used for con?guration
management of poWer manager embodiments of the present
invention. Such patent application is incorporated herein by
reference and the reader Will ?nd many useful implementa
tion details there. Such then need not be repeated here.
Referring again to FIG. 7, a user at the user terminal 744 is
able to send a command to the poWer manager 724 to have the
poWer manager con?guration ?le uploaded. The poWer man
ager 724 concentrates the con?guration data it is currently
operating With into a ?le. The user at user terminal 744 is also
able to send a command to the poWer manager 724 to have it
accept a poWer manager Con?guration ?le doWnload. The
doWnload ?le then folloWs. Once doWnloaded, the poWer
manager 724 begins operating With that con?guration if there
Were no transfer or format errors detected. These commands
to upload and doWnload con?guration ?les are preferably
implemented as an extension to an already existing repertoire
of commands, and behind some preexisting passWord protec