Datasheet

US 7,099,934 B1
320 crash or have to be replaced. Keeping such con?gura
tion information on disk 321 generally saves on installation
time and reduces error.
In an alternative embodiment of the present invention, the
poWer-distribution strip 314 associates a “tickle” signal With
each poWer supply connection to corresponding ones of the
network-equipment units 3084312. This alloWs a channel to
be exercised and tested so a systems administrator can
develop con?dence that a poWer on-olf command Will not
run amok and turn off an unintended device.
The equipment rack 305 further includes a netWork inter
face controller (NIC) 322 connected to a security ?reWall
324. If the netWork 304 is the Internet, or otherWise insecure,
it is important to provide protection of a netWork agent 326
from accidental and/or malicious attacks that could disrupt
the operation or control of the network-equipment units
3084312. The netWork agent 326 converts softWare com
mands communicated in the form of TCP/IP datapackets 328
into signals the remote poWer manager can use. For
example, messages can be sent from the NMS 302 that Will
cause the remote poWer manager 320 to operate the poWer
relay-sWitches in the poWer-distribution strip 314. In
reverse, voltage, current, and temperature readings collected
by the sensor 316 are collected by the remote poWer man
ager 320 and encoded by the netWork agent 326 into
appropriate datapackets 328.
The NMS 302 typically comprises a netWork interface
controller (NIC) 332 connected to a computer platform and
its operating system 334. A disk 335 represents systems and
applications softWare that can be loaded on the computer
platform and its operating system 334 to control the netWork
agent 326. The computer platform and its operating system
334 typically include Microsoft WINDOWS-NT, or any
other similar commercial product. This preferably supports
or includes a Telnet application 336, a netWork broWser 338,
and/or an SNMP application 340 With an appropriate MIB
342. A terminal emulation program or user terminal 344 is
provided so a user can manage the system 300 from a single
console.
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
message and identi?er to the system administrator. A device
interrupt has been described here because it demands imme
diate system attention, but a polled input port could also be
used.
NetWork information is generally exchanged With proto
col data unit (PDU) messages, Which are objects that contain
variables and have both titles and values. SNMP uses ?ve
types of PDUs 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 shut
doWn With a trap PDU.
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 (UPS). In
applications Where it is too late to incorporate such func
tionally, external plug-in assemblies are preferred such that
olf-the-shelf UPS systems can be used.
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Once a user has installed and con?gured the poWer
manager, it is necessary to establish a connection to the
poWer manager. About any terminal or terminal emulation
program can be chosen for use With the poWer manager.
For modem access, the communication softWare is
launched that supports ANSI or VTl00 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.
When setting up the poWer manager for the ?rst time, the
?rst modem call made to the poWer manager should be made
With the dialing modem set to 9600 bits per second (BPS),
Which is the factory default modem data rate for the poWer
manager. This should guarantee that the ?rst connection Will
succeed, after Which the poWer manager’s modem initial
iZation data rate can be increased With the “SET MODEM
RATE” command and the dialing modem’s data rate can be
increased in the communication softWare
For direct RS-232C access, a user starts any serial com
munication softWare that supports ANSI or VTlOO terminal
emulation. The program must con?gure the serial port to one
of the supported data rates (38400, 19200, 9600, 4800, 2400,
1200, and 300 BPS), along With no parity, 8 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, a user connects to the
poWer manager by using a TELNET program and connect
ing to the TCP/IP address con?gured for the ServerTech
MSSl installed in the poWer manager. The poWer manager
Will automatically detect the data rate of the carriage return
and send a username 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 “Usemame:” prompt.
Regarding “poWer manager Version X.Xx, Usemame: _”,
the poWer manager Banner Will be displayed after the initial
connection or after the LOGIN command. In response to the
“Usemame:” prompt, a user enters a valid username string.
A username is a character string up to 16 characters long
folloWed by a carriage return. Usemames may not contain
either spaces or the colon “z” character. Usemames are not
case sensitive. A user has up to 60 seconds to enter a
username string. If data is not entered With in the time limit,
the session is ended With the folloWing message: “Sorry the
time is up. Try again later!”
After a user responds to the “Usemame:” prompt, a user
Will be prompted for an associated passWord With the
“Password:” prompt.
Regarding “PassWord: _”, the poWer manager Will not
echo characters typed in response to the passWord prompt.
PassWords are up to 16 characters and are case sensitive.
Alphanumeric and other typeable characters (ASCII 32 to
126 decimal) may be used. The poWer manager Will validate
a username/passWord strings against the internal table of
usemames/passWords that has been previously de?ned. If a
user enters an invalid username string or passWord, the
poWer manager Will send an error message as folloWs:
“Sorry, a usemame/PassWord a user has entered is NOT
valid!”. A user Will then receive the “Usemame:” prompt
again. A user Will have three chances to enter a correct
usemame/passWord. If a valid usemame/passWord is not
speci?ed on the third attempt, the folloWing message Will be
sent: “Check the Username/PassWord and try again later!”.
The current user session Will then be ended. As With a