nanog mailing list archives
Re: rackmount managed PDUs
From: Daniel Senie <dts () senie com>
Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2008 20:05:49 -0400
At 06:13 PM 9/25/2008, Adam Rothschild wrote:
Another vote for APC here. We've deployed many hundreds in various receptacle configurations, and n'er any failures. The build quality is definite cut above the competition, some with interiors that look like they were assembled from duct tape and Radio Shack kits. :-) As a word to the wise once you make it past the purchasing stage, the software and IP stack is a bit fragile. No show-stoppers, mind you, just some items here and there which underscore the need for a proper management infrastructure and OSS.
We've had issues with their code being fragile, failing to respond at times. Most recently, one of our AP7932's decided someone else was using the web interface and would not let me log in. Fortunately, I was simply checking on power consumption, not trying to reboot something. But it reminded me of a serious shortcoming. You can add user accounts so specific people can power cycle only their stuff, but the web interface appears to be limited to one user at a time, not very helpful.
I'll probably wind up connecting the serial ports to a terminal server to ensure access (serial port seemed to still work when web, telnet and ssh refused the login). And we're looking at other brands as options for future deployments. Would be interested in hearing from folks who've tried the newest Raritan power stuff.
(For starters, you'll want to make sure you're running the latest firmware, as outlets and entire SNMP OID trees have been known to 'vanish' on earlier builds. Make sure they're ACLed tightly, as even the smallest amount of stray packets or concurrent access will make the unit unhappy. And if you need to provide "remote reboot" functionality to customers, create your own interface, or consider one the off-the-shelf solutions, Ubersmith DE being a popular choice, given the above constraints...)
Ah, so yep, I see you've confirmed that concurrent access is a total non-starter with these, as I had guessed. Nice products, but agree their IP interfaces are lacking. And yes, you can hide them behind other software, just too bad you have to.
Dan
Current thread:
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs, (continued)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Matt Kelly (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Nuno Vieira - nfsi telecom (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Nuno Vieira - nfsi telecom (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Justin Shore (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Justin M. Streiner (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Duane Waddle (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Michael Smiley (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Kelly Kane (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Joe Greco (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Adam Rothschild (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Daniel Senie (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Derek J. Balling (Sep 28)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Adam Kennedy (Sep 30)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Brandon Butterworth (Sep 25)
- Re: rackmount managed PDUs Henry Linneweh (Sep 27)