October 12, 2007, 3:21 PM — Listen to the column Plug By Plug, or visit our Podcast Center to hear more by James Gaskin.
Power issues usually mean the increasing demand for power in data centers. But power issues can be as simple as turning off remote devices without asking an untrained user to climb around your computer equipment. I saw a couple of advanced new plug strips at the Data Center World show in Dallas last month.
Avocent, long familiar to data center employees for its wide variety of KVM switches, now has the Cyclades PM42 intelligent plug strip. The product manager gave me a demonstration
What can be new about a plug strip? The ability to turn on and off each plug individually eases several pains in network management. All those remote racks spread around your company? Wouldn't you love to see whether or not a remote device is actually plugged in when it doesn't work? Now you can.
Avocent ties their PM42 plug strip into their DSR IP-based KVM switch network, so you can use the same management tools you use for remote server control on the power strip. Other brands include their own Web server, which, while clever, just adds another management interface to remember. Adding power controls to remote device controllers makes good sense, especially if you already have some Avocent equipment.
Turning power on and off per plug is only the beginning. You can disable plugs in one or any of the three sections of the power strip that has reached it's voltage carrying limit. Sure, you can use tape over the plug, but you know tape falls off. At least that's the excuse for the dummy who pulled the tape off to plug in one more thing and overloaded the circuit. Disabling the plug works much better, especially on remote installations.
Check on misbehaving equipment by logging into the equipment via your Avocent KVM tools. When a soft reboot isn't possible, turn the power off to the plug for a hard reboot. When the equipment restarts, you're ready to manage the device yet again.
Of course, you get more standard plug strip features as well. Three phase power, lots of KVAs into your rack, and support for 250 volt devices are all standard features. It comes in any color you want, as long as you want black.
P.S. Turning on and off remote devices as a joke probably falls outside the limits of good corporate behavior, even on April Fools Day.
