(UPS) Power Management in the Virtualized World. October 2011 Andy McDonald & Stéphane Moulin

Transcription

1 (UPS) Power Management in the Virtualized World October 2011 Andy McDonald & Stéphane Moulin

2 So why the fuss? On 1 st November 2011 Dell changes the game with UPS power management: A UPS monitoring & control software that: Saves work in progress and gracefully shuts servers down Provides local & remote monitoring/notification of power status Provides a single management interface for monitoring multiple servers & UPSs, plus group firmware upgrade distributions Has a simple, common interface on all operating systems Is quick to install, simple to use and easy to update Unique virtualization differentiators*: Manage virtual machine (VM) shutdown without installing s/w on each VM Manage VMs start/stop profiles through vcentre plugin (VMware only) Manages all VMs across a network from a single management interface (client) Uses advanced virtualization functions (e.g. vmotion, LiveMigration) to move VMs to a recovery site in the event of power failure Little or no command line programming required to install & manage 2 * Compared to other offerings for similar applications and price points (e.g. free or low-cost license fee with no additional hardware required.)

3 Customer Pain Points Pain Points Traditional Approach* Dell s New Approach Every time I change my network configuration or add more equipment I need to pay for a new UPS s/w license! I m not very experienced with virtualization, why is UPS s/w so complicated? You are charged according to how many servers (physical or virtual) you want to monitor/control and through which connectivity (USB, Network). This can mean a high price & complexity in managing upgrades & deployments. Lack of integration with the hypervisor makes UPS power management laborious and time consuming. Server monitoring & shutdown s/w is free for an unlimited number of servers. Manage 32 or less UPS devices from a central management client without license fee. The same software package is used for all operating systems & connectivity types (network, USB, serial). We can use a simple web interface to synchronize our power settings with a virtualized network infrastructure, avoiding command line programming and multiple installations. I have multiple virtual machines, how do I control/manage them all in a power failure condition? Install an instance of UPS s/w on each VM & configure each shutdown profile individually. Time to install is typically 5-10mins per VM. Maintaining a VM power profile inventory on a growing network is difficult and prone to error. Using this method has little or no control over the hypervisor or physical host leading to an uncontrolled power-off. Multi Host Sites: Use a centralized management console that integrates with hypervisor management systems (e.g. vcentre) to remotely setup power profiles from a single location. No need to install s/w on each VM. VM power profiles are managed through the hypervisor (e.g. vcentre plugin). Single host sites: Install one s/w instance on the hypervisor (e.g. vsphere) and use a web interface to manage single or multiple hosts. I have a disaster recovery location so I don t want my VMs to shut down if the power fails - I want them to move to a backup machine how? I have a number of UPSs installed and now I want to update their firmware No method available. The VMs simply shut down when the UPS battery runs low. Service to users is lost, even though the customer has invested in a disaster recovery location. Typically a user must download a special firmware upgrade tool, learn how to use it and upgrade each device individually. The Dell UPS s/w automatically uses vmotion/livemigration/xenmove when the battery reaches a defined value and requests the VMs to move to a safe host. Users do not lose service because the VMs are still functioning. When power comes back, the virtual machine manager rebalances VMs to original hosts. Simple, upload the firmware package into your existing UPS management s/w & deploy to multiple devices with one click, all managed through the familiar UPS interface. 3 * Other offerings for similar applications and price points (e.g. free or low-cost license fee with no additional hardware required.)

4 Virtualization quick revision Yesterday: One server, one operating system IT services are static, fixed to hardware Power fails, shut down server Server functionality is lost Simple UPS s/w agent 4

5 Virtualization quick revision Today: One server (host), multiple (virtual) operating systems (VM) Higher utilization more eggs in one basket greater need for hardware reliability Ability to move VM between physical hosts increased availability through h/w redundancy Being freed from hardware leads to many more VMs Different IT management skill-sets required (e.g. command line programming) 5

6 Challenges with (UPS) Power Management Reliability Higher utilization means many VMs connected to one UPS. Reliance on small UPS today is similar to data centre UPS in the past. Control With so many (mobile) VMs how do you control them in a power event? How do you keep an inventory of VM power profiles? Management How do you keep track of VM power profiles, update UPS Agents, UPS firmware(s)? How long do you spend managing power and not IT? Complexity Virtualization is highly complex, UPS software shouldn t make IT worse! 6

7 Traditional Power Management Approach Approach: Treat each virtual machine as a traditional server Install & configure UPS agent on each VM (not on hypervisor) Problems: Time consuming, inefficient (multiple instances), not practical for large installations No use advanced benefits of virtualization (server migration, power profiling) No control over vsphere hypervisor, no ability to safely shut down physical host Difficult to track individual settings & configurations across multiple VMs Worked example: Time to install UPS s/w on 1 VM = 5mins x 200 VMs = 16hours! 7

8 Modern Power Management Approach Multi-host site Single-host site Approach: Integrate UPS agent with Hypervisor (single host) or central management server (multi-host) Report power conditions to single location. Hypervisor/system manager controls VMs No UPS s/w agent installed on VMs Benefits: One-time installation, very quick & simple Centralized management for VM shut down & start up profiles - all settings in one place Ability to use advanced virtualization technologies (e.g. vmotion/ LiveMigration) Safe shutdown of hypervisor & host following complete VM move / shut down 8

9 Dell UPS Agent, VMware Example Power fail on physical server UPS runs on battery When battery low Dell UPS agent issues command vmotion moves VMs to safe hosts under maintenance mode Safe Shutdown UPS safely shuts down vsphere once VMs moved UPS safely shuts down physical server Service still live from users perspective System Restart When mains power returns, physical server turns on DRS & vmotion move VMs back to available host System is restored to full capacity 9

10 The New Software Solution Dell UPS Local Node Manager (ULNM) Primary function - is shutdown of device(s) after power failure Extended function visibility of power status & shutdown configuration Dell UPS Multi-UPS Management Console (MUMC) Primary function visibility & configuration of multiple UPS & LNMs Primary function management of multi-host virtualized installations Extended function shutdown of device after power failure ULNM Servers: Typical single OS installations (not virtualized), ULNM is installed on each physical server ULNM ULNM MUMC UPS: Dell UPS connected to servers by either Network Management Card (preferred) or USB ULNM 10

11 ULNM (UPS Local Node Manager) Views: Access to configurations, parameters, setup, events & logs Info & Status: UPS information, power status, battery runtime Measures: Power information Auto Discovery: Add UPSs through quick scan (USB & IP local subnet) or address scan (IP local & different subnet) Graph: plot of power metrics over time (hover for detail) 11 Info windows, drag and drop to rearrange Synoptic: visual representation of power status

12 ULNM (Configuring Server Shutdown Parameters) 2: Edit Shutdown Configurations 1: Shutdown Menu 12 3: Enter power source & shutdown profile. Option to run script before shutdown. E.g. Close SQL server database

13 ULNM (Managing Alerts) 3: (Optional) Create custom alarm (any metric) 1: Actions Menu 2: Edit default alarms, enter SMTP server info, alarm frequency & severity info 13

14 MUMC (Multi UPS Management Console) Background: Customise background with any Jpeg file. e.g. network map, building plan, regional office map locations. Node Map: View all UPSs & servers running ULNM. Drag & drop to locate geographically Drill-down: Hover over any device to see status and ID Events Summary: See summary of all events on all UPSs & servers. Also see server shutdown profiles. 14

15 MUMC (Multi UPS Management Console) Nodes Upgrade: Mass firmware & configuration upload options. Nodes Settings: Manage any node through MUMC. UPS change IP, performance settings. Server change shutdown profiles through ULNM. Edit Panel: Edit properties of device (e.g. UPS Network Management Card) 15

16 License Upgrades Dell UPS Local Node Manager (ULNM) Always free, no cost to manage any number of servers and any number of UPSs. Dell UPS Multi-UPS Management Console (MUMC) Free for any number of servers (ULNM installations) and <33 UPSs. License upgrade required to manage >32 UPSs. Example 1: 7 * UPSs each with 5 * servers. Each server is running an installation of ULNM. Total UPS = 7, Total ULNM = 35. Total licensable nodes = 7. The Dell MUMC monitors & manages all UPSs and all ULNM agents without license fee MUMC 16

17 License Upgrades Example 2: 5 * UPSs each with 10 * servers. Each server is running an installation of ULNM. Total UPS = 5, Total ULNM = 50. Total licensable nodes = 5 The Dell MUMC monitors & manages all UPSs and all ULNM agents without license fee MUMC Example 3: 42 * UPSs each with 5 * servers. Each server is running an installation of ULNM. Total UPS = 42, Total ULNM = 210. Total licensable nodes = 42 The Dell MUMC requires a license upgrade to manage more than 32 UPS nodes MUMC 17

18 Dell s Unique Approach to VMware vcenter From a Web Browser client: Remotely connect to, configure & manage vcenter servers Simple, familiar, graphical user interface, Web 2.0 feel No command line programming - synchronise through UPS agent directly to hypervisor Remotely install UPS plugin onto vcenter management interface Add graphic of CLI and UPS install code Use a Windows client to do the hard work: make your settings in the UPS agent and click Synchronize. 18

19 Thoughts about UPS hardware planning To utilize vmotion in larger installations, IT managers now need to consider >15mins UPS battery runtime. Ensure you include an EBM (extra battery module) with your solution. 20mins 10mins 19 Data from IBM White Paper High virtualization density with confidence, using 2 * System x3690 X5 servers

20 Objections Q: We re using VMware HA (high availability) so if my host fails, it doesn t matter - the VMs will automatically re-start on the backup host. A: This is true, although compare the user experience in both situations in the graphs below. In a catastrophic event we can see a significant reduction in number of customer requests serviced. In maintenance mode the disruption lasts for longer but users have almost unaffected access to their services. 20 Data from IBM White Paper High virtualization density with confidence, using 2 * System x3690 X5 servers

21 Objections Q: I already have APC UPSs and software installed, I don t want to run two platforms. A: This is not a problem any more. The Dell MUMC will monitor most types of UPS (with network card installed) so a user can have an overview of all IT & power systems from one handy interface. Leave the PowerChute software running on the local server to manage shutdown Use Dell MUMC to monitor the complete network power status including non-dell UPSs 21 Data from IBM White Paper High virtualization density with confidence, using 2 * System x3690 X5 servers

22 Example Network Diagram - VMware Single Host Configuration Options ESX ULNM installed directly onto ESX ESXi ULNM installed into VIMA application Multi Host Configuration ESXi MUMC manages multiple hypervisors through vcentre. MUMC loaded on either vcentre or a VM UPS-triggered vmotion available NETWORK 22 Multi UPS Management Console Can monitor & manage all UPSs & Local Node Manager Installations MUMC

23 Example Network Diagram Hyper-V Hyper-V Server ULNM loaded directly onto server. Hyper-V power profiles manage VM response to OS shutdown request. Hyper-V, Server 2008 & SVCMM Virtual machines managed by SVCMM & Dell Multi UPS Management Console, MUMC loaded onto SVCMM. LiveMigration available NETWORK 23 Multi UPS Management Console Can monitor & manage all UPSs & Local Node Manager Installations MUMC

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