Schneider Electric, a global specialist in energy management, has announced the release of PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1 with enhanced virtualization support, a network-based server shutdown solution for IT equipment.

PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1 works in conjunction with APC by Schneider Electric’s Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) Network Management Card to enable automatic virtual machine migration and graceful virtual machine and host shutdown in VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V clusters. The solution provides users with the assurance that mission critical equipment remains protected in the event of an extended power failure, said a statement.

Thierry Chamayou, vice president - Middle East & Africa IT Business, Schneider Electric, said: “Today, small and large business enterprises prioritise reliability, convenience and speed while servicing their data needs. Schneider Electric’s IT business brings customers the ultimate product for power protection with continuous uptime and a dependable, solid IT backbone for the company and the consumer. We are pleased to present the PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1 - a product that will serve as an insurance against virtual downtime disasters.”

PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1 allows the migration of virtual machines affected by power disturbances to hosts not impacted by the specific UPS event. This allows virtual systems to stay online as long as possible and affords IT managers the time needed for assessing and addressing the power issue. It is also the only UPS software capable of triggering virtual machine migration without needing to leverage migration technologies such as Distributed Resource Scheduler (DRS). In the event of a power failure, the software automatically checks the availability of DRS and performs the migration only upon its non-detection, the statement said.  

“In instances where virtual systems cannot be migrated, PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1 can gracefully shutdown the system to avoid data loss, corruption, or equipment damage. In the past, users with virtual cluster environments could only support graceful virtual machine shutdown using customized scripts. With PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1, the VMware and Microsoft Hyper-V platforms are integrated, allowing for seamless configuration and protection of virtual machines via an easy-to-use setup wizard. In VMware environments specifically, users can configure the virtual machine shutdown and startup sequencing using vApps,” it said.

VMware Ready certified, additional key features of PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1 include:
•    Easy installation: Users can opt to deploy the solution as a virtual appliance for VMware environments, simplifying installation.
•    Industry-leading usability: A patent pending ‘Virtual Cluster View’ dashboard displays a graphical representation of the virtual cluster environment and UPS setup on a single screen. In VMware environments, this user interface can also be monitored via the vSphere Client using the new PowerChute vCenter Plugin option.
•    Compatibility with current virtualization software: Built-in support for the latest virtual platforms including VMware vSphere 5.5 and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012 R2.

PowerChute Network Shutdown v3.1 is bundled with current UPS Network Management Cards and available as a free download via the APC by Schneider Electric product website. Users may also download the software as a virtual appliance from the VMware Solution Exchange at https://solutionexchange.vmware.com/store , the statement said. – TradeArabia News Service