Best Practices in UPS Remote Monitoring and Management

The uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is arguably one of the most important components in the data center. Without a source of reliable backup power, critical IT systems are subject to outages, voltage sags, and other problems that can cause downtime or even damage the equipment. By conditioning power and providing automatic failover to battery backup, the UPS minimizes these risks.

UPS units are fairly simple in design but that doesn’t mean they’re trouble-free. In fact, UPS battery failure is a leading cause of data center downtime. Data center managers need to ensure that UPS units are monitored for problems and properly maintained.

Faced with more pressing issues, IT staff don’t always invest time in managing UPS units. The problem has become more acute with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many IT staff are working from home and unable to travel to the data center to inspect and manage equipment.

That’s why remote monitoring and management are critical. IT teams need the ability to check the status of UPS units and troubleshoot faults from any location.

Using SNMP Communications for UPS Management

Most organizations have invested in remote monitoring and management (RMM) tools to support their IT infrastructure. If a UPS is equipped with an SNMP communications card, it can interface with the RMM tools via the network.

Administrators can then use the RMM tools to retrieve status information from the UPS at predefined intervals and generate notifications when certain thresholds have been met. Most RMM tools also allow administrators to view status information through a built-in dashboard.

Many SNMP cards support HTTP protocols for administrator access to the UPS interface. Administrators can monitor the UPS status and issue commands through a web browser.

Remote UPS Management Capabilities

Alerts

RMM tools can notify you of problems so you can ensure that critical issues are dealt with promptly.

Data and Event Logging

With the ability to capture UPS data in your RMM tools, you can export log files for analysis in order to identify problematic trends. Event logging allows you to track the timing and sequence of events leading up to an incident.

Control of Equipment

Network connectivity allows you to reboot UPS units remotely to reestablish availability without dispatching a technician. You can also schedule automatic reboots and shutdowns of UPS units and connected equipment.

Battery Management

If your UPS has a battery management system (BMS), you can get detailed information on the health and charge of the battery for early fault warning and remote maintenance.

Remote Upgrades

SNMP connectivity makes it easy to install UPS firmware upgrades remotely.

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