Allright, in the interests of saving the environment and cutting down on an absurd amount of drivetime to many dozens of clients, i’ve decided to make some changes in the way I operate.
A lot of my driving involves performing hard resets on legacy analog equipment. All of these analog devices are at locations with network and Internet access.
I can typically either get firewall holes opened, or can get remote access to a PC local to the hardware. All I need is to find something Ethernet-controlled (or, if totally desperate) rs-232 control that will allow me to turn outlets on and off on a power strip or UPS.
Cheaper is better of course, but working is more important. Has anyone got any suggestions?
I’d pick something from APC in a nanosecond over any mystery brand that plays crappy music on their website. Also, APC has been around for decades. I have no specific experience with their PDUs, but we do use a lot of their equipment here and they’re one of the most trusted names in power control. Chances are really good that you already have UPS units from them.
Their AP7900 series will do exactly what you want. The devices can be accessed via Web, SNMP or Telnet - just log in, click on “reboot immediate” and you’re done. There are other options like All On, All Off, and rebooting after a delay. The PDU will then cycle power to the selected outlet or group of outlets, saving you the time of driving somewhere or calling the site, hoping you can find someone that understands the concept of “Turn off the third thing from the top of the rack - yes, the dark gray one with the orange and green lights - count to thirty and turn it back on…”
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