Secure Array™ IP Consolidation: FAQs Explain How it Contributes to Reduced Deployment Time and Cost Savings

 

Chatsworth Products eConnect^® Power Distribution Units (PDUs) are intelligent power distribution products that combine cabinet-level power management, environmental monitoring and electronic access control in multi-tenant and enterprise data centers. 

 

eConnect PDUs offer the quickest and lowest cost deployment among all intelligent rack PDU solutions in the industry. That's, in part, because of it's innovative capabilities like Secure Array^™ IP Consolidation Technology. 

 

In order to gain a better understanding of how this technology can benefit your project or application needs, we'll take a deep dive into this technology by answering a few frequently asked questions.

 

 

A. Secure Array IP Consolidation technology is used within CPI eConnect PDUs to allow up to 32 PDUs to share one or two IP addresses with failover capability.

 

 

A. This technology helps businesses save up to 90% of rack PDU networking costs by minimizing the number of IP addresses. It also allows data centers to save significant time and costs associated with cabling PDUs. In addition, it significantly reduces the time to configure several PDUs.

 

 

A. Secure Array technology is available within all Networked eConnect PDUs. This includes the Monitored eConnect PDU, the Monitored Pro eConnect PDU, Switched eConnect PDU and Switched Pro eConnect PDU.

 

 

A. In a "daisy chain," only one PDU within the chain has an IP address. If a PDU within the chain loses connectivity, the PDUs downstream of the failed one no longer communication. Within Secure Array technology, two PDUs within the Array are assigned IP addresses. The first PDU in the Array has an IP address and it is referred to as the Primary PDU. The last PDU in the chain is also assigned an IP address and it is referred to as the Alternate Primary. In the event a PDU with the Array loses connectivity, all PDUs upstream of the failure automatically begin to communicate through the Primary PDU. All PDUs downstream of the failure begin communicating through the Alternate Primary PDU. The failover capability makes Secure Array technology much more reliable than a traditional "daisy chain."

 

 

A. Yes. The first PDU in the chain has its Ethernet connection connected to the IP network. The "In" port on the second PDU needs to be connected to the "Out" port on the next PDU using a standard Cat5/6 cable. The sequence continues and the last PDU within the chain is again connected to an IP network.

 

 

A. The Primary PDU automatically detects all the PDUs connected with the Array.

 

 

A. All the PDUs show up on the "Status - Overview" tab of the web interface of the Primary PDU. Details of any PDU can be seen by clicking on that specific PDU.

 

 

A. The Primary PDU can be configured to send an alarm if the total number of linked PDUs it detects is lower than the initial configuration.

 

 

A. If the Primary PDU loses connectivity, the Alternate Primary PDU automatically picks up information from all PDUs within the Array. The Alternate Primary PDU can be configured to either maintain its role or pass the role back to the Primary PDU when communication back to the Primary PDU is established.

 

 

A. Yes. The PDU with the highest functionality should generally be setup as the Primary PDU. Ideally, the Primary and Alternate Primary PDUs should have the same configuration. It is suggested that all PDUs within the Array are on the same firmware levels.

 

 

A. Configuration parameters from a single PDU can be applied to other PDUs within the Array. New firmware updates can be applied to the Primary PDU only and then pushed to all PDUs in the Array.

 

Learn more about Secure Array IP Consolidation and other innovative capabilities of CPI's eConnect PDU by watching the video below or by visiting the product page.