Eaton IPM: Power Management for Data Center Environments

Today’s post covers Eaton’s Integrated Power Management (IPM) software and how it can benefit data center administrators with managing power across a heterogeneous environment.

IPM is a software solution from Eaton that provides a set of tools to monitor and manage power devices in both physical and virtual infrastructures. IPM helps ensure data integrity and uptime by remote management of UPS units and power devices, giving administrators total control and automated workflows to handle power events. Some key IPM features include:

• Single-pane-of-glass management of both Eaton and third-party power devices
• Hypervisor integration for both host and virtual machine tasks, including VM migrations, VM suspensions and shutdowns, and host power actions
• DR automation by VMware Site Recovery Manager (SRM) integration
• Power consumption management integration with converged and hyperconverged solutions, such as Cisco UCS, HPE OneView, VCE VxRail, SimpliVity and Nutanix
• vRealize Operations Manager Management Pack to add power health and efficiency tracking from the vRealize Operations dashboard

Right-Size Your IPM

IPM has three licensing versions: Basic, Silver and Gold. Basic allows for management of up to 10 devices; Silver up to 100; and Gold 100+. Additionally, Silver and Gold allow for advanced hypervisor integration, such as virtual machine administration, SRM and vRealize Operations. Gold also includes OpenStack integration and full use of all features when connected to either Eaton or third-party power devices.

Through tight integration at both the compute level and virtual levels, IPM allows administrators to save money and increase power consumption efficiency, resulting in fewer batteries purchased upfront, reduced battery maintenance and fewer replacement events. Power capping and load shedding keeps critical workloads running longer by suspending noncritical virtual machines and limiting consumption of online resources. All of these provide real cost savings from both a CAPEX and OPEX standpoint.

Personally, I have used IPM for managing our lab environments and have found the IPM dashboard intuitive and easy to view data on power devices. It was quick to install and configure, has automatic discovery of power devices, and I was up and using the tools in a very short time. I also appreciated the integration with both vCenter and vRealize Operations Manager, and the tight integration of these products help administrators think holistically about their infrastructure, instead of power being an afterthought.

Evolving to Meet Your Power Needs

IPM is a product worthy of being in the conversation for most data center deployments, even when the environment is not solely comprised of Eaton power devices. The feature set continues to grow as the product matures, allowing for greater control and management of an administrator’s power consumption and disaster avoidance needs. IPM’s license flexibility makes it a cost-effective option for a variety of environment types and sizes.

Our CDW power solution architects are certified, trained and knowledgeable with IPM and can help you take advantage of the software features and benefits for your data center. Contact your account team to learn more about Eaton IPM and how it can save you time, energy and money.

Learn more about CDW’s comprehensive power and cooling solutions.