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I am a developer that knows a bit about server config/admin. I took a job at a start up and I am now in charge of IT as well as development.

We have a Dell PowerEdge T610 running XenServer (free) with 3 WinServ08 R2 and I monitor the servers via XenCenter.

All is well, but I would like to know if the following are possible and where to find info:

  1. Power outages - We have a backup unit APC xps1000 which seems to work well but how can I ensure that the VM's power down when it kicks on as well as turn back on when the power comes back? I live 1hr away so I cant make it in to start the servers.

  2. Temperature - being in a start up, this server is in a closet :) it gets warm. Right now the server is running at 78 degrees. Usually does not get hotter than that. Are there tools that I can use to alert me of temperature?

  3. Alerts - and with the 2 items above, can any of this email me? I dont logon to the servers that often to check. Like I said, I am a developer so most of my day is comprised of building and compiling.

Any help would be grateful.

jdruid
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1 Answers1

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Joshua, Welcome to the world of XenServer. I think i can help answer most of your questions.

  1. Here is an article describing how to add APC control on the XenServer host. http://kiekeboe100.hoefman.be/blog/2010/01/apc-ups-management-on-xenserver/ You may also find this article by Citrix useful: http://support.citrix.com/article/CTX119910
  2. Regarding temperature, some people have had luck with "cacti". I haven't installed this tool myself so no promises: http://forums.citrix.com/thread.jspa?threadID=249641 That being said, what are you expecting to do when the temperature gets too high? Throttle the cpu? Turn off some vm's? It seems like a better solution would be to just install massive fans in the closet or servers to guarantee you don't need to deal with this issue.
  3. I believe that cacti can help you with this.

Let me know if you have any luck with these solutions!

Regards, Port Forward Podcast

http://portforwardpodcast.com/

benathon
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  • Thank you for the links. Not sure what I was planning on doing if the temp got too high. I guess I would like to keep a log of the temp and if it stays high for a few days, then I can request either moving the server, fans or portable AC. – jdruid Aug 25 '11 at 17:25
  • Question - I installed apcupsd and all seems well. All the test have passed and I can view the UPS status. I have not simulated a test yet, I was waiting for this weekend in case anything happens. My question is how will the XenServer know to shut down each of the VM's? I did not see that configuration. – jdruid Aug 26 '11 at 15:23
  • If you are logged into XenCenter, do you see the "Shutdown" option for your VM's? I'm not talking about "Force Shutdown". If you see the "Shutdown" option, the general tab for each VM should also say "Virtualization state: Optimized (version 5.6 installed)". This means that the XenServer tools are correctly installed (from the xs-tools.iso file) If this is the case, XenServer knows how to cleanly shutdown each of the vm's. A shutdown issued on the host like: "shutdown -h" should shutdown each of the VM's cleanly before the host. – benathon Aug 26 '11 at 16:59