Eaton Software Becomes First In Industry To Extend Runtime Of Virtual Environments During Power Outages

Updated Eaton Intelligent Power Manager Software Strengthens Business Continuity and Confidence for VMware vSphere 5.1 Users

RALEIGH, N.C. … Diversified industrial manufacturer Eaton today announced the latest version of its Intelligent Power Manager^™ software. The updated software includes compatibility with the VMware^® vSphere^™ 5.1 virtualization platform and a new load shedding capability designed to extend available battery backup time for information technology (IT) and data center managers when critical business functions are compromised by power outages.

“When the power goes out, businesses need to keep mission-critical workloads running,” said Hervé Tardy, vice president and general manager, Eaton Distributed Power Quality Division. “Our latest software innovation is designed to provide enhanced business value for customers by systematically shedding virtual workloads to significantly increase available backup time without the need for additional hardware investments.”

End-users can set up Intelligent Power Manager’s load shedding feature by first assigning virtual machines (VM) with one of five priority levels. Each priority level can be configured with shutdown type as well as timing for the initiation of shutdown and suspend sequences.

Upon detection of a power outage, Eaton’s software will suspend or shutdown VMs as configured in each priority level. When VMware’s Distributed Power Manager is active, it will automatically consolidate the remaining active VMs before idling inactive servers. This process is designed to reduce uninterruptible power system (UPS) battery drain to extend the available backup time needed to carry out failover processes. 

The update improves upon Intelligent Power Manager software’s existing VMware integration that enables IT personnel to view, monitor and administer not only physical and virtual servers, but also uninterruptible power systems (UPSs), power distribution units (PDUs) and other power devices directly through VMware’s vCenter Server dashboard. The software solution also enables users to initiate automatic and transparent live migrations of virtual machines and can trigger VMware Site Recovery Manager’s disaster recovery and planned migration processes, therefore moving critical applications to available servers either within an organization, or to a co-located facility or public cloud. 

Additionally, Intelligent Power Manager software is certified VMware Ready^™, VMware’s highest level of endorsement, following a detailed validation process. The software can be found on the VMware Solution Exchange, a single destination site for compatible VMware applications and cloud infrastructure products.  

For more information on Eaton’s Intelligent Power Manager software, please visit www.eaton.com/intelligentpower. For information regarding Eaton’s virtualization capabilities, visit www.eaton.com/virtualization. To learn more about Eaton’s power quality products, visit www.powerquality.eaton.com. 

Eaton is a diversified power management company providing energy-efficient solutions that help our customers effectively manage electrical, hydraulic and mechanical power. The company is a global technology leader in electrical products, systems and services for power quality, distribution and control, power transmission, lighting and wiring products; hydraulics components, systems and services for industrial and mobile equipment; aerospace fuel, hydraulics and pneumatic systems for commercial and military use; and truck and automotive drivetrain and powertrain systems for performance, fuel economy and safety. Eaton acquired Cooper Industries plc in 2012. Eaton has approximately 100,000 employees and sells products to customers in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com.