Eaton delivers market-first Dell EMC VxRail cluster shutdown capabilities

Feb 3, 2020


In yet another industry first, Eaton now has the capability to help organizations supporting VxRail Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) solutions preserve data integrity during unplanned power events. The recently unveiled version 1.67 of Eaton Intelligent Power Manager (IPM) software allows VxRail users to manage their entire IT application from a single dashboard, enabling automated and graceful shutdown of VxRail clusters for enhanced business continuity.

Eaton ensures continuity and protects Dell EMC VxRail from power disturbances

Eaton ensures continuity and protects Dell EMC VxRail from power disturbances

Covering the costs of simplicity

While VxRail – a fully integrated, pre-configured and pre-tested system jointly developed by Dell EMC and VMware – promises advantages such as simplicity and scalability, it has simultaneously opened up the door to data loss vulnerabilities during power issues. That's because the solution's shared storage chassis make it difficult to achieve graceful shutdown of the infrastructure's servers. However, Dell EMC and Eaton worked hand-in-hand to uniquely overcome this issue by utilizing an Eaton UPS with the Gigabit Network (Network-M2) Card and IPM.

The resulting lab-tested, fully integrated solution is the only option capable of shutting down a VxRail node or cluster in the event of an unplanned power event. It utilizes VxRail Manager APIs and existing functionality in place with VMware APIs so the combined trio of Eaton products can gracefully shut down and maintain data veracity.

Installed within the VxRail cluster, IPM

  • Eliminates the need for an external VM to host IPM for shutdown.
  • Orchestrates a graceful shutdown of user VMs through vCenter APIs.
  • Delegates the shutdown policy for system VMs and clusters to the Eaton Gigabit Network card
  • Directs the card to steer the shutdown of system VMs, IPM and the VxRail cluster via VxRail Manager API

Protection at a discount

As a result, the VxRail system is shielded from power anomalies and environmental threats. And as the first UL 2900-1 and IEC 62443-4-2 certified UPS communication card, the Gigabit card also protects valuable data from cybersecurity breaches. Even more, Eaton's VxRail solution reduces the need for onsite IT staff by facilitating simple set-up and remote management of power infrastructure using familiar VMware tools, making it ideal for edge and retail applications.

Eaton is not only providing resellers with a powerful offering for their VxRail customers, but valuable savings, as well, as the Powered by Eaton (PbE) deal registration program extends a 20 percent discount on all Eaton products when sold with a VxRail solution. At minimum, the Eaton solution must consist of a UPS, Network-M2 card and IPM gold license. Be sure to identify this PbE deal registration as a VxRail opportunity by selecting Dell EMC VxRail in the Solutions drop down menu of the deal reg page.  (Details found on  www.poweradvantage.eaton.com

Leadership through collaboration

For years, Eaton has collaborated with Dell EMC and VMware to deliver cohesive solutions to maintain business continuity and protect data integrity. Eaton's integrated power management solutions deliver increased value by offering advanced power monitoring and management for the entire portfolio of Dell EMC solutions, with the latest VxRail solution representing another example of Eaton's continued innovation leadership.


For more information on how Eaton energizes and protects Dell EMC solutions

Continue Reading

View most recent post

More Hervé's Headlines