Alpiron Console

Administrator Interface to the Alpiron Controller

Alpiron Console is the administrative tool used for configuring and monitoring the Alpiron Suite system. Here the administrator creates control groups, control-policies, sets alarm specifications and visually monitors the entire IT Environment.  Alpiron Console communicates directly with the Alpiron Controller process.  Any number of Consoles can be installed and connected to any number of Alpiron Controllers.  Alpiron Console runs on Windows OS.

Alpiron Console Overview

The following are created, configured and maintained by Alpiron Console.

Connections

Connections represents a physical network connection between the Console and an Alpiron Controller.  Connections is a set of values entered by the user describing a communication channel (IP address and port).

Firewall Considerations: To allow Alpiron Console to connect to Alpiron Controller which is located behind a firewall, the firewall must be opened for the port mentioned above for tcp.

Site

Site is a logical sub division under a specific Connection. Each site has its own Groups and Policies. A Site can be used to differentiate physical networks or organizations. Each Connection must have minimum of one Site.  Each site has its own database.  A Site also has its own Groups and Policies.  

Groups

Groups are the basic control unit in Alpiron Suite. A Group is a logical, administrator-defined collection of servers and one or more Control Policies and Alarms. Each Group has a total capacity which is the sum of the individual capacities of the devices in the Group. The Policy assigned to the Group defines how this capacity will be managed.

Policies

Alpiron Suite’s Policies are set of rules established by IT Administrators which govern the actions on Alpiron Suite controlled servers.  Policies are valid across physical networks or logical organizations established by the IT Administrator and the same Policy can be assigned to more then one Group of servers. 

Each Group of servers may be assigned one Policy per day; however, each one of these Policies may be assigned any number (up to one for each minute of the day) of “Policy Lines” with associated actions assigned to them.   Each policy line is active starting with its timestamp and concludes when the next policy line becomes active or at the end of the day whichever comes first. 

Maintain Free Capacity: When available capacity drops under the “Minimum Free Capacity” limit, Alpiron Suite will start up the number of servers required to meet the minimum free capacity required.  When available capacity exceeds the “Maximum Free Capacity” limit, Alpiron Suite will shutdown the number of servers required to meet the free capacity required.

Alarms

Alpiron Suite alarms are easy to configure and maintain.  First created in the Alarm Folder and then assigned to groups of servers, each alarm has an administrator-defined condition and a resulting action.  There are two types of Alarm triggers: “State Alarms” are triggered as soon as one of the associated devices changes state and “Counter Value Alarms” are triggered when specific counter values becomes bigger or smaller then a defined point.

Reports/Data

Using the Reporting module within the Alpiron Console, the administrator is able to generate reports to document the amount of power savings during periods defined by the administrator. The reports show savings totals and statistical drill-down for groups and single devices.  Alpiron Controller collects real time data that can be exported to other systems for analyzing and graphing.  Graphs and statistics generated include:

• Average load (%)
• Average RAM used (%)
• Average savings (%)
• Average CPU used (%)
• Potential savings (%)
  

Tools

• SMTP: Defines SMTP Settings
• Security: Defines authorized machines that can connect to the “Alpiron” Server
• Discover servers: Discover servers that are connected to other sub-networks
  

System requirements

• Operating system: Windows (2000/2003/XP/Vista/2008)
• Prerequisites: NET. framework 2.0 or higher
• Installation Package: Single msi file.
• Processor: Any AMD or Intel x86 32 or 64 bit, min. 250 MHz
• RAM: min. 512 MB
• Disk: min. 10 MB
• Network Connection : Standard
  

Technical Specifications

• Maximum number of Alpiron Consoles running on the same network: No limit
• Maximum number of server connections No limit
• Maximum number of sites per connection No limit
• Maximum number of groups per site No limit
• Maximum number of servers per group 2000
• Maximum number of policies per site No limit
• Maximum number of policy lines per policy No Limit
• Number of policies attached to a week day 1